What happened at Elsinore before Shakespeare got there?

[Laurence]

When I participated in an online course, I was drawn into watching, reading, and thinking about Hamlet once again. In my bardian contemplation, I wondered about the detective story at the heart of the action. What if Hamlet gets it wrong? What if Claudius and Gertrude are not guilty as charged? Hamlet and we have the word of a questionable ghost to go on, and that’s all. The rest comes in speculation, interpretation, and gossip. How tragic would everything in Hamlet seem if Hamlet’s assumptions were untrue?

So I wrote about the Tragedy of King Hamlet, Prince Claudius, and Queen Gertrude and offer it to you now.

I have placed it under a Creative Commons copyright, so I can offer it freely to anyone who would enjoy reading and even performing the play.


You can ask me for a copy: lrcsmr@hotmail.com

Or you read it at or download from this site: http://www.scribd.com/doc/229761788/T...

[scherzo♫]

Laurence wrote: "...
Hamlet and we have the word of a questionable ghost to go on, and that’s all. The rest comes in speculation, interpretation, and gossip...."

Act III Scene III

CLAUDIUS
O, my offence is rank it smells to heaven;
It hath the primal eldest curse upon't,
A brother's murder.

Sounds guilty to me.

[Laurence]

Good point. Why is a man of questionable guilt feeling guilty?

The play offers an answer.

[Leonard]

Thank you so much, Laurence, for this beautiful text! I very much like your concept of sketching the inception of young Hamlet’s tragedy. It reminded me of John Updike's Gertrude And Claudius. Oh and your rhymed prose is awesome!

Perhaps you could be interested in the play I have just published, which is based on the same assumptions as yours… But with a very different perspective! Unfortunately, it is only available in French for the moment. Please, take a look at the description: Fortinbras : Mais qui a tué Hamlet ?.



I will post a full book presentation in a separate thread. See you around!