How do I write a focused essay on Hamlet?

The task of writing an essay on such well-trodden territory as Shakespeare's Hamlet is certainly a daunting one, and achieving a degree of originality is key to getting top marks.

Many students make the mistake of reading too much supplementary secondary criticism, and as a result, this overwhelms and inhibits the task at hand. It is all too easy to appropriate others' ideas, and examiners will penalise for a degree of plagiarism.

Your best bet is to start small. What interests you about the play? Is it Hamlet's soliloquies? Is it the ambiguous figure of the Ghost? Or is it something even more obscrue, yet totally fundamental to the synthesis of the play, like the figuration of the ear. If I were to write an essay on 'The Ear in Hamlet,' this is how I would go about it.

Start literally. The ear catalyses tragic events, since Claudius poisons his brother through the portal of the ear. Then think laterally. Claudius poisons the ears of his court by lying to them about the legitimacy of his rule.

Think even more laterally. The ear is situated within a somantic field including speech and sound. Discuss rhyme in the play. Discuss the dichotomy between sound and sight in relation to ascertaining knowledge. Can we trust what we hear and don't see? Can we trust that Hamlet's hearing of the Ghost validates its existence? Can we trust what we see and don't hear? The questions go on.

Start small. Use a selective group of secondary materials to supplement your own ideas. Don't be overwhelmed by the scale of the play. Keep the essay tight and focused, and this is the sure path to achieving top marks.