Hamlet: Variorum Edition, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

If you are captivated by Shakespeare's Hamlet and the "pleasure of novelty has ceased (Johnson)," you will be enlightened and enthralled with this New Variorum Edition. If you have struggled to make sense of Ophelia's speeches when she is mad, or if you have labored to reconcile Polonious' speech to his son Laertes (neither a borrower nor a lender be, etc.) with his conduct when he later engages Reynaldo to spy on Laertes, then you will find this collection of commentaries both helpful and interesting.

This edition also contains textual notes on the differences from a "collation " of the Quartos and Folios and "some thirty modern editions (Furness)." These notes are clearly laid out. They appear on the same page as the text in most cases, and are separate from the critical notes. This division is invaluable and sets this edition apart.

The editor states in his introduction that he has included notes that have "little of no value, except as hints of the progress or of the madness of Shakespearian criticism." In other words, the editor is not presenting one cohesive, definitive interpretation. He is giving the reader a variety of tools with which to build his or her own thoughtful conclusions.

My only complaint is that the work is in two volumes that are sold separately. The second volume contains the text of the earliest Hamlet Quarto (1603) that is not included in the textual notes in the first volume. The valuable reference notes including the editions collated in the textual notes, and the explanation of abbreviations and symbols used are in the Appendix, which is only in the second edition. I suppose this keeps the cost down and allows you to "pay as you go" and order the volumes separately, but a package of the two at a reduced price (compared to buying them separately) should be offered by the publisher. This complaint is only about marketing, certainly not about the quality of the edition.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines variorum as "an edition, especially of the complete works of a classical author, containing the notes of various commentators or editors. Also in the full phrase Variorum Edition." This volume meets the definition. The New Variorum Edition of Hamlet also meets the goal identified by the editor in his preface. This edition will help a reader who is familiar with the play to bridge the gap in time that hides the languages meaning, the significance of some grammatical structure, and the common knowledge shared by the original audience that is not common to us. It does equally well in presenting a variety of thought for the reader to contemplate in coming to his or her own deeper understanding of this play, and will help the reader realize the true Hamlet "an excellent play, well digested in the scenes, set down with as much modesty as cunning (Act II, Sc.ii, 418-420)."

It's a real shame that the language has changed so much since Shakespeare wrote that his plays are no longer accessable to the masses, because that's who Shakespeare was writing for, largely. Granted, there is enough serious philosophizing to satisfy the intelligensia, but there's certainly enough action and enough broad-based, unsubtle humor to satisfy any connoiseur of modern hit movies. Unfortunately, while the plots are good enough to be lifted and reworked into modern stories in modern language (and they frequently are, sometimes more subtly than others) once you change the language, it's no longer Shakespeare, until and unless the rewriter can be found who has as much genius for the modern language as Shakespeare had for his own. And to date, at least, that hasn't happened, and I don't see it happening any time soon.

"Hamlet" is not an easy play to read, even by the standards of Shakespeare. There are a LOT of turns of phrase that will have even the competent modern reader scanning the footnoted explanation for a translation, and unfortunately, much of the value of Shakespeare's double-entendres is lost when somebody has to explain them to you. Still, the plot is a classic one, the dialogue is still (in spite of its occasional impenetrability) sparkling, and it has a remarkably high amount of (admittedly dark) humor for a classic tragedy; the scenes in which Hamlet acts the manic fool in order to keep his own counsel are delightfully funny (to say nothing of the gravediggers, and the verbal sparring between them and Hamlet.)

One of the many "must read" Shakespearean plays. There is simply too much here that one MUST be familiar with in order to understand references in later literature. And it is worth the effort, but it is certainly not an easy read.