Hamlet might have been fat. Or maybe he was skinny. Maybe he was a yo-yo dieter. Everyone's confused.

The one problem Shakespearean scholars have is that ol' Bill isn't coming out with any new material, and there is only so much you can research a play or sonnet before things get repetitive. And things got repetitive a long, long time ago with Shakespearean studies.

Which leads to a recent article on Slate by Isaac Butler that examines whether Hamlet was actually fat, and not the fairly healthy--dare say skinny--man most envision and portrayed in numerous adaptations of the play.

That's right. Things have become so thin (heh-heh) on Shakespearean studies, scholars are looking at character waistlines.

After examining various incarnations of the word "fat," as well as the word's use--and non-use--in alternative publications of the play, as well as looking to the original actor who played Hamlet, Butler believes we need to stop envisioning the Danish prince as skinny.

"The only way to break this cycle is to create a counter-tradition of overweight Hamlets, opening up the role to actors we would not have normally considered," Butler writes.

Because I know I, for one, can't enjoy Hamlet without knowing his BMI.