Hamlet

by William Shakespeare · 1603

Hamlet, William Shakespeare’s most famous and puzzling play, is a classic revenge tragedy set in Denmark. After the sudden death of King Hamlet, his brother Claudius seizes the throne and marries the queen, Gertrude. The ghost of the slain king urges his son, Prince Hamlet, to avenge the murder. Hamlet’s quest is marked by feigned madness, philosophical soliloquies, a play‑within‑a‑play that exposes guilt, and a cascade of tragic deaths—including Ophelia’s suicide, Polonius’s accidental killing, and the poisoned duel that claims almost all the main characters. The drama explores themes of revenge, madness, appearance versus reality, mortality, and the meaning of existence, culminating in Fortinbras’s takeover of a devastated Denmark.