HAMLET – ’NOT OF AN AGE BUT OF ALL TIME’ – by Carmen Gomensoro

1599 was an anxious year for all inhabitants of England. Uncertainty prevailed as the aging Queen did not name an heir. Heavy taxes, the threat of war and famine contributed to this  atmosphere of  precariousness.

Nevertheless it was a period which produced many great plays. Hamlet  the play, is a product of this period, embodying all the fear and uncertainty the Elizabethans felt. It is at once a  private and  universal tragedy.

Hamlet has become a legendary figure in our culture prevailing in our collective imagination. We cannot watch or read Hamlet for the first time without being struck by a feeling of recognition. It resonates with a cultural echo. Therefore, it is at once of its time and of our time.

Carmen Gomensoro (TTC, AUCI) is a bilingual English teacher, specialized in Anglo-American Literature (BA in English, University of London), with a successful record teaching both junior and senior IB students in bilingual schools in Montevideo (Woodland’s School, St. Brendan’s, The British Schools).