"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"

. . . and this study group plans to get to the bottom of it! We will engage in a close reading and lively discussion of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, often regarded as his most profound and provocative play--and one of the glories of English literature. From there we’ll explore the play’s historical and cultural contexts, its theatricality, and some of the critical and artistic responses it has provoked over the centuries, especially in our own time, including film adaptations and literary responses. We expect to host a guest speaker or two and enjoy a tour of The Newberry Library's Shakespeare collection, which includes the 1623 First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays, the only copy in Chicago. We’ll end by watching and discussing Hamnet, the award-winning 2025 film that imagines "Hamlet" as an expression of Shakespeare’s grief over a lost son: "the rest is silence."