My Hamlet Adventure

I have found myself regretting my choices in high school lately. I took easy classes and never paid attention in the ones that were stimulating. I feel like I have been missing out on so many awesome things. One of these is Shakespeare. I'm just now at age 24, and have gotten around to reading Hamlet. Now, in order to really understand the actual plot I had to read a modern day translation. I have a tendency to zone out, so I cheated, and cheated well...

"To be or not to be..say hey to ya mothah for me."

One of the first things I found myself doing is matching the characters with actors. Hamlet was being played as Mark Wahlberg. I find that his accent made Hamlet extremely kick ass. Judi Dench played Gertrude. I found that because of these actors that my mind picked out I was able to read the play at lightning speed. Also because I cheated and read the modern day translation.

I am hesitant to really give my opinion on the play as a whole because of the fact that I didn't read the original text and because the play is really complex in meaning. I honestly think it will take me several times in reading it to provide a real opinion. As of right now, two things have popped in my mind.

One: Why is Hamlet so casual about seeing a ghost walk the Earth? Has he gone through life seeing ghosts all the time? The fact that he calmly holds a conversation with the ghost about purgatory and seeking revenge just tells me that he has balls of titanium.

"Hey ghost, let's have tea. Say hey to ya mothah for me."

Two: Is Hamlet acting mad or is he just a little bit bat-shit insane for real? The only time I found myself asking this question is when he was talking to the ghost of his father and his mother could not see the ghost herself. I was unaware that ghosts had the power of selective invisibility. Normally, when I hear about a ghost in a room with more than one person, everyone in the room sees the ghost. Having said that, I am not a paranormal ghost adventurer. Who am I to say what ghosts can and cannot do?

I will write a more detailed review on Hamlet later when I can comprehend it better. Maybe when I am better at not zoning out when I read. For now, those two points will have to do.