GREEN EGGS & HAMLET

GREEN EGGS & HAMLET-By Dr. William Seuss

a) What do you know about Hamlet, the "Melancholy Dane"? 
-That Hamlet is framed for his father's death, his uncle takes the throne, he is haunted by the ghost of his father in a really cool but freakily written scene. Eventually he has his famed "To be or not to be" speech and wonders, "whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer...". Then he takes back his throne, kills his uncle and marries his mother. Then dies. But I'm not completely sure on the mother thing, that might be Odysseus, the Greek Hero who bested the sphinx, or some other Greek legend that I'm stuck on. And so for this summary, I must thank Walt Disney and the Lion King but you know you can't really put death and incest in a children's movie so who knows.

b) What do you know about Shakespeare? 
-I don't know too much about William Shakespeare, but I do know that he lived from the middle of 16th to the early 17th century in England. He married a woman named Anne Hathaway when  he was relatively young and very soon after (as in less than nine months) they had their first child. Most of his plays were performed at the Globe Theatre before it burned down after his death. Playwriting back in the 16th and 17th century was (at least I consider) much more difficult than it is today. Writers had to create plays that could be short enough to finish on time before the sun went down at night, yet long enough to ensure that people would be willing to pay. Also many of the common people would come and watch the performances and if they were not good enough, the people would throw food, rocks, fecal matter, and whatever they had at the actors on stage. Therefore, Shakespeare's work had to be excellent. Much of his work is satire and comedic as many of the phrases have multiple connotations and involve innuendos.

c) Why do so many students involuntarily frown when they hear the name "Shakespeare"? 
-To be honest, Shakespeare is terrifying. The language is practically King James English, which most students don't get enough of a baseline in. The connotations make summaries and understanding freakishly difficult. And finally the sheer length of Shakespeare and his prestige make his works very intimidating, because we as students feel as if we have to pull some great meaning out of his works.

d) What can we do to make studying this play an amazing experience we'll never forget?
-Whatever you do, DO NOT go for an ordinary attempt by having us readout the play in groups or act it out. Send us on a scavenger hunt, make us play charades, or do something totally unexpected yet meaningful so we can finally understand Shakespeare.