num_pages: 147
description: The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601. The play, set in Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father, the King, and then taken the throne and married Gertrude, Hamlet's mother. The play vividly charts the course of real and feigned madness—from overwhelming grief to seething rage—and explores themes of treachery, revenge, incest, and moral corruption. Despite much literary detective work, the exact year of writing remains in dispute. Three different early versions of the play have survived: these are known as the First Quarto (Q1), the Second Quarto (Q2) and the First Folio (F1). Each has lines, and even scenes, that are missing from the others. Shakespeare probably based Hamlet on the legend of Amleth, preserved by 13th-century chronicler Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum and subsequently retold by 16th-century scholar François de Belleforest, and a supposedly lost Elizabethan play known today as the Ur-Hamlet.
language: English
title: Hamlet
titlecomplete: Hamlet
characters: Polonius, Hamlet, Gertrude, Francisco, Bernardo, Claudius, King of Denmark, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Ophelia, Cornelius, Fortinbras, Laertes, Reynaldo, Voltimand, Marcellus, Osric, Horatio
genres: Literature, Classics, School, Drama, Plays, High School, Fiction, Read For School, Poetry, Theatre
ratings_count: 912529
places: Denmark
awards: awardedAt: 1325404800000
name: Grammy Award
category: Best Spoken Word Album
publisher: Washington Square Press