Bowden represents Shakespeare’s works through a particularly set up chart. However the details must be carefully combed through to avoid an excessive amount. “Since we are concerned with structure, the less clutter of detail we have, the better… We need only enough detail to enable the conscientious student, in reviewing, to recreate the scene in his imagination.” says Bowden. It need be just enough to trigger a memory of what occurred in the scene previously. Such a method can easily be tarnished with an overuse of information. Bowden stresses that understanding the basic structure of Shakespeare’s work allows the reader to take in his work from a greater angle, thus providing the ability to observe its twists and turns far more carefully. Bowden states that the chart “[enables readers] to examine the basic structure of the play quickly and clearly, it has given us a review outline, and it has taught us something about the practical side of the playwright’s craft. It has also laid the foundation for further analysis in as much detail as we feel the play deserves”.
The structure of Hamlet has many different interpretations. For example, in Hamlet one could follow a distinct opinion, such as that of Lilly B. Campbell, who states that “Hamlet is a play about three young men who have lost their fathers.” In this instance a chart would be made aligning the three men’s characters with the action below. Bowden argues another approach would be to argue that Hamlet is “the story of the downfall of two families.” The once all powerful royal family and Polonius’s as well. A third angle would be revenge. This could be accomplished by breaking down the action into three categories says Bowden: “actions by Hamlet which are aimed toward revenge, actions by Hamlet which have nothing to do with revenge, and actions of other people.” The idea of revenge is built up over a two day period following the arrival of the players. In the entire play there is only one scene where Hamlet is either not present or spoken of. While readers knew Hamlet was a central figure did they realize just how often their attention is drawn to him? More and more questions arise as the basic structure is understood further.
The chart while remaining intact has many open spaces that allow the reader to make their own connections and form their own opinions but nonetheless, the basic structure is laid out. If a student were to make their own the instructor would end up with a diverse classroom filled with passionate students ready to argue their perspective. However, this hunger can be filled and avoided altogether if the instructor should choose to lay out the chart and format it to his or her own liking. Now students would be presented with what they may see as irrefutable evidence for a particular structure in the play. Not only due to the presentation of the chart but because of the credibility of their instructor. Hamlet may be just one work by one of the most brilliant men of our time but the interpretations and individual meanings had by his work can be as numerous as there are readers of his masterpiece. Bowden makes us consider what an individual mind will do with the evidence presented within the pages cannot be known until they themselves set up a structure in their mind and make connections perhaps never known before or previously explored.
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-Leticia
