Kelly Minear

Dr. Pollock
Shakespeare the Pun-master and Hamlet the Sass-master

Lounging in the student workroom during my 8-10 PM shift at the Loras college library, I

sighed as I dug through my neat backpack, trying to decide which literary work to read first. As

an English major taking three literature classes this semester, I had a lot of reading to choose

from on this first night of school. I wondered whether I should start with Hamlet and see what

this Shakespeare business was all about. I had read Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar in high

school, and although the plays were difficult to understand, I enjoyed acting out Julius Caesars

death in my tenth grade English class. In my Medieval and Renaissance British Literature class

Id read Shakespeares sonnets and thoroughly enjoyed them. I reassured myself that I could

handle the reading. I grasped the small book and made sure I was comfortable before beginning

Act One.

I was somewhat familiar with Hamlet. By familiar, I mean I had heard of the play, was

familiar with the famous To be or not to be speech, and knew that the play was about someone

named Hamlet. I also recall watching a Veggie Tales episode that included a remake of Hamlet

called Omelet. The episode featured an indecisive prince trying to decide whether he should

share an omelet with the starving people living in his kingdom, or eat the omelet himself, since

the eggs were cooked light and fluffy just as he liked them. These thoughts and recollections

flowed through my head as I held the small, thick book in my hand. I cracked open the play to

begin reading, and after the first scene, I knew I was in for a treat. The first few pages went

slowly I was trying to understand the old-fashioned English but I flipped through the first

few pages with few bumps; I was understanding the main points. Hamlet was a prince, his father
had just died, his uncle had married his recently widowed mother eww and there was a ghost

somewhere? By the time I reached act one, scene five, I was completely invested and there was

no way I would leave work without finishing the play. The pages flew by; I did not break eye

contact with the text for an instant. When the ghost told Hamlet that he was the king and

described how Claudius had murdered him, I realized how shockingly dramatic this play was

going to be.

In the midst of my enthralling reading, I realized I had forgotten how Shakespeares plays

include extremely sassy characters, hilariously dramatic plots, and endless puns which caused me

to refer to Shakespeare as the original pun-master. My favorite pun sequence was when

Hamlet gets angry at Guildenstern in act three, scene two, and makes a triple pun about the

recorder. The classical humor in these puns never gets old, and because these jokes occurred so

frequently during the play, I could not help but laugh at each one. The reason these jokes made

me laugh so much was that I pictured these plays performed during the time period when

Shakespeare wrote them. The fact that people joked about the same things we laugh about today

was enough to make me chuckle.

Not only did the word play increase my fondness for this play, but also the thrilling plot.

Hamlet is bursting with suspense, revenge, and all the ingredients for a messy and exciting story.

The play was so filled with drama that it was almost like watching an exciting TV show, only

Hamlet is a rich piece of literature. I found myself so invested in the play that I could not stop

talking about it. I constantly bombarded my roommate, an accounting major, with quotations

from Hamlet, my predictions of what would happen next, and my adoption of Shakespeares

language and especially swear words into my vocabulary. My track teammates got updates on

Hamlet on each of our runs.

 So I was reading Hamlet today, and its getting super interesting! Hamlet is plotting

revenge, and he is so intricate in his planning! He wrote a play to test whether or not his uncle

Claudius is guilty of murdering his father. Guys, I wanna know what happens next! I exclaimed

in one rapid breath. Luckily my teammates are very supportive and understand my nerdiness;

they put up with this excitement each day of practice.

Another favorite part of Hamlet came in act three, at the end of scene two, when Polonius

goes up to Hamlet and tells him that his mother, the queen, is looking for him:

Polonius: My lord, the Queen would speak with you, and presently.
Hamlet: Do you see yonder cloud thats almost in the shape of a camel?
Polonius: By th Mass, and tis like a camel indeed.
Hamlet: Methinks it is like a weasel.
Polonius: It is backed like a weasel.
Hamlet: Or like a whale.
Polonius: Very like a whale.
Earlier in class the day I read act three, and Dr. Pollock, my professor, explained to the class how

religious words such as parts of the Catholic Mass could be mild swear words during the time

period when this play was written. I thought this was hilarious, and reading this section made me

laugh out loud. I read it to my friends, my roommate, and my teammates at practice, but they did

not see the humor as I did. Because I had been reading Shakespeare for a while, had footnotes

near me, and passages explained in class, I had an easier time understanding the passages. When

I quoted the play to my friends, the language was too much for them to understand when I

rapidly quoted my favorite parts of the play. Luckily, they took enjoyment in how much fun I

had reading this play.

 My excitement continued for the remainder of the play. Hamlet caught my attention from

the first scenes and kept me interested until the conclusion of the last scene of the final act. What

made me so interested in this play? What aspects made me continue reading until the thrilling

conclusion? For me, reading Hamlet was comparable to starting a new TV show on Netflix, and

becoming so invested that stopping becomes impossible. The play is so dramatic, and I could not

put it down because I had to know what would happen next. Like watching a reality TV show, I

was invested, and had to find out who was going home, who was going to be kicked off the

island, or, in the case of Hamlet, who was going to kill whom. As I mentioned before, one

element that drew me into the play and made me enjoy the play even more was Shakespeares

use of puns and figurative language. The play is a tragedy, but Shakespeare uses an endless

number of puns throughout the work that add comic relief and make the text enjoyable for an

audience to watch or for a reader to read.

Not only did the figurative language and puns entertain and cause me to become so

invested in the play, but they help to develop the characters as well. When I mention Hamlet to

most people, they usually mention Hamlets interesting character, unless they know nothing

about Hamlet. Hamlets character is somewhat contemplative and quiet, but he also has his fair

share of sass. This involves a variety of puns and figurative language that are used to develop his

character and add humor to the play. For example, in act one, scene two, Hamlet is talking to his

uncle Claudius and his mother, who are both questioning why he is still mourning his fathers

death. Hamlets responses are funny and sassy because of the use of puns:

King: But now, my cousin Hamlet and my son

Hamlet, aside: A little more than kin and less than kind.
King: How is it that the clouds still hang on you?
Hamlet: Not so, my lord; I am too much in the sun.
After reading this section, I imagined what my parents would say if I sassed them like this.

Maybe they would think I was clever if I used lots of puns when I argued with them. Other parts

of the play similar to this scene also allow me to place myself in Hamlets shoes and wonder

what I would do if I were in Hamlets situation. I also try and imagine a modern day situation

similar to Hamlets, and I try to picture what I would do in such a circumstance.

Reading Hamlet was a great experience, but watching the play was a completely different

experience. While reading the play, I was able to imagine the interpretations on my own, where

the film had its own interpretations. Some scenes helped me understand the play better, but

others confused me as they were completely different than what I pictured in my head. The

version we watched took an extremely dramatic approach to everything. I was surprised that

Hamlets character was portrayed so dramatically, when in the play he was relatively chill but

very sassy. When Hamlet became angry at the end of act two, scene two, I was surprised when

he swung his sword everywhere and smashed it against some rocks. I thought this seemed too

dramatic. My favorite scene in the movie was earlier in act two, scene two when Hamlet was

talking to Polonius. When Polonius asked what Hamlet was reading, his response was words,

words, words. The films interpretation of this scene was spot on and captured exactly how I

pictured Hamlets sass and character to be. I laughed out loud multiple times during this scene.

Hamlets exciting plot, filled with its dramatic characters lusting for revenge, pulled me

into this play right from the start. I found it easy to imagine myself in each characters position,

and finding out their clever solutions to the problems that the play presented was very exciting.

When I shared the latest plot updates from the play with my friends on the track team, I almost

felt as if I were sharing the latest gossip with them. This Hamlet gossip may have been more

exciting that traditional gossip; at least it was for me. One reason I enjoyed sharing lines, quotes,
and plot summaries from Hamlet is because of the figurative language, puns, and other language

devices used by Shakespeare in the text. These elements make the text so engaging that it is

entertaining for any person of any age, whether they witness a live performance right after it was

written, or read the text for a college class.