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Ah, how to understand Shakespeare . . .

Much has been written about the supposed "psychology" of Shakespeare's characters as an explanation for who they are. This is not much help in understanding Shakespeare or what he really did. Shakespeare wrote plays. He didn't create real people, so it's a mistake to try to analyze or understand them from some psychological or post-modern analytical perspective. What Shakespeare did was create stories that "reveal" who we are:

The characters don't exist for us to understand them - they exist to help us understand ourselves.

I want to write about Hamlet from a theatrical perspective. The approach I've taken comes from an invaluable guide to understanding not only Shakespeare but any play - "Backwards and Forwards" by David Ball. Plays, like our lives, are structured by cause and effect, and the best way to understand Shakespeare is to ask "what happens that makes something else happen?" This is the nature of dramatic action, and with this resource firmly in hand, I chased Shakespeare, and managed, in some sense, to find "Hamlet."

So who is Hamlet, or any other character? Who they are is really no more than 1) what they want, 2) the action they take in attempting to get what they want, 3) what happens next, and 4) how they react . . . cause and effect, action and reaction - it's the best way, really, to understand this beautiful play, and by way of that, to understand ourselves, what we are in the universe.

There is speculation that in 1611 Shakespeare helped revise the bible into what is now known as the King James Version. In its front, there's an inscription: appointed to be spoken aloud,' as if the human breath is needed to carry the Spirit of God.

I can't speak to this claim or this type of spirituality, but I do know that Shakespeare is Life as Living Poetry playing out in a structured universe. That's all you really need to know - intellectually. If you want to know the characters personally, you must give them voice, lend them your deepest breath (& I hope you will). The moment-by-moment experience structured by who they are is the living Poetry of Shakespeare. Of course Shakespeare resonates with us - it IS us.

So let us begin.

THE TRAGEDIE OF HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARKE

What is the play about? The best way to answer this question is to keep the answer short, 1 or 2 sentences, and tell it in a way that draws a person in, makes them want to know more. If you can do that, then you've understood a play. So here's my understanding

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