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The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet (/ ˈhæmlɪt /), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play.
Hamlet, tragedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, written about 1599–1601 and published in a quarto edition in 1603 from an unauthorized text. Often considered the greatest drama of all time, the play tells the story of the troubled titular prince of Denmark.
A ghost resembling the recently-deceased King of Denmark stalks the ramparts of Elsinore, Denmark’s royal castle, over the course of several nights, setting all the castle’s guardsmen on edge. The terrified sentinels Marcellus, Francisco, and Barnardo convince a skeptical nobleman, Horatio, to watch along with them one night.
As the play begins, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is visited by a mysterious ghost resembling his recently-deceased father the king. The ghost tells Hamlet that his father was murdered by Claudius, the king’s brother, who then took the throne and married Hamlet’s mother Gertrude.
Hamlet Summary. The ghost of the King of Denmark tells his son Hamlet to avenge his murder by killing the new king, Hamlet's uncle. Hamlet feigns madness, contemplates life and death, and seeks revenge. His uncle, fearing for his life, also devises plots to kill Hamlet.
Contents. Summary. Chapter Summaries. Themes. Characters. Symbols. Quotes. Act 1, Scene 1. One night at the Danish castle of Elsinore, a soldier named Barnardo relieves Francisco—a fellow soldier—from his watch duties. Another soldier, Marcellus, and a nobleman named Horatio also arrive, and the group talks about rumors of a ghost.
In telling the story of a fatally indecisive character’s inability to choose the proper course to avenge his father’s death, Hamlet explores questions of fate versus free will, whether it is better to act decisively or let nature take its course, and ultimately if anything we do in our time on earth makes any difference. Once he learns his ...
The story of Hamlet is based on a Danish revenge story first recorded by Saxo Grammaticus in the 1100s. In these stories, a Danish prince fakes madness in order to take revenge on his uncle, who had killed the prince's father and married his mother.
A quick overview of the main plot points from Hamlet and the chance to test yourself on how well you know the story.
Read our short Hamlet summary to help you understand the play. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a much loved – and studied – play, set in Elsinore, a bleak region of Denmark. The main themes are revenge, reality, deceit and mortality, and is regarded as one of Shakespeare’s finest tragedies.