This essay will discuss several literary criticisms of Shakespeare's Hamlet. After flipping through several articles, I ended up with four peer-reviewed journal articles, each with a different critical perspective on the work: feminist, psychoanalytic/Freudian, moral, and new historicism. My previous studies of Hamlet, as well as my rereading of the play this semester, have overall given me a general understanding of the text. My familiarity with the work made it easier for me to decipher academic journals and see the connections each critic made to the work. I found it interesting that, after reading Hamlet so many times, there were connections that I had never made on my own. For example, the character Francisco only speaks nineteen lines at the beginning of the play, but Steven Doloff shows how significant they are. First, he "sees in Francisco's inexplicable remark, 'For this relief many thanks, 'It is bitter cold, / And my heart is sick' (Ii8-9), (1) a prefiguration of Prince Hamlet's melancholy " (Doloff). Shakespeare created this character to indicate Hamlet's prevailing sadness throughout the play. However, Shakespeare may have intended to give Francisco much more meaning. "The sentry's prefiguration of the prince can, in fact, be seen to extend even further, through Francisco's embodiment of a figurative injunction against suicide, variously found in well-known works of Shakespeare's time" (Doloff) . Looking back historically, Doloff finds in a school book used in Elizabethan times a comparison of the guardians of ancient forts as dutiful protectors of human spirituality against suicide. Unaware of this connection, when I read the play, I wondered whether people of Shakespeare's time would have been able to read the paper portions within the play. Others point out flaws within the game, offering fixes and reviews. Together, they create an interesting portrait of Hamlet, combining to transform a classic tale into a more modern one. Works Cited Cox, John D. "Hamlet in Purgatory." Christianity and Literature 51.2 (2002): 279+. Literary Resource Center. Network. December 12, 2013.Doloff, Steven. "Francisco, Hamlet and God's faithful watchmen." Notes and Queries 44.4 (1997): 498. Literature Resource Center. Network. December 12, 2013.Safaei, Mohammad and Ruzy Suliza Hashim. "Gertrude's Transformations: Against Patriarchal Authority." English Language and Literature Studies 2.4 (2012): 83-90. Communication and mass media completed. Network. December 10, 2013. Zimmerman, Susan. "Psychoanalysis and the corpse." Shakespeare Studies 33 (2005): 101+. Literary Resource Center. Network. December 11. 2013.