Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark and protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, written around 1600 to 1601. Charged by the ghost of his recently murdered father to avenge his death against his uncle Claudius, who has since married Hamlet's mother Gertrude and taken the throne, Hamlet spends much of the play caught between his duty to act and a deep philosophical uncertainty about action, mortality and the reliability of what he has witnessed, including in the famous To be, or not to be soliloquy on the value of existence itself. He feigns madness to buy time and conceal his intentions, alienating those closest to him, including Ophelia, whose subsequent death he did not intend, and her brother Laertes, whom he kills in a final duel that also claims Gertrude, Claudius and Hamlet himself. Hamlet is widely regarded as one of the most complex and extensively analyzed characters in Western literature, frequently cited as the archetype of the introspective, doubt-ridden tragic hero.
Facts
Narrative RoleSourced to the subject's own accountPrince of Denmark in William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, who attempts to exact revenge against his uncle Claudius for murdering his father and seizing the throne. 1 Defining TraitSourced to the subject's own accountHis story is considered capable of seemingly endless retelling and adaptation, placing Hamlet among the most powerful and influential tragic figures in the English language. 1 Narrative role (class)Sourced to the subject's own account Connections
Sources
1. Hamlet (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section, paragraph 1
Set in Denmark, the play depicts Prince Hamlet and his attempts to exact revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet's mother.
Lead section, paragraph 2
Hamlet is considered among the "most powerful and influential tragedies in the English language", with a story capable of "seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others".
Sources, the Amleth legend
Many of the earlier legendary elements are interwoven in the 13th-century "Life of Amleth" (Latin: Vita Amlethi) by Saxo Grammaticus, part of Gesta Danorum.
View the Source Frequently Asked Questions
Did Shakespeare invent the story of Hamlet?
No. Shakespeare drew on an older Scandinavian legend of a prince named Amleth, recorded in Latin around the 13th century by the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum. Shakespeare most likely also drew on a now lost earlier English play scholars call the Ur-Hamlet.
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