Hamlet Costumes from Garrick to Gielgud

Summary

In the nearly two centuries that passed between Garrick’s first performance as Hamlet and the emergence of Gielgud’s interpretation of the Prince, much ink has covered myriads of manuscripts dealing with the textual criticism, production history and interpretation of the play, and more volumes pour from the presses yearly. At the present time considerable attention is being focused on its stage history, and a very comprehensive pictorial record from 1709 was published in 1952 entitled Hamlet Through the Ages. This excellent book by Mander and Mitchenson covers over one hundred and fifty ‘ Hamlets ’ and gives an excellent picture of the changes in the physical presentation of the tragedy since Betterton’s day. Since this book covers so much material, however, it is but natural that it should give only a brief indication of the changes that have developed in the dress of the Prince of Denmark during several centuries; and it is, therefore, my purpose in this brief article to draw attention to some of these changes and to indicate if possible why they took place.