The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare.

Set in
the Kingdom of Denmark, the play dramatizes the revenge Prince Hamlet exacts on his
uncle Claudius for murdering King Hamlet, Claudius's brother and Prince Hamlet's father,
and then succeeding to the throne and taking as his wife Gertrude, the old king's widow
and Prince Hamlet's mother. The play vividly portrays both true and feigned madness
from overwhelming grief to seething rage and explores themes of treachery, revenge,
incest, and moral corruption and family.
Hamlet is Shakespeare's longest play and among the most powerful and influential
tragedies in all of English literature, with a story capable of "seemingly endless retelling
and adaptation by others."
[1]
The play was one of Shakespeare's most popular works during
his lifetime
[2]
and still ranks among his most-performed, topping the Royal Shakespeare
Company's performance list since 1879.
[3]
It has inspired writers from Goethe and Dickens
to Joyce and Murdoch, and has been described as "the world's most filmed story after
Cinderella".
[4]

It has been theorized that Hamlet is based on the legend of Amleth, preserved by
13th-century chronicler Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum as subsequently retold
by 16th-century scholar Franois de Belleforest. Shakespeare may also have drawn on or
perhaps written an earlier (hypothetical) Elizabethan play known today as the Ur-Hamlet.
He almost certainly created the title role for Richard Burbage, the leading tragedian of
Shakespeare's time.
[5]
In the 400 years since, the role has been performed by highly
acclaimed actors and actresses from each successive age.
Three different early versions of the play are extant, the First Quarto (Q1, 1603), the
Second Quarto (Q2, 1604), and the First Folio (F1, 1623). Each version includes lines, and
even entire scenes, missing from the others. The structure and depth of characterisation
have inspired much critical scrutiny. One such example is the centuries-old debate about
Hamlet's hesitation to kill his uncle, which some see as a mere plot device to prolong the
action, but which others argue is a dramatization of the complex philosophical and ethical
issues that surround cold-blooded murder, calculated revenge, and thwarted desire. More
recently, psychoanalytic critics have examined Hamlet's unconscious desires, and feminist
critics have re-evaluated and rehabilitated the often maligned characters of Ophelia and
Gertrude.


Characters
Hamlet Son of the former King,
and nephew of the present King.
Claudius King of Denmark, and
Hamlet's uncle.
Gertrude Queen of Denmark, and
mother to Hamlet.
Polonius Lord Chamberlain
Ophelia Daughter to Polonius
Horatio Friend to Hamlet
Laertes Son to Polonius
Voltimand and Cornelius
Courtiers
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
Courtiers, friends to Hamlet.
Osric a Courtier
Marcellus an Officer
Bernardo an Officer
Francisco a Soldier
Reynaldo Servant to Polonius
Ghost of Hamlet's Father
Fortinbras Prince of Norway
Gravediggers a Sexton, and a
clown.
Player King, Player Queen,
Lucianus, etc. Players
Plot
Horatio, Marcellus, Hamlet, and the Ghost (Artist: Henry Fuseli 1798)
[6]

The protagonist of Hamlet is Prince Hamlet of Denmark, son of deceased King Hamlet and
his wife, Queen Gertrude.
The story opens on a chilly night at Elsinore, the Danish royal castle. Francisco, one of the
sentinels, is relieved of his watch by Bernardo, another sentinel, and exits while Bernardo
remains. A third sentinel, Marcellus, enters with Horatio, Hamlet's best friend. The
sentinels inform Horatio that they have seen a ghost that looks like the dead King Hamlet.
After hearing from Horatio of the Ghost's appearance, Hamlet resolves to see the Ghost
himself. That night, the Ghost appears again. It leads Hamlet to a secluded place, claims
that it is the actual spirit of his father, and discloses that hethe elder Hamletwas
murdered by his brother Claudius pouring poison in his ear. The Ghost demands that
Hamlet avenge him; Hamlet agrees, swears his companions to secrecy, and tells them he
intends to "put an antic disposition on"
[7]
(presumably to avert suspicion). Hamlet initially
attests to the ghost's reliability, calling him both an "honest ghost" and "truepenny." Later,
however, he expresses doubts about the ghost's nature and intent, claiming these as reasons
for his inaction.
Polonius is Claudius's trusted chief counsellor and friend; Polonius's son, Laertes, is
returning to France, and Polonius's daughter, Ophelia, is courted by Hamlet. Both Polonius
and Laertes warn Ophelia that Hamlet is surely not serious about her. Shortly afterward,
Ophelia is alarmed by Hamlet's strange behaviour, reporting to her father that Hamlet
rushed into her room, stared at her, and said nothing. Polonius assumes that the "ecstasy of
love"
[8]
is responsible for Hamlet's "mad" behaviour, and he informs Claudius and
Gertrude.
Perturbed by Hamlet's continuing deep mourning for his father and his increasingly erratic
behaviour, Claudius sends for two of Hamlet's acquaintancesRosencrantz and
Guildensternto find out the cause of Hamlet's changed behaviour. Hamlet greets his
friends warmly but quickly discerns that they have been sent to spy on him.
Together, Claudius and Polonius convince Ophelia to speak with Hamlet while they
secretly listen. Hamlet enters, contemplating suicide (To be, or not to be). Ophelia greets
him, and offers to return his remembrances, upon which Hamlet questions her honesty and
furiously rants at her to "get thee to a nunnery."
[9]

The "gravedigger scene"
[10]
(Artist: Eugne Delacroix 1839)
Hamlet remains uncertain whether the Ghost has told him the truth, but the arrival of a
troupe of actors at Elsinore presents him with a solution. He will have them stage a play,
The Murder of Gonzago, re-enacting his father's murder and determine Claudius's guilt or
innocence by studying his reaction to it. The court assembles to watch the play; Hamlet
provides an agitated running commentary throughout. When the murder scene is presented,
Claudius abruptly rises and leaves the room, which Hamlet sees as proof of his uncle's
guilt.
Gertrude summons Hamlet to her closet to demand an explanation. On his way, Hamlet
passes Claudius in prayer, but hesitates to kill him, reasoning that death in prayer would
send him to heaven. However, it is revealed that the King is not truly praying, remarking
that "words" never made it to heaven without "thoughts."
[11]
An argument erupts between
Hamlet and Gertrude. Polonius, spying on the scene from behind an arras and convinced
that the prince's madness is indeed real, panics when it seems as if Hamlet is about to
murder the Queen and cries out for help. Hamlet, believing it is Claudius hiding behind the
arras, stabs wildly through the cloth, killing Polonius. When he realises that he has killed
Ophelia's father, he is not remorseful, but calls Polonius "Thou wretched, rash, intruding
fool."
[12]
The Ghost appears, urging Hamlet to treat Gertrude gently, but reminding him to
kill Claudius. Unable to see or hear the Ghost herself, Gertrude takes Hamlet's
conversation with it as further evidence of madness.
Claudius, now fearing for his life, finds a legitimate excuse to get rid of the prince: he
sends Hamlet to England on a diplomatic pretext, accompanied (and closely watched) by
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Alone, Claudius discloses that he is actually sending
Hamlet to his death. Prior to embarking for England, Hamlet hides Polonius's body,
ultimately revealing its location to the King. Upon leaving Elsinore, Hamlet encounters the
army of Prince Fortinbras en route to do battle in Poland. Upon witnessing so many men
going to their death on the brash whim of an impulsive prince, Hamlet declares, "O, from
this time forth, / My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!"
[13]

At Elsinore, further demented by grief at her father Polonius's death, Ophelia wanders the
castle, acting erratically and singing bawdy songs. Her brother, Laertes, returns from
France, horrified by his father's death and his sister's madness. She appears briefly to give
out herbs and flowers. Claudius convinces Laertes that Hamlet is solely responsible; then
news arrives that Hamlet is still alivea story is spread that his ship was attacked by
pirates on the way to England, and he has returned to Denmark. Claudius swiftly concocts
a plot to kill his nephew but make it appear to be an accident, taking all of the blame off
his shoulders. Knowing of Hamlet's jealousy of Laertes' prowess with a sword, he proposes
a fencing match between the two. Laertes, enraged at the murder of his father, informs the
king that he will further poison the tip of his sword so that a mere scratch would mean
certain death. Claudius, unsure that capable Hamlet could receive even a scratch, plans to
offer Hamlet poisoned wine if that fails. Gertrude enters to report that Ophelia has
drowned.
Hamlet avenged his father by killing his uncle
[14]
(Artist: Gustave Moreau date unknown)
In the Elsinore churchyard, two "clowns", typically represented as "gravediggers," enter to
prepare Ophelia's grave, and although the coroner has ruled her death accidental so that she
may receive Christian burial, they argue that it was a case of suicide. Hamlet arrives with
Horatio and banters with one of them, who unearths the skull of a jester whom Hamlet
once knew, Yorick ("Alas, Poor Yorick; I knew him, Horatio."). Ophelia's funeral
procession approaches, led by her mournful brother Laertes. Distraught at the lack of
ceremony (due to the actually-deemed suicide) and overcome by emotion, Laertes leaps
into the grave, cursing Hamlet as the cause of her death. Hamlet interrupts, professing his
own love and grief for Ophelia. He and Laertes grapple, but the fight is broken up by
Claudius and Gertrude. Claudius reminds Laertes of the planned fencing match.
Later that day, Hamlet tells Horatio how he escaped death on his journey, disclosing that
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been sent to their deaths instead. A courtier, Osric,
interrupts to invite Hamlet to fence with Laertes. Despite Horatio's warnings, Hamlet
accepts and the match begins. After several rounds, Gertrude toasts Hamletagainst the
urgent warning of Claudiusaccidentally drinking the wine he poisoned. Between bouts,
Laertes attacks and pierces Hamlet with his poisoned blade; in the ensuing scuffle, Hamlet
is able to use Laertes's own poisoned sword against him. Gertrude falls and, in her dying
breath, announces that she has been poisoned.
In his dying moments, Laertes is reconciled with Hamlet and reveals Claudius's murderous
plot. Hamlet stabs Claudius with the poisoned sword, and then forces him to drink from his
own poisoned cup to make sure he dies. In his final moments, Hamlet names Prince
Fortinbras of Norway as the probable heir to the throne, since the Danish kingship is an
elected position, with the country's nobles having the final say. Horatio attempts to kill
himself with the same poisoned wine but is stopped by Hamlet, so he will be the only one
left alive to give a full account of the story.
When Fortinbras arrives to greet King Claudius, he encounters the deadly scene: Gertrude,
Claudius, Laertes, and Hamlet are all dead. Horatio asks to be allowed to recount the tale
to "the yet unknowing world," and Fortinbras orders Hamlet's body borne off in honour.