Why was Hamlet loved in Denmark?

Answer 1

The story Shakespeare used was probably used in an older play called Hamlet, which was based on a translation by Belleforest of a medieval chronicle by Saxo Grammaticus, all of which are set in Denmark. Being Prince of Denmark was part of Hamlet's traditional character.

Shakespeare did not choose Hamlet to be from Denmark, any more than you would choose George Washington to be an American. That's how they were.

Answer 2

It's a bit of a mystery, actually. Hamlet was a bit of a snob and tended to sneer at the common people. "'Twas caviare to the general" he sneers about their taste in theatre. He sneers at the nouveau riche Osric: "He hath much land, and fertile. Let a beast be lord of beasts and his crib shall stand at the king's mess." He sneers at the pretensions of the common people who do not know how to keep their place: "This three years I have took note of it, the age is grown so picked that that toe of the peasant comes so near the heel of the courtier he galls his kibe."

Claudius cannot really explain it either. He talks about "The great love the general gender bear him" but does not say why he should be so loved. Maybe the people of Denmark liked to be treated like crap.