Hamlet
Shakespeare
2007-03-13 13:42:34 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
He is just returning from school...even in those days 30 was a bit old to be in college.
He is treated like an adolescent by everyone around him, and therefore acts like one; he's whiny and is searching for answers. He is upset with his mother and his stepfather; and he is still unmarried and can't seem to make up his mind about what he wants.
Wait a minute...sounds like most of the 30 year old men I know today.
On second thought...it's not surprising that Hamlet is 30. He is just acting like a typical 30 year old man.
Sorry about that last part; I hope you don't need these answers for a school project.
2007-03-13 14:02:43 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
Well, it's kind of confusing to try to figure out how old Hamlet is in the play. The play starts with Hamlet taking a break from his studies at the University of Wittenberg to come home for the funeral. You'd think he was student age, 18-20, and he certainly acts like it. It's not until Act V, Scene I that we get the hints that he could be older; first with alas, poor yorick (who's been dead 23 years, and Hamlet remembers him) and then the gravedigger says he came into the job 30 yrs ago, when "young hamlet was born."
So there are a few ways you can go with that: one is that he's 30 in the whole play; another is that Shakespeare (or his editors) messed up (the play was probably written in fits and starts, and may never have been performed fully in the form we have now) so we could be seeing Hamlet from 2 different drafts, mixed together. Or, it could be that that break in the play where he went to England... maybe he was just gone a really, really long time (so he's 19-20 when he leaves and then 30 when he gets back.)
Or maybe he starts the play as one of those students who just never manages to graduate!
previous answer... hiliarious...lol most of the 30 yr old I know too!
2007-03-13 21:45:57 · answer #2 · answered by lalabee 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As Lalabee mentioned, the gravemaker had been hired 30 years before, the same year Hamlet Sr obtained some land (the graveyard?) by killing Fortinbras Sr. That's the main surprise. There's a motif in the play equating birth with death. For more details, see my essay, "The Womb of Earth, at http://academia.wikia.com/wiki/Motifs_in_Hamlet#The_Womb_of_Earth
Also the Player-King in the "Mousetrap" had been married 30 years (although some say it was 33 A.D.)
Also Jesus was crucified in 30 A.D.
I read somewhere that James VI used "30" as a code to refer to himself in his private correspondence. (I can't find a source for this on the internet. Can anybody verify it?)
2007-03-14 13:01:33 · answer #3 · answered by Ray Eston Smith Jr 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
lalabee has one of the better answers. But the question of Hamlet's age has confused scholars for many years. Perhaps the safe answer is to say that Hamlet is between 20 and 30 years.
In the first quarto (1603) he is said to be about 20 years.
In the second quarto (1604) he is said to be about 30 years.
Confused yet? Don't worry so are lots of other people.
2007-03-13 22:00:42 · answer #4 · answered by jcboyle 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well is that necessarily true? Hamlet is the quintessential adolescent - young adult. I always thought. Eh - who cares.
2007-03-13 20:46:30 · answer #5 · answered by Another Garcia 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because he is unmarried and a momma's boy just returning from college.
2007-03-13 22:09:04 · answer #6 · answered by Persiphone_Hellecat 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because he's been around for centuries.
2007-03-13 20:46:14 · answer #7 · answered by DonSoze 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because he acts like he's twelve!
2007-03-13 20:45:37 · answer #8 · answered by Moxie Crimefighter 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Are you serious....!!! Omg... but shakespeare is long dead so it's not too surprising
2007-03-13 20:46:00 · answer #9 · answered by midnight515 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
WHAT?! WHAT?! WHAT!?.....NOOOOOOO WAY!!!!!!
2007-03-13 20:47:10 · answer #10 · answered by jeninsocal 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋