Hamlet is a play that asks its readers to forget crucial details. We are asked to forget the fact that Hamlet is, in fact, a murderer. We are asked to forget the fact that Hamlet is, in fact, cruel to women. We are asked to forget that the play is intimately concerned with issues of rule, as the title The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark seemingly indicates.
What I would like to consider is how Ethan Hawkes’ film adaptation of the play forces new myths and comforts to this process of forgetting. Set in New York City, at the close of the 1990s, Hamlet has been transformed into a play about power within corporations and how voting (with our stocks and confidences) replaces the concerns of rule.
In the end, though, I believe that this adaptation offers us an opportunity to critique both the cultural influence of Hamlet and the power systems that replace the monarchy and religion. This adaptation engages us in a hybrid world of Glengarry Glen Ross and Hamlet where our souls must not be held account by parents stuck in an eternal prison but by the more pressing needs of profit, stock dividends, and voting options.
About the presenterWilliam M. Storm
William Storm is an Associate Professor of English at Eastern University in St. Davids, PA. His research focuses on the intersections of medieval literature and culture. His work focuses on the intersection of cultural institutions and literature. He has published pieces on Pearl,Piers Plowman, The Tale of Sir Thopas, and The Tournament of Tottenham.