A Newberry Library adult education class. Winter 2026. Tuesdays 2:00-4:00pm (CT) by Zoom, February 17 through March 10. Registration information here.
“The play’s the thing.” — So says the legendary title character of Shakespeare’s sublime tragedy of revenge. But how and why should we actually read a Shakespeare play these days? This class offers an engaging introduction to Shakespeare’s art through an accessible in-depth exploration of Hamlet, supplemented with engaging discussion of several interpretations of the play.
Materials List
Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. The Pelican Shakespeare edition. Penguin 2016. ISBN 978-0143128540
Hamlet (film). Directed by Kenneth Branagh (1996). Available on dvd or streaming at Amazon Video, Apple TV, Fandango, and Kanopy
For the first session, please watch the film, Hamlet, directed by Kenneth Branagh (1996). Note that the film is very good, four hours long, and you can watch it in portions. The intermission included in the dvd and blu-ray versions of the film (and in the theater) is followed by what Kenneth Branagh calls a sort of “previously on Hamlet ” montage, in which the film uses the play’s own words to recap some of the major events up to that point. I recommend watching the film with subtitles on.
Class Description
This class is structured around a text and a film, and this time we discuss the film first. Kenneth Branagh’s 1996 big-budget film version is very popular, very “cinematic,” and also very faithful to Shakespeare’s words. After seeing the film, we should all arrive at the first session with 1) the overall story of Hamlet in mind, 2) various opinions about the play’s characters and themes, 3) questions about the plot, and 4) raves and complaints. The first session will focus on the film as a film, looking closely at how Branagh’s Hamlet-world is developed, and learning about specific film features and techniques.
And what is the Hamlet-world? Hamlet’s father has been murdered by his brother, his mother has almost immediately married that brother, and the ghost of Hamlet’s father has appeared from the afterlife to urge revenge. It is a world of trust, betrayal, punishment, deception, mortality, and death. It is also a world built on relationships that reveal the political, social, and psychological motivations of power. How do Hamlet and Ophelia, or Claudius and Gertrude, really feel about each other and their changing circumstances? What is the role of “the theater” in the lives of the characters? Is the ghost all that he says he is? Do characters have agency over their own lives? And why does Derek Jacobi almost always have a glass in his hand?
With film versions inevitably in our minds, sessions two, three, and four will focus on close reading and interpreting the text of Hamlet—a Hamlet unto itself. The Hamlet of the page has been prized, processed, and performed by individual readers for centuries, and we’ll extend that tradition by learning how Shakespeare’s language works and what poetic meter does to us. We will consider the different published versions of Hamlet and look into some key historical matters of its author’s life and times. Our weekly discussions will allow us time to experience how the Hamlet of the page uniquely explores the astonishing philosophical, religious, political, aesthetic, and emotional questions that the play evokes.
Each week I will email a study guide that you can read ahead of time for tips on what to look for in the upcoming reading, suggestions for discussion, and insights from specific examples of Shakespeare criticism through the years.
No AI technology will be used in the development or presentation of lectures and class materials.
Schedule
Session One (2/17/26): Film discussion: Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet (1996, four hours). Available on dvd and streaming at Amazon Video, Apple TV, Fandango, and Kanopy (Kanopy may be offered through your local public library system).
Session Two (2/24/26): Hamlet (text), Act I
Session Three (3/3/26): Hamlet (text), Acts II and III
Session Four (3/10/26): Hamlet (text), Acts IV and V
