Product Description

York Notes Advanced offer a fresh and accessible approach to English Literature. This market-leading series has been completely updated to meet the needs of today's A-level and undergraduate students. Written by established literature experts, York Notes Advanced intorduce students to more sophisticated analysis, a range of critical perspectives and wider contexts.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11710 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

From the Author
How this book came into existence.
I have been running teacher-training workshops on Shakespeare for years and was talking to a British Council Conference in Oxford about the highs and lows. I mentioned the sad prevalence of study AIDS amongst A-level students and how hard one had to work to steer students clear of pre-digested responses to the plays, their characters and Shakespeare's methods. A tactful publisher observed to me afterwards that since study AIDS wouldn't go away why didn't I try to write a goodish one to help limit the damage? This book was the result of that attempt: the most author-demanding textbook Lynn & I have written. Pruning seven hundred pages to just a hundred a fifty... What is there? As accurate a synopsis as we could manage, scene summaries and commentaries which attempt to point the way discussion might develop; some preliminary textual analyses for students to build on. We hope this will be a useful workbook for students to access alongside their studies of the play rather than read only at the revision stage (or instead of working the text at all).

Customer Reviews

Getting to the Heart of Hamlet?
This is one of the most thorough study guides on the market, not likely to confuse anyone and particularly well informed on the latest developments in critical approaches to the play though never too dense for the average school student to digest. The scene summaries and commentaries are models of clarity and precision whilst the textual analyses are searching, provocative and incisive. There is an excellent bibliography and useful pointers to websites, films and theatrical tradition. An invaluable introduction to advanced studies and a handy revision tool for teachers pressurised to work on the play at short notice!

This would be a good investment
I'm studying Hamlet at the moment and due to the nature of Shakespeare's over descriptive and complicated yet beautiful language, it's quite hard to follow and concentrate upon the plot. Though when I got this guide, I easily grasped what was happening and was able to concentrate more on the themes and language etc which you have to comment on in exams. It is helpful and gives lots of hints and info into what you're supposed to be focusing on in the scenes. It gives you ideas and pushes you in the right direction if you are struggling. It even has a glossary to simplify meanings and words. A more thorough understanding can be made from Hamlet and in the end you'll wonder why you didn't get this sooner. For five pounds, it's worth it, if you get an 'a' in your exams.

Nice clear summary of the action
The best aspect of this guide to Hamlet is the careful scene-by-scene summary of the action. The plot seems not so tricky to follow, after all. It's also good to be reminded of the significant differences between the quarto and folio versions of the play. Perhaps the authors should have devoted a bit more space to the really big issue raised by the play: the intermingling of good and evil in human existence. The assessment of Ophelia's character is strangely thin, as well. But it's very helpful, all in all.