ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
Literary Forms Videos 43 videos
Books are meant to be enjoyed. Sure, authors have different motives for their works—some may want to start a revolution while others hope to deli...
Hamlet 104302 Views
Share It!
Description:
In the world of Shakespeare, pretty much everyone either dies or gets married. Hamlet and co. got the short end of that stick.
Transcript
- 00:00
Hamlet, a la Shmoop. This little piggy went to Denmark.
- 00:08
Let us get something straight right off the bat. “Hamlet” is not an omelet filled
- 00:14
with ham.
- 00:17
Although that sounds delicious, the Hamlet we’re talking about is even worse for you.
- 00:20
Especially if you happen to be hiding behind a tapestry.
Full Transcript
- 00:23
In fact, so many people die in Hamlet…
- 00:25
… that Rambo has body count envy. So if practically everyone gets sent to meet
- 00:33
their maker…
- 00:34
…why does this Fortinbras guy… who’s only in the play for two-point-two seconds…
- 00:39
get to make it out alive? First of all, Fortinbras shows up just after
- 00:44
all the madness and bloodshed has wrapped.
- 00:47
Pretty convenient if you ask us.
- 00:49
So… was it simply a matter of good timing?
- 00:52
Everyone who had a problem with anyone was already pushing up daisies by the time he
- 00:56
came traipsing through the door…
- 00:58
…so maybe good fortune was just shining on the guy.
- 01:01
It’s good to be the Prince. But would Shakespeare have spared the guy
- 01:06
just because he arrived on the scene fashionably late?
- 01:12
We know how much Billy Shakes loved bumping his characters off… surely he had a better
- 01:16
reason? Was it because he wanted to comment on the
- 01:19
scene of death and destruction left in Hamlet’s wake?
- 01:23
Horatio was one of the fortunate few who witnessed all the carnage and lived to tell the tale…
- 01:28
…and it was only fitting that he acted as a narrator in the waning moments…
- 01:33
…but having Fortinbras stroll in gives Horatio someone’s ear he can bend.
- 01:39
Otherwise, Horatio would have had to deliver a monologue…
- 01:42
…and Hamlet had already fulfilled the monologue quota for the day.
- 01:49
But wait… when has Shakespeare ever shied away from ending with a big ol’ monologue?
- 01:54
Was there another reason Fortinbras gets to keep breathing?
- 01:57
Perhaps he was a foil for Hamlet.
- 01:59
In other words, maybe we are supposed to see the drastically different lives of these two
- 02:04
princes, and contrast them.
- 02:06
By witnessing the military success and lack of emotional turmoil exhibited by this Prince…
- 02:11
…we can imagine where Hamlet might be today if he hadn’t been dealt such an unfortunate
- 02:15
set of circumstances. Did Fortinbras simply avoid the sweet release
- 02:20
of death because of an uncanny sense of timing?
- 02:23
Was he nothing more than a literary device, so that Horatio had someone to tell his story
- 02:27
to?
- 02:28
Or was he meant to represent Hamlet… new and improved?
- 02:41
Shmoop amongst yourselves.
Related Videos
This video defines utopias and dystopias, and investigates how a utopia might become a dystopia. Can a seemingly perfect world actually be a dystop...
Ever wish you could remember everything that you ever studied? How about everything that everyone has ever studied? Yeah, pretty sure our brains ju...
They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we...
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an American classic. Hope you're not expecting any exciting shower scenes though. It's not that kind of book.
Do not go gentle into that good night. In fact, if it's past your curfew, don't go at all into that good night. You just stay in your good bed and...