I have mixed feelings about it:
- it is far too long- when reading it, I lose track. Presumably the lengthiness is to indicate Hamlet's dithering, but still.
- I didn't think it was particularly tragic- especially not for Hamlet, who basically wrecks everyone.
- It has similar themes to Julius Caesar, which probably came just before it (What trash is Rome!) and is a much tauter, more visual work.
- Apparantly there's an Oedipus complex, which got lost in all the dithering.
However I did like:
- Ophelia. I'm not sure why her character's neglected so much.
- The musings on death
- Hamlet's immaturity: he cannot grow up. He toys with Ophelia and doesn't kill Claudius because that definitive action would force him to make a choice (and presumably leaves his mother open).
Why couldn't Shakespeare just edit the thing?!