When does Hamlet the play take place?

Answer 1

Nobody knows for sure, since the only documented facts are the dates when it was published. The current scholarly consensus is that it was probably written, more or less as we now have it, in the time period from 1603.

In his 40th year*

/D

Answer 2

Shakespeare's ultimate source, Saxo Grammaticus, placed the story in the 7th century, but Shakespeare knew nothing about the 7th century so when it was first produced, it was set, as all the plays were set, contemporaneously (A drawing of a 16th century production of Titus Andronicus shows everyone wearing 16th century clothes, perhaps with a sash as a nod to the fact that it was supposed to have been set in ancient Rome).

For those interested in historical accuracy it is useful to know that in the 1200s Denmark and Norway, which are at war in the play, were united under the Union of Kalmar, and in the 1600s Sweden controlled most of Norway and parts of Denmark.

Shakespeare did not seem to be concerned much with historical setting, and as a result Hamlet has been successfully set in the early middle ages, the renaissance, the late 19th century, the early 20th century, the early 21st century, and without any historical suggestions whatsoever.

Answer 3

The play does not say when it happens, so it is in the director's discretion. Generally it is no longer considered important to worry about the temporal setting of any of Shakespeare's plays, since only those with a historical basis can be dated in this way with any kind of accuracy, and in any case the ones based on events in the past (that is, the past as seen from Shakespeare's point of view) are filled with anachronisms. England did not pay tribute to any Danes at any time when the University at Wittenburg existed, although they both are supposed to happen in the play Hamlet. Does this matter? Not a bit. Hamlet has been visualized as a 21st-century man (Ethan Hawke, David Tennant), a 20th-century man (Richard Burton), a 19th-century man (Kenneth Branagh, Campbell Scott), a 13th-century man (Lawrence Olivier), and a 9th-century man (Mel Gibson), and by many others in some indefinable non-time. Does this matter? Not a bit.

Answer 4

The Hamlet that we know and love did not live at all. He is a fictional character in a play by Shakespeare.

There was possibly a real Prince Amleth on whom the story is (extremely loosely) based. The original source was Saxo Grammaticus's History of the Danes, written in the twelfth century. The events which it purports to relate are from the era of Danish dominance of England, three or four centuries earlier.

See the attached link

Answer 5

Shakespeare doesn't specify. The fact that England paid tribute to Denmark suggests a date in the 800s or so. The fact that Hamlet attended Wittemburg University suggests a date after 1502 when it was founded. Shakespeare did not really care about being accurate about the time settings of his plays--they all appeared to be more or less contemporary when they appeared on stage. As a result, the setting of Hamlet is whenever the director of the particular production wants it to be. And that has been any date from the ninth to the twentifirst century.

Answer 6

The text does not say. It is based on a very old story from Viking times, but contains a number of references which would be anachronistic in that setting. Basically, every production has to decide what its look will be, and whether it will appear to take place in the 11th century (Zeffirelli), the 14th century (Olivier), the 18th century (Branagh), the 21st century (Tennant) or any other century.

Answer 7

Hamlet was based on the story of a Danish prince who lived in the 7th Century AD.

Answer 8

Early 1600s.