What We Review
Why Teach Hamlet?
By the time high school students are introduced to Hamlet, they may have already had their fair share of Shakespearean tragedies and will probably ask, “Let me guess: everyone dies in the end?”
While this is a fair question, there is so much more to this play than a tragic ending. One of the most valuable takeaways of teaching this play, especially to older students, are the conversations that can be had on mental illness, both during the Elizabethan Era and today.
In addition to talking about mental illness, students can clearly see the negative effects of deception and manipulation or obsessing over revenge. While revenge or “getting even with someone” may not be at the forefront of teens’ minds, conflict with peers is certainly an ever-present reality throughout high school. Often, teens struggle to understand how to resolve those conflicts, and Hamlet provides an opportunity to discuss how to navigate these situations correctly.
Universal Themes in Hamlet
The Complexity of Mental Illness
Shakespeare’s lead character, Hamlet, pretends to be “mad” to manipulate those around him; however, the reality of his mental illness becomes evident as the play unfolds. While Hamlet’s madness takes some time to become recognizable, Ophelia’s mental illness is clearly visible in her nonsensical speech and distracted singing. This difference in the portrayal of mental illness based on character gender is no accident; Shakespeare understood his time. Women were exceedingly more likely to be diagnosed as “mad” or mentally ill, whereas men were rarely (if ever) given a similar diagnosis.
🔎 Text-to-Self Connection: Even though mental illness is talked about more often now than ever before, there is still a level of stigma surrounding it. People, especially young people, have the desire to seem like they have everything together, even when they are experiencing very real depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts. It can be easy to make fun of Hamlet’s over-dramatic reaction to events (i.e., picking up skulls and talking to them in Act 5). Still, it is worthwhile to encourage students to look beyond Hamlet’s antics to analyze what is truly going on under the surface. Hamlet (as well as Ophelia) is experiencing real pain and trauma throughout the play. He reacts poorly and makes some pretty awful choices as a result. Still, Hamlet could have avoided those choices if someone in the play, especially an authority figure, had known how to support him more effectively instead of rebuking him for his feelings. Whether they talk about them or not, many students have experienced their own level of traumatic experiences. Some students may have good support systems in place, but others may not. Talking about the reality of mental illness as well as the necessity of addressing instead of ignoring mental illness is essential for our students, and Hamlet provides ample opportunities for these conversations.
The Danger of Deception and Manipulation
A supernatural being shows up and manipulates a lead character to do something sinister. Sound familiar? It should if you have read Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In Macbeth, three witches play on Macbeth’s pride and manipulate him to do whatever it takes to become king. Likewise, a ghost of Hamlet’s father appears and manipulates Hamlet to avenge his father’s murder.
However, ghosts aren’t the only beings manipulating people, and Hamlet isn’t just being influenced. Hamlet is a master manipulator throughout the play, starting with his feigned “madness.” He easily lies to his mother, uncle, and best friends, but the most tragic victim of his lies and manipulation is Ophelia.
When Hamlet’s carelessness kills both Ophelia and Polonius, Claudius recognizes Hamlet as a personal threat, and he manipulates Laertes’ grief in his favor, encouraging Laertes to take out Hamlet.
The Futility of Revenge
Hamlet swears to avenge his father’s murder at the beginning of the play but struggles to follow through on his promise until the end. Not only does his oath of vengeance lead to his own mental collapse as he wrestles with his conscience, but nearly everyone around him dies as a result of his oath. Once his father is avenged by the end of the play, several characters, including Hamlet, also lose their lives, proving the pointlessness of revenge.
🔎 Text-to-Self Connection: Social media has opened a Pandora’s Box of opportunities for students to be bullied by their peers, often publicly. The hurt and shame resulting from this bullying are very real, and students want nothing more than to get rid of that pain. It is often tempting to want to “get even” with bullies and cause them the same if not greater hurt and shame, but as shown through Hamlet, “getting even” is not as satisfying as it sounds, and more often than not, it causes more lasting harm to both parties involved. It is important to show students how to rise above those who want to put them down, be assertive, and surround themselves with a strong support system.
Cross-Curricular Planning
Students in both Social Studies and Psychology classes can enrich conversations about Hamlet by discussing the history of revenge and the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.
Social Studies
Students can find parallels to Hamlet within Social Studies, especially as it pertains to family feuds. Throughout time, generations of families have sought to avenge a member of their family by killing a member of someone else’s family. A prime example is the Hatfields and the McCoys, whose feud continued for nearly thirty years, often over trivial matters like the ownership of a hog. Another example is Wyatt Earp and Billy Clanton. When one of Earp’s brothers was murdered and the other maimed, Earp sought justice through the local courts. When the courts failed, Earp took matters into his own hands to hunt down and take vengeance on his brother’s murderers. While the story of Wyatt Earp is akin to stories of superhero vigilantes for justice, the Hatfield and McCoy feud has many similarities to Hamlet.
The Hatfields started the feud by killing a McCoy, and when another McCoy pursued vengeance, his wife and children were killed, and his house burned down. Finding real-life instances of the futility of revenge is impactful for students and an even stronger warning against the temporary lure of vengeance.
Psychology
Students studying psychology can help their peers better understand why Hamlet spoke and acted the way he did. Students can compare Hamlet’s words and actions with signs of clinical depression to prove the likely presence of a severe mental illness. For instance, the major symptoms of clinical depression are “anxiety, apathy, general discontent, guilt, hopelessness, loss of interest or pleasure in activities, mood swings, or sadness” (“Depression (Major Depressive Disorder)”). Hamlet shows every one of these symptoms in Act 1, Scene 2:
- Hamlet is sad about his father’s death: “How is it that the clouds still hang on you?”
- Hamlet is anxious about having a new father so soon: “A little more than kin, and less than kind!”
- Hamlet is apathetic and hopeless about his life: “How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world!”
- Hamlet feels discontent about his mother’s hasty marriage: “But two months dead — nay, not so much, not two!”
- Hamlet feels guilt over his lingering grief: “But break my heart, for I must hold my tongue!”
In addition to diagnosing Hamlet, students can discuss ways that Hamlet should have sought help or ways that his friends and family should have sought help for him. Students can also predict how the play’s events could have played out differently if others took Hamlet’s mental illness seriously.
Planning Your Unit
Hamlet is a dense read, whether you choose to teach the original text, “No Fear Shakespeare” version, or something in between. Regardless of which text is best for your students, take your time moving through this text and remember, this play was meant to be seen and performed, not read while sitting down.
Encourage your students to read this play aloud or even perform it (the plastic sword fights are especially fun!) to increase understanding. Lean into the characters and encourage your students to infuse desperation into Hamlet’s words, innocence and naivety into Ophelia’s words, and conniving evil into Claudius’ words. As much as possible, bring the text to life and present it in a way that honors how Shakespeare would want it to be presented.
What standards should I teach?
Hamlet is typically taught in high school — most commonly 11th or 12th grade — the following standards “buckets” should be addressed. While this section focuses on the language contained within the Common Core Literacy Standards, most states’ standards also address these topics.
Character Development and Setting:
Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
Relationships Between Themes:
Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
Analyzing Imagery and Symbolism:
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
Recording Evidence to Support Claims about the Text:
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
Compare/Contrast the Play to a Live or Filmed Interpretation of the Text:
Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text.
Essay Writing
Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Essential Questions
Essential Question 1: Is Revenge Ever Justified?
As a central theme of Hamlet, revenge is continually on the lead character’s mind. Therefore, students will continually be thinking about whether or not Hamlet’s actions are justified. Have students grapple with this question before, during, and after the reading of the play, and take note if their opinion has changed. Have students cite examples from history, from other books, or from movies where revenge was also a major theme, analyzing the reasoning and outcome of each example.
Essential Question 2: How do we address stigma around mental illness today?
As another significant theme in Hamlet and an incredibly relevant topic, encourage students to discuss why there is a stigma surrounding mental illness today and how we can help diminish that stigma. However, these discussions will certainly require some strict ground rules and teacher supervision; many of our students experience mental illness firsthand and may have even lost a close friend or family member to suicide.
Encourage students to be kind and non-judgmental. Note that some of these conversations may be triggering to your students, and plan accordingly.
Achieving Student Buy-In
Shakespeare is often a hard sell, but it doesn’t have to be! Yes, the language is daunting; however, allowing students to listen to this play be read aloud instead of reading it silently on their own does wonders. Having students watch the 1996 movie version with Kenneth Branaugh is especially helpful; the way Branaugh delivers the text is overflowing with emotion allows students to better understand the meaning and rhythm of the language. Plus, you’ll address standard CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.7 in the process!
What background knowledge do my students need?
Students should be familiar with:
- Shakespeare’s biography and writing style
- The role of the theater in London, namely, the Globe Theater
- The Elizabethan Era
- Opposition to the theater during Shakespeare’s lifetime
Assessment Ideas
- Informal Assessment: Symbolism or Theme Collage
To address standards CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2 and CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4, have students use images from the internet or old magazines to represent a theme or symbol in Hamlet. Students will be required to incorporate 3-5 quotations from the text to represent their theme alongside the images that they collect. Each collage should be visually appealing, contain images that are both school-appropriate and relevant to the specific theme or symbol, and incorporate 3-5 quotations that represent the specific theme or quote and are cited correctly.
- Formal Assessment: Literary Analysis Essay
Familiarize students with Aristotle’s Tragic Hero; then, have students write a literary analysis essay on Hamlet to prove that Hamlet is an example of Aristotle’s Tragic Hero using evidence from the text. This assessment covers multiple reading and writing standards, including: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.9, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1, and CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1.
- Use Albert’s Chapter Quizzes to Check for Understanding
Each of our literature courses contains reading quizzes that you can use to track your students’ reading progress and comprehension before moving on to a new section of the text. You can find these reading quizzes in the Assessments tab of our Hamlet guide.
Each chapter of Hamlet has its own 10 question reading quiz, and each quiz is made up of the following:
| Question Type | Description |
| 5 Multiple Choice Questions | These questions assess students’ reading comprehension. This way, you can make sure they both read and understand the text! |
| 5 Fill in the Blank Questions | These questions ask students to fill in the blank with the appropriate character or plot point, ensuring that they remember what they have read. |
Suggested Activities
- Write a Sonnet
In order to better understand Shakespeare’s writing style, have students write a sonnet using iambic pentameter. Teachers often have students address these sonnets to something or someone they love, and the subjects they come up with are pretty awesome! Some students have written sonnets to pizza, a best friend, or even their pet turtle.
- Compare the Written Play to a Film or Live Version
Our personal favorite film version of Hamlet is the 1996 Kenneth Branaugh film. It is long, but Branaugh captures Hamlet’s simultaneous trickery and desperation throughout the play. Have students especially analyze Branaugh’s interpretation of Shakespeare’s original work. Would they have interpreted certain scenes the same way as Branaugh, or differently?
Conclusion
Even though it was written to be performed for live, Elizabethan audiences centuries ago, Hamlet stands the test of time by representing real issues that humanity continues to struggle with. Encourage your students to see the relevance of this play both for us and Shakespeare’s contemporaries.
Works Cited
American Psychiatric Association. What Is Mental Illness?, www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/what-is-mental-illness.
Common Core State Standards Initiative. “English Language Arts Standards.” English Language Arts Standards | Common Core State Standards Initiative, www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/.
“Depression (Major Depressive Disorder).” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 3 Feb. 2018, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/symptoms-causes/syc-20356007.
Dhue, Hannah, and Dani Snyder. “Shakespeare’s Madwomen: How Elizabethan Theatre Challenged the Perception of Mental Afflictions.” Digital Commons @ IWU, digitalcommons.iwu.edu/jwprc/2014/oralpres9/1/.
“The Hatfield & McCoy Feud.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, www.history.com/shows/hatfields-and-mccoys/articles/the-hatfield-mccoy-feud.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet: with Connections. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2000.
