num_pages: 156
description: Undoubtedly the most famous of all of Shakespeare's plays, Hamlet remains one of the most enduring but also enigmatic pieces of western literature. The story of Hamlet, the young Prince of Denmark, his tortured relationship with his mother, and his quest to avenge his father's murder at the hand of his brother Claudius has fascinated writers and audiences ever since it was written around 1600.  For many years interest focused on both Hamlet's inability to avenge his father's death, claiming that "the native hue of resolution / Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought", and, according to none other than Freud, his oedipal fixation with his mother. However, more recently critics have turned their attention to Hamlet's bold theatrical self-reflexivity (most famously reflected in the performance of "The Mousetrap"), its fascination with issues of theology and Renaissance humanism, and its dense, complex poetic language. What is so remarkable about the play is the way in which it tends to uncannily reflect the concerns of different epochs. As a result, Hamlet has been at different moments defined as a romantic rebel, an angst-ridden existentialist, a paralysed intellectual and an ambivalent New Man. Whatever subsequent generations make of Hamlet, they are unlikely to exhaust the possibilities of this most extraordinary play. --Jerry Brotton
language: English
title: Hamlet
titlecomplete: Hamlet
characters: Bernardo, Fortinbras, Claudius, King of Denmark, Reynaldo, Voltimand, Osric, Polonius, Francisco, Horatio, Ophelia, Cornelius, Marcellus, Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Laertes, Gertrude
genres: Fiction, Plays, Theatre, Poetry, Drama, School, Literature, Read For School, Classics, High School
ratings_count: 912605
places: Denmark
awards: awardedAt: 1325404800000
name: Grammy Award
category: Best Spoken Word Album
publisher: Penguin Books