A play set in Denmark before the Viking Age (before 780 A.D.); first performed about 1601.
by William Shakespeare
Synopsis
The king of Denmark is murdered by his brother, who subsequently marries the king's widow and takes the throne. The king's son. Prince Hamlet, suspects treachery and then sets out to discover the truth about his father's death. In the end, he exacts a revenge that leads to tragic consequences.
Events in History at the Time the Play Was Written
The Play in Focus
Events in History at the Time the Play Takes Place
William Shakespeare was fascinated not only by human nature but also by the tumultuous history of rulers. From the combination of these two interests came a number of plays concerning the corrupting influence of power and ambition. Shakespeare wrote Hamlet in approximately 1600, after completing a series of history plays (Richard II, Henry IV Part I [also covered in Literature and Its Times], Henry IV Part II, and Henry V) in which he detailed the complex and often deadly subject of succession to the throne. By the time Shakespeare created Hamlet, his characters had gained a high degree of realism and he had become adept at portraying both the positive and negative effects of power. Though a Danish prince of the legendary past, Hamlet was developed into a character whom English audiences of the early 1600s could well understand.
For More Information
Dollerup, Cay. Denmark, Hamlet, and Shakespeare. Vol. 2. Salzburg: Institut fur Englische Sprache und Literatur, 1975.
Johnston, William Preston. The Prototype of Hamlet and Other Shakespearian Problems. New York: Belford, 1890.
Lauring, Palle. A History of Denmark. Copenhagen: Host & Son, 1986.
MacDonald, Michael. Mystical Bedlam: Madness, Anxiety, and Healing in Seventeenth-Century England. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1981.
Ogburn, Charlton. The Mysterious William Shakespeare. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1984.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Edited by David Bevington. Toronto: Bantam, 1988.
Watts, Cedric. Twayne's New Critical Introductions to Shakespeare: Hamlet. Boston: Twayne, 1988.
Wright, Louis B., ed. Shakespeare's England. New York: Harper & Row, 1964.
Literature and Its Times © 1997 Joyce Moss and George Wilson © 2007 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
