Ghosts, Murder, and More Murder - Hamlet Part 1: Crash Course Literature 203
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- čas přidán 12. 03. 2014
- In which John Green teaches you about Hamlet, William Shakespeare's longest and most-performed play. People love Hamlet. The play that is, not necessarily the character. Hamlet is a Tragedy with a capital T (I guess I don't have to point that out since you can see clearly in the text that the T was capitalized). By Tragedy, I mean virtually everyone dies at the end. John will talk a little bit about the history of the play and the different versions of it that have appeared in the centuries since it was written. You'll also learn about some of the big themes in the play, get a brief plot overview, and the all-important connections between Prince Hamlet and Simba, the Lion King. Seriously though, The Lion King is totally just a Hamlet musical with animals instead of people.
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He was a student, of course he'd procrastinate until the last moment.
😂
Why does this sound so relatable?
@@syedzaid5771 why is my profile relatable to yours ?
my exam on hamlet is tomorrow... I’m revising now yay
Ouch...
To paraphrase a former high school English classmate of mine, Hamlet comes home from university and finds his father dead and his mother married to his uncle. Worst... spring break... ever.
RenardeBlanche John Green was just saying something like that when I read your comment. Oh poor Hamlet. 😅
Dang 😂
I never read hamlet in school, so the revelation that the Lion King is basically a modern animated version of Hamlet just...blew my mind.
A modern version... thankfully without all the, you know, literally everybody dying in the end. But yeah, I never realized that either!
Sth to blow your mind once again: kinda seems that Lion King 2 must be Romeo and Juliet than :D
Timoncrantz and Puumbanstern??
@@2b-coeur It's not an adaption, it simply uses the architecture and turns it into a bouncy castle. Hamlet is much, much better.
It is a ripoff of a ripoff of Hamlet...
Its based on an anime, that Disney did the English dub for I believe, about a lion...
The plot is the same plot as the Lion king I believe. Just stretched across several seasons...
I always took Hamlet's delay as quite logical. How can he kill the King and survive (and not burn in Hell), as well as retrieve his rightful position as King? He tries his best to get evidence but in the end realizes there is no way. He finally has clear cause for revenge only after he has been poisoned. This finally frees him to act, confidant he has justice (and hopefully God) on his side.
I wish they'd just go ahead and make a crash course Shakespeare
i second this, make it happen
MAKE IT HAPPEN
Ethan Thompson n
the numbers
Do it!
I actually laughed like hell when he said: "to die, to sleepe, IS THAT ALL??" haha so funny.
Bad Cattitude e
Hamlet was an emo before it was cool...
Being an emo is never cool
OOOOOOOOOHHH!
+Dick ‘Nightwing’ Grayson WILL YOU PLEASE TELL THAT TO DAMIEN ALREADY I MEAN DAMN THAT KID IS A PIECE OF PLYWOOD WITH EMO AL GHUL WRITTEN ON IT.
Josh Kelley damnit I was gonna say that XD
Hamlet wasn't an emo lol. Hamlet was a devious ruthless tragic bastard. He wasn't an emo.
I wonder if Shakespeare ever sat through a six hours version of his own work
He is famous and if he was alive, I hope he's not like what people are nowadays.
Well, he ran a theatre, so you'd think he did.
He actually played Hamlet's ghost in a production of it. He played minor roles in several of his plays.
Bring back Crash Course Literature please.
GOOD NEWS! Its coming!
+Collin Barry Kamp I saw John tell someone on a vlogbrothers video, I think. I can't really remember.
***** they put up a video on it a few days ago :)
To be, or not to be, that's the point, to die, to sleepe, IS THAT ALL?
Reawaken :3 I couldn't help think that last part was a question the actor told himself, while scratching his perpelxed head.
MrGhaundan told himself or asked himself?
Eva Burnz Asked himself. Like someone was typing it while he recited it and then musing to himself asking "was that all?"
@@MrGhaundan It's Will Shakespeare, so you cannot ignore the sense of humour. Gotta love the idea of people finding that especially profound. Shakespeare, a true master of poetry, was laughing his head off. 'To be or not to be...' lol.
People read and perform Shakespeare more or less seriously, which is an egregious error. He is full of ale and fun.
Oh man, I have to imagine that having John Green as a teacher would be both awesome and full of information.
For a teacher, I'd go for Stephen Fry, personnaly
I remember watching 'The Lion King' with my parents when it came out and my mom sitting next to me saying, "Isn't this Hamlet?"
"To be, or not to be: that's the point
To die, to sleep...is that all?"
Dying of laughter! 😂😂😂
Good thinking of old Bill to change the name of the protagonist from "Omelette" to "Hamlet"
I sincerely hope that was a Something Rotten reference.
I've just discovered this section of Crash Course, and I'm watching this to distract myself from doing my Literature homework (which, ironically, is about doing research on yet another one of Shakespeare's plays).
And then I see this. If that was indeed a Something Rotten reference, then I absolutely platonically love you for it.
I got excited too for the Something a Rotten reference but the Prince’s name was actually Amleth which sounds a whole lot like omelet but is not. Hence him saying it was 80% of the way to pig latin for “Hamlet”
you didnt acknowledge that timone and pumbaa are interpretations of rosencrantz and guildenstern
you: Hamlet
me, an intellectual: ໐๓ēlēt 👁️👄 👁️
When life gives you eggs
TheTheatreQueen make lemonade
You're just hungry...
How is John from the past wearing a The Fault in Our Stars shirt if he's in the past? It only came out 2 years ago.
Please refer time travel paradoxes to Hank and the science people. -stan
So I've thought about it and have come up with several possible explanations. (In increasing order of probability) A. John is an incarnation of the Doctor in Timeord form. This one is unlikely because it would mean that John would either have to go back in his own timeline to give the shirt to his earlier self which is dangerous on its own or go forward in his own timeline to get the shirt which may be problematic and just seems pointless. B. John is an incarnation of the Doctor in human form and his Spanish TFiOS shirt is his version of the fob watch and has a perception filter on it which would explain why he did not recognize it as being the cover of his book two years ago to the present. Finally the most probable theory C. John from the past is actually an actor portrayal of John from the past which removes the paradox in this whole discussion.
P.S. If you don't watch Doctor Who, none of this will make any sense.
QTHERESSERECTION We know he has a time machine from the Swindon Town videos...
QTHERESSERECTION The TFiOS shirt is actually in Portuguese (it's the Brazilian cover of the book). As a Portuguese, it's really weird and awesome to see that cover in Portuguese, specially since the Portuguese cover is so different than the original, which is so much better.
But I think you're right, John Green is probably a Time Lord but it's more probable that it's actually a dramatic portrayal of John from the past (hence his appearance in the end).
+HamzaSayedAli Everyone knows that young John Green was a clairvoyant who was into shameless self promotion
"isn't it just like a super long play about a guy who never makes up his mind?" all I heard was my life summarized in 1 sentence
I thought he was saying Omelet
The22g me too
SOMETHING ROTTEN
@@BatdadIsBestDad I understood that reference
As a professional stage actor, I think I can confidently say MOST stage actors are that actors mouthing everyone else's lines.
Very true... Lol. After we'd been rehearsing for a while my director was like "Abbie, I know you don't know that you're doing this, but you're messing up all of our takes because you're mouthing other people's lines. Please stop." She looked a little exhausted lol
Abigail Langford lmao. Literally happened in the 3vocal rehearsals. To prevent this we had to spend a good 2 hours just for one line
I liked this Crash Course Hamlet so much more than the Odyssey. This uses more specific examples, and I'm glad to see it is long and in two parts.
Thanks John, really well done.
wait the lion king is a retelling of Hamlet? -_- I never noticed that
so it was a loose retelling
yes it is and wow😒
The Lion King 2 must be Romeo and Juliet lol
I believe that Lion King 2 is loosely based on R&J. Lion King 1 and a half is essentially Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Someone at Disney REALLY likes their Shakespeare.
YEP!
I think my favorite experience in studying Hamlet (two springs in a row; first in my Senior Year of High school, the second in my second semester of college) is in watching the Kenneth Branaugh film, when my class LAUGHED when Polonius was killed. My professor actually paused in shock and asked why we laughed...
Even I don't really know why, but I guess it was the old defense mechanism at how sudden and somewhat goofy the performance came off. That and the riffing in high school. "Trololol! I'm not Claudius! I'm Polonius!"
My other favorite experience is when my youngest brother tried to convince me that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern didn't die. Ummm...no. I studied it twice in a row. They died. Trust me.
A great post Hamlet reading is Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. It's smart, funny, and has really interesting and deep themes especially for how short it is. There's also a fun movie based on it. Seriously if you like literature check it out.
Sell more mutton pies at the consession stand... the thought cafe animation of Shakespeare handing out pies is SO DAMN CUTE!
I have an exam on this play in an hour, just found this video, I could cry with happiness
I hope that there's a bit more in-depth discussion about Ophelia's character next week. She is fascinating, and Gertrude's monologue in Act IV, scene vii describing how and where Ophelia died is one of the most amazing snippets of literature I have ever read.
the preview image thingie for next week appears to be Ophelia lying in the water, so I'd say we're probably going to get some more of her. I'm hoping for more Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, myself
Personally I'd like to explore Gertrude, but really any side characters would be great
The supporting characters are one of the things I love about Shakespeare.
mayanpaw That's a pleonasm....
Vote #scoobydoo for "The Greatest Dane"
Thank you crash course, you really did justice to hamlet by giving it more than one part!
I'm so glad this is being done in more than one part.
John Green is amazing. Author, crash course and lots more. This guy saved my ass in school and provided great books to write reports on. Thanks!
You guys should just do all of Shakespeare. Just do a Shakespeare crash course.
Young John wearing a t-shirt with a sentence in Portuguese. Cool!
I'm studying for my IB English exam and this is really helpful to refresh my memory of the play. Thank you very much John Green ! =D
Probably my favorite crash course video yet. The world needs teachers like John Greene and CGP Grey
It is only right now that I noticed the link between "purgatory" and "purge." Some Catholic and student of Milton I am!
Yeah...A lot of "Shakespeare's" work is unbelievably close to other works published shortly before his.
In fact, it's interesting how you brought up The Lion King considering how close it is to Kimba the White Lion.
Almost none of his works were original, in fact. But the thing is, that wasn't the point. It was about how he told it. Back then, they didn't care so much about the story being 100% original. That worry is a more modern one.
Hamlet is my favourite play ever and I can't wait for next week's part two. I actually didnt notice the closeness of the Lion King to it though, which really shocked me.
I don't know how to thank you guys for what you do. You are changing the world bit by bit and I enjoy every single one your videos. Simply put, I love you guys at CrashCourse ❤️
We are using this video as a reference in a theatre appreciation course to help students understand hamlet before they go into it. I have always loved your content. So grateful for the value you all have brought to the world. Just... thank you.
Great video, John. I really liked how the RSC's production of Hamlet with David Tennant addressed the idea of surveillance. They chose to have a modern setting, and the characters used security cameras and one-way mirrors to spy on Hamlet. I also liked the PBS series "Shakespeare Uncovered." Tennant hosted the episode on Hamlet, and one of the things he talked about was how Hamlet was aware of the tragic revenge hero story, and how knowing he would probably die too if he killed his uncle affected his decisions.
this is amazing. i used it in an English internal and it was the main reason i passed and did well.....
you are amazing John Green.... just amazing.......
Oh my god, I dig the thought bubble. So immersive, with the visuals and audios - created a beautiful scene of denmark in just a few minutes.
I'd like to say Thank you John. All of the books for this season of Crash Course I've already read at some point.
Loving the Portuguese on John Green's top btw (even if it is just the translation of The Fault in Our Stars). Fun fact: it literally translates as "the fault is from the stars"
"The Greatest Dane, Scooby Doo"
Quality content.
This was perfectly timed! We are reading Hamlet in my Lit class, this helped a lot with the understanding of Shakespeare's use of English!
I really like this video and not only because John Green is the narrator. John makes some really good points on what Shakespeare is trying to say and what was the overall concept of the play . He tells about how it is not only about Hamlet not being able to make up his mind , it's about executing his vision . I like how he said that hamlet is about watching and being watched , i never thought of that.
this is a highschool student's dream.. wish i had this when i was in high school...
To really understand Shakespeare you need to understand history, especially the history of Elizabethan England and the mindset of people back then. Another taking the throne away from the natural heir was thought to upset the established order (As You Like It) and order had to be restored.
Telling, given that the Queen had no natural heir. Thanks for this comment. I'd not thought of that angle before.
Dear John Green! thank you very much for the Hamlet videos. They are a very big help to understand it or at least ask the right questions and to have the right ideas to think about. Thank you very very much! (even though I am not a native English speaker and had to watch the clips twice ^^)
Loved this! Thank you all for making it.
When are you going to do Macbeth?
RIGHT
Cocoabea When is he going to do what?
Commissar_Dan damn you, you strange sister!
Insincere endorsement: You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have heard him in the voice of elcor.
THIS IS FANTASTIC. I have an AP Literature and Comp. test tomorrow over Hamlet and this totally saved my butt.
Loved the emphasis on surveillance and mirroring - that's one reason why the set design of the stage production of David Tennant's RSC run of Hamlet (which was a mirrored floor and a wall of mirrors which opened) and the integration of a ton of CCTV cameras in the filmed version were so brilliant to me. I also loved the shoutout to The Lion King - my favorite Disney movie (partially because Hamlet is my favorite Shakespeare play, lol).
I think I have a new favorite Crash Course episode, too ;)
The Scottish Play is the best of Shakespeare in my opinion.
You don't happen to mean MACBETH do you...
+bloodsucker1186 **earthquake**
+ForeverRepublic It definitely competes with Hamlet; I'll give it that -- along with Lear, which, interestingly enough, may be the more superior of the three.
@@methylphosphatePOET I saw a musical interpretation of Macbeth once, produced by Mauro Pawlowski. I yet have to see another play that is just as epic as this version of Macbeth.
methylphosphatePOET Im not sure, the prodigious beauty of Hamlet is incomparable and inimitable. Hamlet is the greatest miracle in literature. But i agree, Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth and Othello are Shakespeare at his best. Im also quite fond The Tempest, even if it is artistically inferior to the four greatest tragedies. The Tempest could be called physics fiction (and not science fiction).
How can John from the past have a TFiOS and why is it in Portuguese?
I find it amazing how different your take on Hamlet was than how my senior English teacher saw it. And, also, I find it funny how u both sound so positive when contradicting each other :) Thanks for making me think more, John. I can't wait for next week!!!!
This viedo has been the best video explaining Hamlet, it goes so in depth and detailed about everything. Its weird to say it made me like Hamlet even more.The summary was brief and I would really recommend this to somone who doesn't understand Hamlet.For instance in this video make me understand why everyone was watching after everyone. Shakespeare made me wonder why he did what he did , including religion on his own in this story and question myself to thing differently and more about scenes.
I know it is long, but I do love the Kenneth Branagh film version - it is so gorgeous.
I didn't knew Robin Williams was in a romantic movie
Leif Bradshaw my favourite celebrity appearance would have to be Charlton Heston, who seems not to realise that he could ever so gently be being sent up as the ham-fisted senior actor. The whole film is done in 70mm too. Sigh.
Do Anna Karenina and 100 Years of Solitude :D
These newer videos have been amazing. I actually enjoy the literature episodes a tiny bit more than the history ones, but that's splitting hairs. Thanks for posting!
I don't think I fully understood the story until this video - thanks John! Can't wait for part 2. :)
It's sad how John Green seems to be really on top of literature...
And wrote A Fault in Our Stars.
Goddamn, that's a step, ain't it?
Why does John Green from the past has a t-shirt of a book that John Green of the future wrote in the future? Does John Green has a time machine wich allows him to bring himself from the past to the future. So he could teach himself to stop being annoying and start being intelligent as the John Green that we know today? So what we're watching is not John Green talking to us but to himself. That makes perfect sense!
Spot on
Just like an earlier poster, I also noted John Green's anachronism of portraying his past self wearing merch from his present work which was translated to imply broad future consumption. Bravo.
Awesome video, thank you for not over simplifying this brilliant play. :)
7:41 I wonder what Hamlet and Pirates of the Caribbean would really look like.
If you say Hamlet in the Crash Course Indianapolis office does it count towards the staff pork chop fund? Because... ya know... ham?
Hamlet is one of my favorite plays, along with A Streetcar Named Desire and Death of a Salesman.
I'm so glad I was able to study this in Senior English.
Dear Crash Course: I love these videos and I'm really happy that you're continuing this course, but I miss the old set with the chalkboard.
You should make a CrashCourse on Macbeth! (Because I am teaching it next semester and my students would love it. Also, I would love it.)
Hello I need to Theme or things that are important to this play Hamlet because after two days in a very difficult test, and I need help ☹️💛💛.
When will there be part 2???? This is awesome. (I have a test on this)
Thank you thank you thank youuu ,, this literature series has literally changed my liiiife ,,, I’m pregnant and had a mild blue-ish phase and the discussion tragedy for some unknown reason lifted my spirit ... I think it’s because I felt I had a “tragedy of time” having only these 9 months to fully celebrate an era that’s ending (my husband and I being just two ) anywhoooooo thanx a million you have lifted my spirits and changed my perspective towards life . (And obviously a big thank you to Shakespeare)
Geeking out over the books on his desk... Kavalier and Clay, Titus Groan and Love in the Time of Cholera are three of my all time favorite books! It's so rare to find anyone who's read any Mervyn Peake.... John Green you are my bookish brainy crush forever!
I just made a video analyzing the character of Claudius. I hope that it will help some of you students preparing for exams!
The Rugged Pyrrhus Sounds very interesting, I`ll ceck it out after the Crash Course Videos about Hamlet
John green wearing a the fault in our stars tshirt
really?
I saw that. Did he write the book? lol
yeah i guess
Loved this! Hamlet is my favorite play from Shakespeare.
Thank you very much, Mr, Green, I am not studying literature, it's not a mainstream subject in Hong Kong(where I live), but I have always been curious what's so great about Shakespeare's play that it's still playing in the theatre after all these years, thanks for helping me understand more about Hamlet, Elizabethan English isn't easy for us non native English speakers, love your history videos too, hope to see more of this, thank you very much, it's very well made
THAT'S THE BRAZILIAN FAULT IN OUR STARS SHIRT. GOD.
If an older version of yourself is wearing a shirt that is the cover art of a book you yourself will write, and it's in a different language. Does that mean your past self is a fan of your writings in Portuguese?
Corey Carnes
That was actually "Me from the past" wearing the t-shirt!
I meant older as in past events older not as in age older. I realize it was an ambiguous statement and I apologize.
Corey Carnes
That is not an "ambiguous" state meant, it just doesn't makes sense if you don't say "past self". Things from the past are younger not older since they are in a past state, but when talked about later they are older; that is what make your statement not make sense at all.
Yeah, the dude is the author actually :) I mean, FOR REAL, he wrote that book :)
Wait. How can John from the past have a Portuguese "A Fault in Our Stars" shirt if he has hadn't written it yet???
literally reading this now for AP Lit, thank you thank you thank you!!!
Thank you, John Green. I'm using your wonderful videos to teach Shakespeare remotely during this dreadful time. I appreciate your insights.
Welllllll Marlowe was in the same business as Shakespeare yes, so you'd think they were competitors, but actually the two of them were quite good friends.
I'm severely shocked that William Shakespeare did not write Bill and Teds Excellent Adventures
+Hannah Brennan - That was the 17th Earl of Oxford. ;)
He did, it was a autobiography in which his friend features heavily
I really like the whole Literature course, and it inspired me to create my own youtube channel - thank you Crash Course ;)
I actually watched the entire video. Well done sir. I salute you for making this enjoyable.
Many Hamlets, but the best Hamlet: The one who looks like David Tennant. (Also the PBS/BBC produced movie/film with him is amazing. Its on Amazon pretty cheap)
I saw that 7:06. Sneaky.
God damn I owe you everything! You helped me pass my Chemistry final, and now you will help me pass my literature extraordinary!
This is the first episode I have seen and I am hooked! This video is great stuff and very enjoyable! I will be subscribing and liking this video as well.
Who else is watching this as a preparation for Benedict Cumberbatche's performance as Hamlet? :) I am going to watch it tonight in a cinema!!! I love NT Live!!
I literally just got back, I was looking for a comment! I saw it in Dublin, Ireland. I thought he was spectacular, what did you think?
+Ellen Collins i thought it was breathtakingly spectacular!!! It was such an amazing performance by Ben and the other cast. And the costumes and the stare looked sooooo good!! I was blown away!!
+Ellen Collins I saw it in Geneva, Switzerland. :)
I saw it at the Barbican (birthday treat from the fam) and it was actually brilliant! I was so worried it'd be another cumberbatch-as-antisocial-sherlockesque-character production but it just showed what a brilliant actor cumbetbatch actually is. The atmosphere in the theatre was so intense, it was great.
LION KING = HAMLET
** MIND BLOWN **
ANNOYING
Open letter is so good and concise in this one. Explains Lion King so quick
I can't wait for part 2. :)
two words....Lion King
OH MY GOD THE ECHO.
JOHN GREEN I LOVE YOU BUT FIX THE ECHO
I'm very happy that they made a second series of CC Literature!
Studying Hamlet in Sixth Form and then seeing the RSC production starring David Tennant cemented my interest in Shakespeare and also how good writing can be. Hamlet is incredible. Awesome play, rle opened my eyes to how intelligent Shakespeare rle was