The projection point is a good one. After all, how much more relatable does Hamlet’s dilemma of being asked to avenge his father becomes when I imagine someone telling a college kid that they better be a successful professional who’s top-dog in their field? In college, don’t we all want to stay borne on Yorick’s back a little longer before adulthood takes us off?

In high school English classes, students are taught to memorize and regurgitate “this characters flaw is their failure to act” etc etc but not where that flaw comes from or how that flaw can be found in the students own lives. I guess it’s empathy then for Hamlet’s particular lived experience that clues us in to this sort of paralytic self-consciousness that continues on today.