Hamlet Update #2

    Since my previous update on Hamlet, I have completed the first act of the play. The events are certainly growing more interesting. Hamlet confronts his father's ghost, and he learns the true nature of his father's death. The king's ghost urges his son to take revenge from his father's murderer. I was also introduced to Ophelia, Hamlet's love interest, who is warned by her father and brother not to maintain her relationship with Hamlet since they believe that his love for her is untrue and that he is too high in rank to consider marrying her. Knowing Shakespeare's passion for tragedy, I am almost certain that Ophelia and Hamlet's relationship will be rocky. The play has managed to capture my interest, and I do plan on reading further and completing it eventually.

    I would like to note that spark-notes has helped me understand most of the play, and anyone who wants to read Shakespeare's works but is intimidated by the diction can use spark notes to help them through the difficult language. Shakespeare's works are definitely entertaining once you get past the ancient diction!

http://nfs.sparknotes.com - The No Fear Shakespeare segment translates the original text in all Shakespeare's works into simplified Modern English text.

http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/ - For anyone who is interested in going more in depth of Shakespeare's works, the site also offers study notes that include summaries and analyses.