Often cited by literary scholars and critics as the greatest play ever written, William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ is a case study in deliberation, betrayal, revenge and of life itself, diving into the psyche of the title character as he navigates the treacherous Denmark Court.
Prince Hamlet is in mourning for his late father the King, who died mysteriously and whose wife, Queen Gertrude, quickly remarried and to no less a personage than the King’s brother and successor, Claudius. When the Ghost of Hamlet’s father appears to the young prince and reveals that Claudius was his murderer, Hamlet – compelled to avenge his father’s death – struggles with the ethical minefield of righteous vengeance as well as examining his own mortality.
Featuring some of the most famous and compelling speeches and characters in the Shakespearean canon – including the lovely and tortured Ophelia, her father (the comical and doomed Polonius), the noble Horatio and Hamlet’s duplicitous schoolmates Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
A towering and brilliant story of life, death and existence itself, ‘The Tragedy of Hamlet’ is presented here in its original and unabridged format.
About the author
William Shakespeare is generally acknowledged as the greatest dramatist in the history of English literature. Also a poet and actor, Shakespeare was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, where he received an education at the local grammar school, but whether he attended any educational institution subsequent to his early tutelage is unknown. By eighteen, Shakespeare was married – to an already-pregnant Anne Hathaway – and the couple would go on to have three children, Susanna and the twins Hamnet and Judith. (Hamnet died at 11 years old.) Shakespeare moved to London soon after the birth of the twins and began publishing poems (‘Venus and Adonis’ (1593) and ‘The Rape of Lucrece’ (1594)) and joined the Lord Chamberlain’s Men as an actor and playwright. Shakespeare stayed with the Lord Chamberlain’s Men throughout his career, producing some of his finest work – ‘King Lear, ‘ ‘Macbeth’ and ‘The Tempest’ among them – after the company fell under the patronage of King James I and became The King’s Men. During his career, Shakespeare penned 38 plays, two narrative poems and over 150 sonnets and enjoyed considerable financial success, eventually buying New Place, one of the largest homes in Stratford. Following his death in 1616 at the age of 52, thirty-six of his plays were collected and published as the First Folio and his entire canon – including his extant plays, sonnets and poems – were published as The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s plays are the most produced dramatic works in existence and they have been translated and adapted into countless stage, screen and television productions over the years. Entire theatres are devoted to producing his works and his writings are studied and analyzed in literature classes around the world.
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