To be or not? (Who am I to Interpret Hamlet? Part 1 of 4)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is the first in a four-part series of blog posts, “Who am I to interpret Hamlet ?” June 16, 2019: To be or not? (Part 1: English Studies & Teaching) June 23: How Literally Did Shakespeare Take the Bible? (Part 2: Religious Studies & Assumptions) July 30: Reading Hamlet through personal & national traumas (Part 3: Lies & PTSD) August 6: Hamlet , PTSD & Entitlement (Part 4) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first sentence in Hamlet is a question that Bernardo asks Francisco: Who’s there? Bernardo is speaking out of turn because he has not yet replaced Francisco at his post, so Francisco quickly corrects him: Nay, answer me: stand, and unfold yourself. My college Shakespeare instructor (like many others) noted that perhaps the audience should feel the question is directed at all of us as well: Who are we, reading or viewing this play? And who am I to have a blog abou...