University of Virginia professor Paul Cantor, curator of the Shakespeare and Politics website (thegreatthinkers.org/shakespea...) in the first of three lectures on Hamlet.
I have just learned of Professor Paul Cantor's death in 2022 on Wikipedia. I've been listening to Shakespeare's plays and Cantor's lectures and the lectures add so much to my understanding of these plays. I did come here to praise Professor Cantor and offer my gratitude to his generosity in sharing his wisdom. R.I.P.
This is an incredible analysis of the play. Thank you, professor - this lecture has been invaluable in deepening my understanding of one of my favorite works by Shakespeare
I have read, seen, listened to, and yes been in Hamlet. The Professor examines the "peculiar" nature of The Prince in an enlightening and compelling way; until you watch this, you are not fully loaded for BEAR.
Trivia point, but it seems Donatello's bronze "David" (at the Bargello) was the first free-standing nude (although it has boots and a helmet) since the Renaissance, not Tullio's "Adam" @5:35
~20:00 The basic structure of Hamlet’s battle with Claudius is clearly an iteration of Osiris, Set and Horus. Shakespeare makes two or three distinct references to this. The Norse probably informs more details directly but the pattern goes back several thousand years.
Whenever I hear scholars complain that Hamlet doesn't rush to kill Claudius (and they do this a lot!) I want to ask them how they expect him to accomplish it. It's like saying you want to kill the president. Not so easy! These guys are guarded and I suspect Claudius is even guarded against family. You check your dagger at the door when you enter the king's presence, something I suspect most Elizabethan audiences took for granted but never seems to occur to modern scholars. If I were staging the play, Claudius would always have armed guards around him, the way Coppola always had the muscle shadow Michael in Godfather 2. We might also consider that Hamlet might want to get away with killing Claudius, as Claudius himself got away with killing Hamlet Sr., without which it might be thought it's not much a vengeance.
In the lecture on Caesar, Cantor referenced Hegel's definition of tragedy as having to choose between two goods. Since Hamlet is a tragedy, what are the two goods that Hamlet is trying to choose between?
+Noah Spencer Jack Lemmon is terrible in the film, he can't speak the verse, doesn't understand the character and is doing 'method acting' in a renaissance play. An embaressment.
I agree that Crystal is terrific. He's completely understandable, clearly understands what he's saying, and genuinely funny. Lemmon is just a little past his prime to be standing a sentry post or keeping up with the high power talent in the film. I thought Williams was less effective, as much because he wasn't actually on the set with everyone else as anything else.
Although apropos for an undergraduate course at a very elite university, the tacit hypothesis formulated as "political marriages don't work" is outside the cited political sources. The mechanics of political marriage are found neither in Machiavelli, nor Aristotle, nor Hegel, and esp. not Nietzsche. A better conclusion is that a close study of Shakespeare and his plays.inspires a belief that the only marriages that might work are those where one partner is away most of the time.
Th Russian version is named Gamlet because the Russian language doesn't know the consonant"H. If Russians encounter this consonant they usully spell it as a "G".
Sorry, but I read a negative comment on his delivery. I find his name appropriate. A Cantor he is, I love watching him, listening, enjoy his interjections; notice when reading the text it is tone perfect, precise and always, as Hamlet would say, correct.
I hope this doesn't sound rude, but I don't know why this professor completely ignores the history of Danish invasion and laws in England in the eleventh century, as if Hamlet wouldn't be some allusion to that in England? Why is he focused on Greek influence of Homer's Iliad or Odyssey? I don't find that kind of connection nearly as blatant as the actual possession of large parts of England by the Danish tribes in the year 1000 until before the Norman invasion... Anyone else help here?
It's either your lectures are so complete that no questions are necessary or your UVA students are unable to formulate an intelligent one. Could be both.
He imitates Lucius Junius Brutus who feigned madness in the court of the Tarquin kings according to Livy. Brutus was a key player in overthrowing the tyrant and establishment of the Roman Republic. Hamlet is less of a threat if people think him mad.
I can get that some background is necessary to appreciate the play but the excessive details, of who was who and what was what, seem dispensable. Hamlet would not have stayed to hear these words, words, words
TBH, it's difficult to put up with these details about Renaissance and the hard to pronounce Renaissance stars..... whatever happened to the soul of wit professor?😕
No he doesn't. He provides context for reinterpretation (such as other, relevant Shakespeare plays) and for casting off of lazy views of the character/play. What a smartarse comment.
I have been a high school English teacher for 38 years. I read the Variorum "Hamlet" every summer just for fun, and teach Hamlet every year to my senior class, both A.P. and regular. I have never been so bored in my life hearing anyone speak about Shakespeare or Hamlet. His reading from Shakespeare's text is wooden and barely shows understanding of the words. His audience is pretty quiet; his students must be sleeping. He directs students to the text by citing page numbers?! I don't know one high school English teacher who uses page numbers; we admonish our students not to do this, but rather, to refer to the play by act, scene, line. I didn't find this lecture insightful or even the least bit interesting
PAUL CANTOR'S LECTURES -HAMLET AND ALL OF HIS LECTURES-ARE SUPERB -HAVE CHANGED LIVES FOR THE BETTER-EXCEPTIONAL UNDERSTANDING-this 'likespurple ' person doesn't have a clue-and is ignoramus
Oh, I didn't know you had to be an accomplished actor to teach Hamlet. I've listened to a bunch of lectures and I appreciate the way he runs through the lines quick and easily without a lot of fuss. I want an analysis, not a stage show.
I have just learned of Professor Paul Cantor's death in 2022 on Wikipedia. I've been listening to Shakespeare's plays and Cantor's lectures and the lectures add so much to my understanding of these plays.
I did come here to praise Professor Cantor and offer my gratitude to his generosity in sharing his wisdom. R.I.P.
"I loved the man and do honour his memory on this side of idolatry, as much as any." RIP Prof.
I just love Professor Cantor and his lectures on Shakespeare ... thank you so much for sharing these jewels of LITERATURE ANALYSIS with the world ...
Excellent - I've learned so much. Thank you, Professor Cantor, for allowing your lecture to be filmed.
My Heart deeply blessed .THANKS A MILLION, PROFESSOR CANTOR
Professor Cantor's lectures are always so lively . Thanks for your insights into Shakespeare's plays.
Your lectures are very hepful to understand in deepth Shakespeare's plays. Thank you!
Great lecture, thank you very much.
Amazing lectures! Thank you very much for posting.
This is an incredible analysis of the play. Thank you, professor - this lecture has been invaluable in deepening my understanding of one of my favorite works by Shakespeare
Thank you Professor Cantor!
Thank you for your help. RIP
Dr. Cantor's interpretation of Hamlet in fact being very ambitious and biding his time to take the throne without stain is a great interpretation.
This is great stuff, thank you
I have read, seen, listened to, and yes been in Hamlet. The Professor examines the "peculiar" nature of The Prince in an enlightening and compelling way; until you watch this, you are not fully loaded for BEAR.
What's Bear?
Thank you professor
Thank you so much
Trivia point, but it seems Donatello's bronze "David" (at the Bargello) was the first free-standing nude (although it has boots and a helmet) since the Renaissance, not Tullio's "Adam" @5:35
~20:00
The basic structure of Hamlet’s battle with Claudius is clearly an iteration of Osiris, Set and Horus. Shakespeare makes two or three distinct references to this. The Norse probably informs more details directly but the pattern goes back several thousand years.
What references does Shakespeare make to that?
Please tell us more!
Sorry for the passing away of professor Cantor.
Can someone tell me which book of which Brauer here had talked about in here? Many thanks.
Rest in peace, Professor. I wish I had left a comment thanking you for these lectures when you could have read it. Sorry.
Whenever I hear scholars complain that Hamlet doesn't rush to kill Claudius (and they do this a lot!) I want to ask them how they expect him to accomplish it. It's like saying you want to kill the president. Not so easy! These guys are guarded and I suspect Claudius is even guarded against family. You check your dagger at the door when you enter the king's presence, something I suspect most Elizabethan audiences took for granted but never seems to occur to modern scholars. If I were staging the play, Claudius would always have armed guards around him, the way Coppola always had the muscle shadow Michael in Godfather 2. We might also consider that Hamlet might want to get away with killing Claudius, as Claudius himself got away with killing Hamlet Sr., without which it might be thought it's not much a vengeance.
Diego Bovey Mendez which he should be going through. Murder shouldnt come easy even if its for revenge.
Hamlet’s delay has nothing to do whatsoever with external or material difficulty. That is completely irrelevant.
That's not the point at all!
In the lecture on Caesar, Cantor referenced Hegel's definition of tragedy as having to choose between two goods. Since Hamlet is a tragedy, what are the two goods that Hamlet is trying to choose between?
The classical revenge/honor code vs the Christian forgiveness code?
Jerry Kitich obviously that’s not the only definition of tragedy though.
@@clevercat9774 yes it is. Any tragedy play can fit that definition.
@@charlesboyer6623 Hamlet ever thought of forgiving Claudius? You are kind😊
1:00:12
Gravediggers scene
Quintessence of dust
Thank you very much from Sankt Petersbourg,Russia!
22:57
RIP
@35:00
Shame does not have a cc
42:35, 19:05, 45:40
Hey hey hey hey Billy Crystal is great as the gravedigger, the only off performance is jack lemmon as marcellus
+Noah Spencer Could not agree more.
+Noah Spencer Jack Lemmon is terrible in the film, he can't speak the verse, doesn't understand the character and is doing 'method acting' in a renaissance play. An embaressment.
@105316394872439663387 Is it even method acting? To me he just spoke really fast and sounded robotic as hell
I agree that Crystal is terrific. He's completely understandable, clearly understands what he's saying, and genuinely funny. Lemmon is just a little past his prime to be standing a sentry post or keeping up with the high power talent in the film. I thought Williams was less effective, as much because he wasn't actually on the set with everyone else as anything else.
ABSOLUTELY!!!! I nearly spat out my food when I heard him say it was bad casting.
I thought it read Derek Jarman at the beginning and thought this might be interesting.
Although apropos for an undergraduate course at a very elite university, the tacit hypothesis formulated as "political marriages don't work" is outside the cited political sources. The mechanics of political marriage are found neither in Machiavelli, nor Aristotle, nor Hegel, and esp. not Nietzsche. A better conclusion is that a close study of Shakespeare and his plays.inspires a belief that the only marriages that might work are those where one partner is away most of the time.
D'autres candidats à l'agrégation 2023 ici ?
Oui oui.
This guy is smart!
the other videos have a transcript but this series of Hamlet does not. it's very inconvenient
Th Russian version is named Gamlet because the Russian language doesn't know the consonant"H. If Russians encounter this consonant they usully spell it as a "G".
Sorry, but I read a negative comment on his delivery. I find his name appropriate. A Cantor he is, I love watching him, listening, enjoy his interjections; notice when reading the text it is tone perfect, precise and always, as Hamlet would say, correct.
Hamlet was a solid 100 years after Leonardo. By Shakespeare’s time the high renaissance was gone.
I hope this doesn't sound rude, but I don't know why this professor completely ignores the history of Danish invasion and laws in England in the eleventh century, as if Hamlet wouldn't be some allusion to that in England? Why is he focused on Greek influence of Homer's Iliad or Odyssey? I don't find that kind of connection nearly as blatant as the actual possession of large parts of England by the Danish tribes in the year 1000 until before the Norman invasion... Anyone else help here?
While the Amleth of Saxo Grammaticus was a Medieval legend, Shakespeare's Hamlet was contemporary.
It's either your lectures are so complete that no questions are necessary or your UVA students are unable to formulate an intelligent one. Could be both.
His UVA students can’t formulate any questions here because he’s lecturing at Harvard. Nice try tho.
Why dies Prince Hamlet feign madness? The play does not provide any sensible explanation. It makes no sense.
He imitates Lucius Junius Brutus who feigned madness in the court of the Tarquin kings according to Livy. Brutus was a key player in overthrowing the tyrant and establishment of the Roman Republic. Hamlet is less of a threat if people think him mad.
Hamlet's feigned madness is an element of the story going all the way back to Saxo Grammaticus' Amleth.
I can get that some background is necessary to appreciate the play but the excessive details, of who was who and what was what, seem dispensable. Hamlet would not have stayed to hear these words, words, words
TBH, it's difficult to put up with these details about Renaissance and the hard to pronounce Renaissance stars..... whatever happened to the soul of wit professor?😕
2nd to no scholar on the subject
The professor casts his net too widely for this lecture to be titled Hamlet.
The breadth is exactly why he CAN call it Hamlet and not something narrower.
No he doesn't. He provides context for reinterpretation (such as other, relevant Shakespeare plays) and for casting off of lazy views of the character/play. What a smartarse comment.
This net has been catching poor flies
Thanks professor Rowland!
The word he uses most is "aah". Intolerable.
It’s what he says between the Ahs that matters! So much meat in every thought, and an amazing amount of modesty.
I have been a high school English teacher for 38 years. I read the Variorum "Hamlet" every summer just for fun, and teach Hamlet every year to my senior class, both A.P. and regular. I have never been so bored in my life hearing anyone speak about Shakespeare or Hamlet. His reading from Shakespeare's text is wooden and barely shows understanding of the words. His audience is pretty quiet; his students must be sleeping. He directs students to the text by citing page numbers?! I don't know one high school English teacher who uses page numbers; we admonish our students not to do this, but rather, to refer to the play by act, scene, line. I didn't find this lecture insightful or even the least bit interesting
PAUL CANTOR'S LECTURES -HAMLET AND ALL OF HIS LECTURES-ARE SUPERB -HAVE CHANGED LIVES FOR THE BETTER-EXCEPTIONAL UNDERSTANDING-this 'likespurple ' person doesn't have a clue-and is ignoramus
Purple): If you're such an Shakespearean expert, post your own lectures, dork.
Oh, I didn't know you had to be an accomplished actor to teach Hamlet. I've listened to a bunch of lectures and I appreciate the way he runs through the lines quick and easily without a lot of fuss. I want an analysis, not a stage show.
He does both.
Petty. And a little disingenuous.
Soooooooooooooo many oh oh oh oh from the speaker.....that is very very unpleasant and tiring