Brunner, Tracy Anne.

Two main approaches dominate the literature about and the practice of teaching Shakespeare. These include performance pedagogy and teacher led line by-line interpretation of the text. Although both methods have advantages, class performance can be difficult to manage and line-by-line interpretation tends to kill the text for students. Used in conjunction with other pedagogical methods, New Historical study allows students the freedom of pursuing their own interests without straying into overly personal territory. Most importantly, New Historicism can help students to ground difficult texts into more understandable historical contexts. A New Historical reading of Hamlet is included, discussing the ways in which everyday tensions about Queen Elizabeth I's reign are reflected in Hamlet's character, particularly in many of his actions or characteristics that we often consider interpretively problematic.