Editing Hamlet (section)

==Influence==
{{see also|Literary influence of Hamlet}}

''Hamlet'' is one of the [[Phrases from Hamlet in common English|most quoted]] works in the English language, and is often included on lists of the world's greatest literature.{{efn|''Hamlet'' has 208 quotations in ''[[The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations]]''; it takes up 10 of 85 pages dedicated to Shakespeare in the 1986 ''[[Bartlett's Familiar Quotations|Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (14th ed. 1968)]]''. For examples of lists of the greatest books, see [[Harvard Classics]], [[Great Books]], [[Great Books of the Western World]], [[Harold Bloom]]'s ''The Western Canon'', [[St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe)|St. John's College]] "Great Books" reading list,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sjc.edu/academic-programs/undergraduate/great-books-reading-list |accessdate=2024-05-29 |title=St. John's Reading List: A Great Books Curriculum |publisher=St. John's College}}</ref> and [[Core Curriculum (Columbia College)|Columbia College Core Curriculum]].}} As such, it reverberates through the writing of later centuries. Academic Laurie Osborne identifies the direct influence of ''Hamlet'' in numerous modern narratives, and divides them into four main categories: fictional accounts of the play's composition, simplifications of the story for young readers, stories expanding the role of one or more characters, and narratives featuring performances of the play.{{sfn|Osborne|2007|pp=114–133}}

[[File:Czachórski Actors before Hamlet.jpg|thumb|left|''Actors before Hamlet'' by [[Władysław Czachórski]] (1875), [[National Museum, Warsaw|National Museum]] in [[Warsaw]]]]

English poet [[John Milton]] was an early admirer of Shakespeare and took evident inspiration from his work. As John Kerrigan discusses, Milton originally considered writing his epic poem ''[[Paradise Lost]]'' (1667) as a tragedy.{{sfn|Kerrigan|1996|p=122}} While Milton did not ultimately go that route, the poem still shows distinct echoes of Shakespearean revenge tragedy, and of ''Hamlet'' in particular. As scholar Christopher N. Warren argues, ''Paradise Lost''{{'}}s Satan "undergoes a transformation in the poem from a Hamlet-like avenger into a Claudius-like usurper," a plot device that supports Milton's larger [[Republicanism|Republican]] internationalist project.{{sfn|Warren|2016|p=367}} The poem also reworks theatrical language from ''Hamlet'', especially around the idea of "putting on" certain dispositions, as when Hamlet puts on "an antic disposition," similarly to the Son in ''Paradise Lost'' who "can put on / [God's] terrors."{{sfn|Warren|2016|p=379}}

[[Henry Fielding]]'s ''[[The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling|Tom Jones]]'', published about 1749, describes a visit to ''Hamlet'' by Tom Jones and Mr Partridge, with similarities to the "play within a play".{{sfn|Thompson|Taylor|2006a|pp=123–126}} In contrast, [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe's]] [[Bildungsroman]] ''[[Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship]]'', written between 1776 and 1796, not only has a production of ''Hamlet'' at its core but also creates parallels between the ghost and Wilhelm Meister's dead father.{{sfn|Thompson|Taylor|2006a|pp=123–126}} In the early 1850s, in ''[[Pierre; or, The Ambiguities|Pierre]]'', [[Herman Melville]] focuses on a Hamlet-like character's long development as a writer.{{sfn|Thompson|Taylor|2006a|pp=123–126}} Ten years later, [[Charles Dickens|Dickens's]] ''[[Great Expectations]]'' contains many ''Hamlet''-like plot elements: it is driven by revenge-motivated actions, contains ghost-like characters (Abel Magwitch and [[Miss Havisham]]), and focuses on the hero's guilt.{{sfn|Thompson|Taylor|2006a|pp=123–126}} Academic Alexander Welsh notes that ''Great Expectations'' is an "autobiographical novel" and "anticipates psychoanalytic readings of ''Hamlet'' itself".{{sfn|Welsh|2001|p=131}} About the same time, [[George Eliot]]'s ''[[The Mill on the Floss]]'' was published, introducing Maggie Tulliver "who is explicitly compared with Hamlet"{{sfn|Thompson|Taylor|2006a|pp=126–131}} though "with a reputation for sanity".{{sfn|Novy|1994|pp=62, 77–78}}

In the 1920s, [[James Joyce]] managed "a more upbeat version" of ''Hamlet''—stripped of obsession and revenge—in ''[[Ulysses (novel)|Ulysses]]'', though its main parallels are with [[Homer]]'s ''[[Odyssey]]''.{{sfn|Thompson|Taylor|2006a|pp=123–126}} In the 1990s, two novelists were explicitly influenced by ''Hamlet''. In [[Angela Carter]]'s ''[[Wise Children]]'', ''To be or not to be'' is reworked as a song and dance routine, and [[Iris Murdoch]]'s ''[[The Black Prince (novel)|The Black Prince]]'' has Oedipal themes and murder intertwined with a love affair between a ''Hamlet''-obsessed writer, Bradley Pearson, and the daughter of his rival.{{sfn|Thompson|Taylor|2006a|pp=126–131}} In the late 20th century, [[David Foster Wallace]]'s novel ''[[Infinite Jest]]'' draws heavily from ''Hamlet'' and takes its title from the play's text.

<blockquote>There is the story of the woman who read ''Hamlet'' for the first time and said, "I don't see why people admire that play so. It is nothing but a bunch of quotations strung together."
{{in5}}— [[Isaac Asimov]], ''[[Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare]]'', p. vii, Avenal Books, 1970
</blockquote>