Kronborg Castle in Denmark, often called Elsinore. It has been used in numerous films and has also seen many live performances of Shakespeare's Hamlet, including one to mark the 200th anniversary of his death in 1816.
Welcome to "Elsinore in Ashmore."
This site was originally created for the Year 12 students of Aquinas College, Ashmore in Queensland. Its purpose was to prepare our students for an examination upon some of the key ideas in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. However, I have moved on and welcome other students from schools right across the digital world. If you find the content useful, please "Like" the site above on Facebook.
Simon McKenzie
eLearning Manager
Faith Lutheran College, Tanunda SA
Please Note: To avoid confusion, when referring to the title of the play, this will appear in italics, Hamlet. The name of the character Hamlet will appear in "normal" font.
The Melancholy Prince
Hamlet is undoubtedly one of the immortal characters of world drama. Some of the greatest actors of the modern age have portrayed the Danish prince; Lord Laurence Olivier, Sir Derek Jacobi, Sir Ian McKellen, Sir John Gielgud, Kenneth Branagh, Richard Burton, Jude Law and of course, Mel Gibson.
But, did you know that other "less likely" performers have also "worn the black" in order to play Hamlet. The role has been taken on by one time Doctor Who David Tennant, Kevin Kline, Sarah (yes, Sarah) Bernhardt, Ethan Hawke and even Edwin Booth (yep ... the brother of Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth.)
There have been around 80 different film versions in a range of languages including Chinese and Russian. Then of course there is the musical Hamlet which made it to Broadway, films based on Hamlet (...The Lion King) and even an opera by Tchaikovsky!
At least you don't have to sit through that!
BUT ... I bet some of you go off and watch The Lion King again.
What is "Melancholia?" To Hippocrates, the "Father of Medicine," it was actually a fully diagnosed "illness." The symptoms included all "fears and despondencies" endured over a long time. (Sure sounds like Hamlet to me!)
But, did you know that other "less likely" performers have also "worn the black" in order to play Hamlet. The role has been taken on by one time Doctor Who David Tennant, Kevin Kline, Sarah (yes, Sarah) Bernhardt, Ethan Hawke and even Edwin Booth (yep ... the brother of Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth.)
There have been around 80 different film versions in a range of languages including Chinese and Russian. Then of course there is the musical Hamlet which made it to Broadway, films based on Hamlet (...The Lion King) and even an opera by Tchaikovsky!
At least you don't have to sit through that!
BUT ... I bet some of you go off and watch The Lion King again.
What is "Melancholia?" To Hippocrates, the "Father of Medicine," it was actually a fully diagnosed "illness." The symptoms included all "fears and despondencies" endured over a long time. (Sure sounds like Hamlet to me!)
A VIDEO SYNOPSIS OF HAMLET: It might be short but if you haven't read or can't remember the play, simply watch the video from SparkNotes which appears below.
Incontrovertible proof that the newly diagnosed disease Twilightus Vampiricus has even attacked Shakespeare.
Elsinore in Ashmore: Studying Shakespeare's Hamlet by Simon McKenzie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Simon McKenzie is the Learning Technologies Coordinator at Aquinas College, Ashmore, Queensland 4214 Australia
