Shakespeare: Protean Plays Final
Tyler Stoltenberg
English 339: Special Topics
Professor Wendy Wall
June 2008
Hamlet's Age
From Textual Notes of The First Quarto of Hamlet edited by Kathleen O. Irace
"In Q1 Yoricke was buried twelve years earlier, not twenty-three (as in Q2 and F, 5.1.173-174); it has also been twelve years since Hamlet's father killed old Fortenbrasse in Q1, thirty years in Q2 and F, the date of both Hamlet's birth (5.1.147-8) and the beginning of the Gravedigger's service as sexton (5.1.161-2). Q1 does not mention Hamlet's birth date- but this sequence implies that Q1's Hamlet is younger than his counterparts in Q2/F"
It is also interesting to note the difference in ages of the men playing Hamlet in these film versions.
Mel Gibson- 34
Kenneth Branagh- 36
Ethan Hawke- 30
Laurence Olivier- 41
HOME
