‘Much evidence in the play that Hamlet deliberately feigned fits of madness’

‘In the play the only persons who regard Hamlet as really mad are the king and his henchmen’

‘the characters of Hamlet, and Derek Jacobi’s Claudius are both presented as robust, canary-haired, blue eyed men, resembling each other much more than either represents Hamlet, Sr. Although it is never fully explored in the film, the suggestion that Claudius is Hamlet’s actual biological father is present in this adaptation.’

‘Hamlet, in other words, is a well-rounded person; to kill Claudius, he has to narrow himself into a kind of action hero.’

‘It is very difficult to generalise about ‘Hamlet’ because every observation will have to admit the opposite’

‘There are more Hamlets than actors to play them’

‘The cunning and lecherousness of Claudius’ evil has corrupted the whole kingdom of Denmark’

‘Between knave and fool, most performances fall to one side or the other’

‘If this ghost turns out to be one who clamours for revenge, then we have every reason to suppose that Shakespeare entertained some grave doubts about him’

‘Hamlet is a great scenario, in which every character has a more or less tragic and cruel part to play, and has magnificent things to say'

‘The scenario is independent of the characters; it has been devised earlier… that is why the scenario of Hamlet can by played by different sorts of characters’

He sees it pictorially, not as the problem of an individual at all, but as something greater and even more mysterious'

Every character has an irrevocable task to fulfill, a task imposed by the author’