How old is hamlet in the beginning of the play

There are some significant textual variations in the other versions though. For instance, in the first quarto, the conversation between Hamlet and the gravedigger is a lot shorter.

The general evidence from this scene suggests that Hamlet is And there are plenty of people who are satisfied with this answer. The university system was quite different to how it is today, so that most university students, and certainly most royalty, would have been at university in their teens, certainly not after they hit So is Hamlet a teenager, or is he 30? Ace your assignments with our guide to Hamlet!

SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. Is the Ghost real? Did Hamlet and Ophelia have sex? Who is Fortinbras? Was Hamlet really in love with Ophelia? Why does Hamlet encourage the actor to recite the speech about Pyrrhus and Priam? Does Hamlet consider suicide? Why is Hamlet so cruel to Ophelia? Isn't it reasonable to doubt the Clown's accuracy and veracity?

He is so precise in his colourful recollections that he seems too good to be true. When the baby was born in the palace perhaps the news seeped down to the populace that very day but would a mere boy place special significance on the event? News of the defeat of Fortinbras would not have arrived in Elsinore until many days or weeks after the actual battle. Are we to believe the boy grave-digger counted back to that date and found it coincided with the day he started work?

There is nothing to corroborate his statements so why swallow them hook, line and sinker? Something is rotting in the state of Denmark! While the Clown is digging the grave he throws up a skull. A little later he throws up another skull.

While he is talking to Hamlet he picks up a third skull. He says that this particular one is Yorick's skull:. Clown: Here's a skull now; this skull has lain in the earth three and twenty years. This same skull, sir, this same skull, sir, was Yorick's skull, the king's jester. Presumably he would need to know all three skulls individually to be able to declare so precisely who owned this one.

How does he do that? But is this one really Yorick's skull? It seems most unlikely:. Hamlet: How long will a man lie i' th' earth ere he rot? A tanner will last you nine year. Hamlet: Let me see. Prithee,Horatio, tell me one thing. Horatio: What's that, my lord? Hamlet: Dost thou think Alexander look'd o' this fashion i' th' earth? Horatio: E'en so.

Hamlet: And smelt so? Is "To be or not to be" really about Hamlet considering suicide or is he trying to make someone think he's considering it? What is the difference between a hamlet, village and a town? Hamlet, Is That You? Name the Player. One on One with Hamlet Hamlet. We ask our submitters to thoroughly research questions and provide sources where possible. Feel free to post corrections or additions.