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What Happens in Hamlet Hardcover – January 1, 1940

by John Dover Wilson (Author)

4.6 26 ratings

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John Dover Wilson’s What Happens in Hamlet is a classic of Shakespeare criticism. First published in 1935, it is still being read today throughout the English-speaking world and has been widely translated. Hamlet has excited more curiosity and aroused more debate than any other play ever written. Is Hamlet really mad? Does he really see his father’s ghost, or is it an illusion? Is the ghost good or bad? What does it all mean? Dover Wilson brings out the significance of each part of the complex action, against the background. His analysis of the play emphasises Shakespeare’s dramatic art and shows how the play must be seen and heard to be understood. This is a readable, entertaining and scholarly book.

Language

English
Publisher

Cambridge University
Publication date

January 1, 1940
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Stephen Greenblatt
44
Paperback
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0026PLLKK
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cambridge University (January 1, 1940)
Language ‏ : ‎ English

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4.6 26 ratings

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Richard Chandler

What Happens in Hamlet

Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2014

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Wilson's classic study of Hamlet still holds its place as the seminal book on Shakespeare's most popular play. All later studies owe to Wilson's work.

4 people found this helpful

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Mr. Brian D. Hayes

Hamlet with the Prince

Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2006

This is of course a very well known book, which set a new standard for textual criticism of Shakespeare's plays. It performs the remarkable feat of casting a completely new light on the most familiar and apparently best known of the plays, and although one does not necessarily agree with all his interpretations one is immensely stimulated by the author's brilliance in extracting new meanings from familiar lines. Strongly recommended to any one with the least interest in Shakespeare the dramatist.

4 people found this helpful

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Donald Davis

This book is great

Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2014

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I used this book in my English 102 class for a 10 page essay on Hamlet. It really was useful. I got a 100% on the essay.

2 people found this helpful

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Catherine Skidmore

Hands down, the best book

Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2000

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This is the best book on Hamlet that I've come across. Dover Wilson breaks down the show into themes - Gertrude's sin, feigned madness etc - and takes the reader in depth into the play. He provides historical background on the history of Denmark, Elizabethan history, ghosts in drama and really gives the most accurate interpretations that I've come across.
I highly recommend this book.

18 people found this helpful

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khoa le

Very good

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2013

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I bought a used book, but it looks like new. The shipping is awesome. The book was wrapped very carefully. Hightly recommended
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Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2005

As has been said in other reviews, if you buy one book on Hamlet make it this one. I too was dismayed to see Mel Gibson on the cover - fortunately I have an earlier version.

This is an absolutely essential book for any student of Shakespeare. This had a profound influence on my understanding of the play.

I can't recommend this highly enough!

3 people found this helpful

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Richard P.

Find and readThe Heart of Hamlet in addition to this book

Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2003

While Wilson's book is an interesting and worthwhile read, a far better book is The Heart of Hamlet by Bernard Grebanier (now sadly out of print). By a close reading of the play, particularly in terms of plot structure, coupled with a knowledge of the Elizabethan mind, Grebanier convincingly dismantles many of Wilson's interpretations. Some of Grebanier's major points, which are opposed to Wilson (and many commentators): Hamlet is not mad and never pretends to be; Hamlet does not procrastinate or hesitate, except for good reason; his tragic flaw is that not that he hesitates (or can't make up his mind) but that he is too rash; Hamlet is a man of action, capable of brutality, caught in extraordinary circumstances, not an etherial, delicate romantic philosopher; "To be or not to be" is not about suicide.
Having studied the play, reading many commentaries on it prior to directing it, I found Grabanier's book to be generally (not always) on target, where Wilson's left me very unsatisfied. Read both, and make up your own mind.

29 people found this helpful

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Ann C.

Dover Wilson Plucks Out the Heart of Hamlet's Mystery

Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2000

If you could only own one book of analysis on Shakespeare's greatest play, Hamlet, then it ought to be John Dover Wilson's What Happens in Hamlet. Dover Wilson examines and answers many questions that had baffled generations of Shakespearean scholars: Hamlet's delay; Claudius' actions during the dumb show; Hamlet and Lucianus, the nephew of Gonzago; Hamlet's relationship with Ophelia, and with his mother. Dover Wilson's extensive knowledge of the customs and vocubulary of Elizabethan England help explore Hamlet's melancholy and the nature of ghosts during the time of Shakespeare. As a bonus, Dover Wilson responds to T.S. Eliot, who considered Hamlet "a dramatic failure." A must for anyone who loves Shakespeare!

24 people found this helpful

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