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''Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'' is a , Great Books , Great Books Of The Western World , Harold Bloom 's The Western Canon , St. John's College Reading List , Columbia College Core Curriculum . It is also one of the most popular of Shakespeare's plays, judging by the number of productions; for example, it has topped the list at the Royal Shakespeare Company since 1879 .(Crystal, 2005, p.66) With 4,042 lines and 29,551 words, ''Hamlet'' is also the longest Shakespeare play.based on the first edition of The Riverside Shakespeare (1974) ''Hamlet'' is a tragedy of the Revenge genre, in which the title character, and two other characters as well, seek revenge for their fathers' deaths. SOURCES '' Gesta Danorum '', which contained the legend of Amleth.]] The story of the prince who plots revenge on his uncle, the current king, for killing his father, the former king, is an old one. Many of the story elements—the prince's feigned madness, his mother's hasty marriage to the usurper, the testing of the prince's madness with a young woman, the prince talking to his mother and killing a hidden spy, his being sent to England with two retainers and substituting his execution for theirs—are also part of a medieval tale by Saxo Grammaticus called ''Vita Amlethi'' (part of his larger Latin work '' Gesta Danorum '') written around 1200 AD. Saxo was affected in his writing by older written and oral traditions from various cultures. Amleth, as Hamlet is called in his version, probably derived from a story passed orally throughout Denmark and Scandinavia. Scholars have most notably uncovered references to it in Icelandic legend. Although there is no existing copy of the Icelandic version of the story, Torfaeus, an early Icelandic scholar (born 1636), described parallels to the Icelandic story of Amloi in the Spanish story of the ''Ambales Saga''. This story contains similarities to Shakespeare's Hamlet in Prince Ambales' feigned madness, his accidental killing of the King's counselour in his mother's bedroom, and the eventual slaying of his uncle.Saxo and William Hansen. ''Saxo Grammaticus & the Life of Hamlet.'' Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983. ISBN 0803223188 The two most popular candidates for written works which may have affected Saxo, however, are the anonymous Scandinavian ''Saga of Hrolf Kraki'' and the Roman legend of Brutus, recorded in two separate Latin works. In ''Hrolf Kraki'', there are two sons of the murdered king: Hroar and Helgi, who later take the names Ham and Hrani as a disguise. They spend most of their story in hiding, rather than feigning madness, though Ham does behave in a childlike manner to avoid suspicion at one point. The sequence of events is different from Shakespeare's as well. The Roman story of Brutus focuses on feigned madness, as a man named Lucius changes his name to Brutus ("dull, stupid") and enacts the part in order to avoid the fate of his father and brothers. He eventually slays his family's killer, King Tarquinus. Saxo seems to have been influenced at least in part by both of these stories. Saxo, along with writing in the Latin language of the Romans, adjusted the story to meet Roman, classical concepts of pagan virtue and heroism. Scholars have speculated about the ''Hero as Fool'' story's ultimate source, but no clear candidate has been proposed. Given the many different cultures from which Hamlet-like legends come from (Roman, Spanish, Scandinavian and Arabic), a few have guessed that the story may be generally Indo-European in origin. A reasonably accurate version of Saxo was rendered into French in 1570 by François De Belleforest in his ''Histoires Tragiques''.Edwards, pp. 1-2 Belleforest embellished Saxo's text incredibly, nearly doubling the total prose. His version added descriptions of the hero's melancholy. Shakespeare's main source, however, is believed to be an earlier play—now lost—known as the '' Ur-Hamlet ''. Possibly written by Thomas Kyd , this earlier Hamlet play was in performance by 1589, and seems to have introduced a ghost for the first time into the story.Jenkins, pp. 82-5 Shakespeare's playing company, the Chamberlain's Men, purchased the play and performed a version reworked by Shakespeare for some time. However, scholars are unable to assert with any confidence how much Shakespeare took from this play, how much from Belleforest or Saxo, and how much from other contemporary sources (such as Kyd's '' The Spanish Tragedy ''). There is no evidence clearly pointing to Shakespeare's directly referring to Saxo, although the Latin text was widely available at the time. There are, however, elements of Belleforest's version which are in Shakespeare's play but not in Saxo's. Whether Shakespeare picked these up directly from Belleforest, or through the ''Ur-Hamlet'', remains unclear. One scholar, Eric Sams , in a less-popular theory supported by Harold Bloom , has advanced the notion that Shakespeare himself wrote the '' Ur-Hamlet '' as an early draft.''Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human'' and ''Hamlet: Poem Unlimited'' Since all texts of the ''Ur-Hamlet'' have been lost, it is difficult to determine what Shakespeare's Hamlet borrowed from Saxo and Belleforest, and what he took from ''Ur-Hamlet''. It is clear, though that several things did change somewhere between Belleforest and Shakespeare. For one, unlike Saxo and Belleforest, Shakespeare's play has no all-knowing narrator. The audience must draw its own conclusions about characters' motives. Also, the traditional story encompasses several years, while Shakespeare's covers a few weeks. Belleforest's version details Hamlet's plan for revenge, while in Shakespeare's play, Hamlet has no apparent plan. Shakespeare also added some elements placing the setting in 15th century, Christian Denmark, rather than a pagan, medieval one. Elsinore, for example, would have been familiar to Elizabethan England, as a new castle had recently been built there, and Wittenburg, Hamlet's University, was widely known for its Protestant teachings. Other elements of Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'' not found in medieval versions include the secrecy of the King's murder, the inclusion of Laertes and Fortinbras as parallels of Hamlet, the testing of the king via a play, and the Hamlet's death in gaining his tragic revenge.Edwards, p.2see Jenkins, pp. 82-122 for a complex discussion of all sorts of possible influences that found their way into the play. DATE AND TEXTS of ''Hamlet'' (1605); a straight reprint of the 2nd quarto (1604)]] ''Hamlet'' was entered into the Register of the Stationers Company on July 26, 1602 . A so-called "bad" First Quarto (referred to as "Q1") was published in 1603, by the booksellers Nicholas Ling and John Trundell. Q1 contains just over half of the text of the later Second Quarto ("Q2") published in 1604 . Some copies of Q2 are dated 1605, possibly reflecting a second impression; so that Q2 is often dated "1604/5," again by Nicholas Ling. Reprints of Q2 followed in 1611 (Q3) and 1637 (Q5); there was also an undated Q4 (possibly from 1622). The First Folio text (often referred to as "F1") appeared as part of Shakespeare's collected plays published in 1623 . Q1, Q2, and F1 are the three elements in the textual problem of ''Hamlet'' (see Text below). There are three extant texts of ''Hamlet'' from the early 1600s: the "). " soliloquy]] Early editors of Shakespeare's works, starting with Nicholas Rowe ( 1709 ) and Lewis Theobald ( 1733 ), combined material from the two earliest sources of ''Hamlet'' then known, Q2 and F1. Each text contains some material the other lacks, and there are many minor differences in wording, so that only a little more than 200 lines are identical between them. Typically, editors have taken an approach of combining, "conflating," the texts of Q2 and F1, in an effort to create an inclusive text as close as possible to the ideal Shakespeare original. Theobald's version became standard for a long time.Hibbard, pp. 22-3 Certainly, the "full text" philosophy that he established has influenced editors to the current day. Although many modern editors have done essentially the same thing Theobald did, also using, for the most part, the 1604/5 quarto and the 1623 folio texts, two recent editions edit separate versions, adding the additional lines in an appendixSee ''Hamlet'', ed. Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor (Arden Shakespeare, Thompson Learning, 2006, 2 vols.), which published the Second Quarto, with appendices, in its first volume, and the Folio and First Quarto texts in the second volume. ''William Shakespeare Complete Works'', ed. Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen (Random House, Modern Library, 2007) is an edition of the Folio text with the additional passages from Quarto 2 in an appendix.. The discovery of Q1 in 1823,Jenkins, p.14 when its existence had not even been suspected earlier, caused considerable interest and excitement, while also raising questions. The deficiencies of the text were recognized immediately—Q1 was instrumental in the development of the concept of a Shakespeare " Bad Quarto ." Yet Q1 also has its value: it contains stage directions which reveal actual stage performance in a way that Q2 and F1 do not, and it contains an entire scene (usually labeled IV,vi) that is not in either Q2 or F1. Also, Q1 is useful simply for comparison to the later publications. At least 28 different productions of the Q1 text since 1881 have shown it eminently fit for the stage. Q1 is generally thought to be a "memorial reconstruction" of the play as it may have been performed by Shakespeare's own company, although there is disagreement whether the reconstruction was pirated, or authorized. It is considerably shorter than Q2 or F1, apparently because of significant cuts for stage performance. It is thought that one of the actors playing a minor role (Marcellus, certainly, perhaps Voltemand as well) in the legitimate production was the source of this version. Another theory is that the Q1 text is an abridged version of the full length play intended especially for traveling productions (the aforementioned university productions, in particular.) Kathleen Irace espouses this theory in her New Cambridge edition, "The First Quarto of Hamlet." The idea that the Q1 text is not riddled with error, but is in fact a totally viable version of the play has led to several recent Q1 productions (perhaps most notably, Tim Sheridan and Andrew Borba's 2003 production at the Theatre of NOTE in Los Angeles, for which Ms. Irace herself served as Dramaturge ).Thompson & Taylor, 2006 As with the two texts of '' King Lear ,'' some contemporary scholarship is moving away from the ideal of the "full text," supposing its inapplicability to the case of ''Hamlet.'' The Arden Shakespeare's 2006 publication of different texts of ''Hamlet'' in different volumes is perhaps the best evidence of this shifting focus and emphasis.ibid However, any abridgement of the standard conflation of Q2 and F1 runs the obvious risk of leaving out genuine Shakespeare writing. CHARACTERS 's 1842 painting ''The Play-scene in Hamlet'', portraying the moment when the guilt of Claudius is revealed.]]
SYNOPSIS .]] The play is set at Elsinore Castle (based on the real Kronborg Castle , Denmark ). The time period of the play is not explicit, but it can be viewed as mostly Renaissance, contemporary with Shakespeare's England. ''Hamlet'' begins with sentinels on duty at the Castle on a cold, dark night. A Ghost that exactly resembles Denmark's late King appears to the sentinels, and to Horatio. The Ghost frightens the men, and disappears without speaking. The men wonder if the Ghost is an omen, and decide to tell Prince Hamlet about it. In the next scene, King Claudius announces that the mourning period for his late brother is officially over, and he sends a diplomatic mission to Norway to deal with the potential threat from Fortinbras. Queen Gertrude requests Hamlet to stay at Elsinore Castle, which he agrees to do, despite his wish to return to the university in Wittenberg. Horatio and the sentinels then tell Hamlet about the Ghost, and Hamlet decides to go with them to see it that night. Next, Laertes departs for France. Before doing so, he warns Ophelia about Hamlet, telling her that Hamlet's future as a king may not permit him to be with her. Polonius then sees Laertes off, reminding him "to thine ownself be true." After Laertes leaves, Polonius orders Ophelia to stop seeing Hamlet. In the night, the Ghost appears again, talks to Hamlet, and says that Hamlet's father was murdered by Claudius. The Ghost demands revenge, and disappears. In the next scene, Ophelia tells Polonius that Hamlet acted strangely. Polonius concludes that Hamlet is mad for Ophelia, and decides to tell Claudius about it. Next, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (often called R & G for short) arrive, and are instructed by Claudius and Gertrude to talk to Hamlet. Hamlet quickly discerns that R & G are working for Claudius and Gertrude, and are not his friends anymore. A company of players arrives, and Hamlet decides to stage a play performance depicting the murder of his father, to try to "catch the conscience of the king," Claudius. In the 'Nunnery Scene,' Hamlet speaks to Ophelia, but instead of expressing love for her, Hamlet berates her, and tells her "get thee to a nunnery". Claudius decides to send Hamlet to England. The 'Mousetrap Play' is performed, and Claudius leaves in the middle of the play. Hamlet takes it as proof of Claudius's guilt, and decides to kill Claudius. Hamlet finds his opportunity, but refrains because Claudius is praying. Hamlet then goes to speak to Gertrude in the Closet Scene. She becomes frightened of him, and screams for help. Polonius calls out from behind the arras where he's hiding, and Hamlet stabs and kills him. Hamlet then lectures Gertrude, and the Ghost appears briefly. Hamlet drags Polonius's body out of Gertrude's room. When Claudius learns of the death of Polonius, he decides to send Hamlet to England immediately, accompanied by R & G. They carry a secret order from Claudius to England to execute Hamlet. In a scene that appears at full length only in the Second Quarto, Hamlet sees Fortinbras arrive in Denmark with his army, speaks to a Captain, then exits with R & G to board the ship to England.. Next, Ophelia appears, and she has gone mad. She sings odd songs about death and sex, says "good night" during the daytime, and exits. Laertes, who has returned from France, then storms the castle with a mob from the local town, and challenges Claudius, over the death of Polonius. Ophelia appears again, sings, and hands out flowers. Claudius tells Laertes that he can explain his innocence in Polonius's death. Sailors (pirates) deliver a letter from Hamlet to Horatio, saying that Hamlet's ship was attacked by pirates, who took him captive, but are returning him to Denmark. Horatio leaves with the pirates to go where Hamlet is. Claudius has explained to Laertes that Hamlet is responsible for Polonius's death. Claudius, to his surprise, receives a letter saying that Hamlet is back. Claudius and Laertes conspire to set up a fencing match at which Laertes can kill Hamlet in revenge for the death of Polonius. Gertrude reports that Ophelia is dead, after a fall from a tree into the brook, where she drowned. Two Clowns, a sexton and a bailiff, make jokes and talk about Ophelia's death while the sexton digs her grave. They conclude she must have committed suicide. Hamlet, returning with Horatio, sees the grave being dug (without knowing who it's for), talks to the sexton, and recites his famous "alas, poor Yorick" speech. Hamlet and Horatio hide to watch as Ophelia's funeral procession enters. Hamlet and Laertes have a confrontation, and scuffle briefly. In the final Scene, Hamlet explains to Horatio that he became suspicious about the trip to England, and looked at the royal commission during the night when R & G were asleep. After discovering the plot against him, Hamlet substituted a forgery, ordering England to kill R & G, instead of him. Osric appears and tells Hamlet of the fencing match. Despite his misgivings, Hamlet agrees to participate. At the match, Claudius and Laertes have arranged for Laertes to use a poisoned foil, and Claudius also poisons Hamlet's wine, in case the poisoned foil doesn't work. The match begins, and Gertrude sips from Hamlet's poisoned wine to salute him. Laertes wounds Hamlet with the poisoned foil, then they grapple and exchange foils, and Hamlet wounds Laertes, with the same poisoned foil. Gertrude announces that she's been poisoned by the wine, and dies. Laertes, also dying, reveals that Claudius is to blame, and asks Hamlet to exchange forgiveness with him, which Hamlet does. Laertes dies. Hamlet wounds Claudius with the poisoned foil, and also has him drink the wine he poisoned. Claudius dies. Hamlet, dying of his injury from the poisoned foil, says he supports Fortinbras as the next king, and that "the rest is silence." Fortinbras enters, with ambassadors from England who announce that R & G are dead. Fortinbras takes over, says that Hamlet would have "proved most royal," and orders a salute to be fired, which concludes the play. ANALYSIS AND CRITICISM Critical history From the beginning, ''Hamlet'' has aroused questions from critics regarding Hamlet's supposed madness and melancholy. Critics in Shakespeare's day focused on these themes in their understanding of the play, which at the time was portrayed more violently than in later times.Wofford, Susanne L. "A Critical History of Hamlet." ''Hamlet: Complete, Authoritative Text with Biographical and Historical Contexts, Critical History, and Essays from Five Contemporary Critical Perspectives.'' Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martins Press, 1994.Kirsch, A. C. "A Caroline Commentary on the Drama," ''Modern Philology'' 66 (1968): 256-61. Analysts of the introduced his famous analysis of the play in light of his theories about the Oedipus Complex , and feminist critics introduced new points of view towards Gertrude and Ophelia. Most recently, New Historicist critics have begun looking at the play in its historical context, attempting to piece together the backdrop that created the play. Other Interpretations Feminist The characters of Ophelia and Gertrude have been interpreted in various ways.Many feminists have defended Gertrude, arguing that the text never hints that Gertrude knew of Claudius poisoning King Hamlet Bloom, Harold ''Hamlet: Poem Unlimited'' pg.58-59. Gertrude is sexually appealling, though Hamlet denounces her for that Bloom, Harold ''Hamlet: Poem Unlimited'' pg.57. Ophelia is surrounded by powerful men--her father, brother, and Hamlet.All three disappear--Laertes leaves, Hamlet abandons her, and Polonius dies. Without these three powerful men making decisions for her, Ophelia is driven into madness Bloom, Harold ''Hamlet: Poem Unlimited'' pg.57. PERFORMANCE HISTORY as Hamlet during the Restoration Period]] as Hamlet in 1769]] ''Hamlet'' was acted by the crew of Capt. William Keeling aboard the British East India Company ship ''Dragon,'' off Sierra Leone , in September 1607 . Court performances occurred in 1619 and in 1637 , the latter on January 24 at Hampton Court Palace . Since Hamlet is second only to Falstaff among Shakespeare's characters in the number of allusions and references to him in contemporary literature, the play was certainly performed with a frequency missed by the historical record.Hibbard, G. R. ''Hamlet''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998: 17 The play was revived early in the Restoration era; Sir William Davenant staged a 1661 production at Lincoln's Inn Fields . David Garrick mounted a version at Drury Lane in 1772 that omitted the gravediggers and expanded his own leading role. William Poel staged a production of the Q1 text in 1881 .Halliday, p. 204. The role of Hamlet has attracted actors from the top rank of the theatre profession since the play's debut. Some of the actors who have played Prince Hamlet include Thomas Betterton , David Garrick , Samuel Phelps , Henry Irving , Johnston Forbes-Robertson , John Barrymore { 1922 and 1925 ), Donald Wolfit ( 1935 ), Laurence Olivier , ( 1937 ), Paul Scofield ( 1949 and 1955 ), Ian McKellen ( 1971 ), Derek Jacobi ( 1978 ), and Kenneth Branagh (1996). Actresses who have played the title role in ''Hamlet'' include Sarah Siddons , Sarah Bernhardt , Asta Nielsen , Judith Anderson , Diane Venora and Frances De La Tour . John Gielgud played the role over 500 times in six different productions between 1930 and 1945 , as well as directing the play in 1934 , 1939 , 1944 and 1964 , this production starring Richard Burton . Olivier , Gielgud and Jacobi are some of the actors who have played the title role of Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark , the actual setting of the play. Christopher Plummer also played the role in a Television version ( 1966 ) that was filmed there. Edwin Booth , the brother of John Wilkes Booth (the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln ) and one of the most notable performers of the play in the nineteenth century, went into a brief retirement after his brother's notoriety, but made his comeback in the role of Prince Hamlet . Rather than wait for Hamlet's first appearance in the text to meet the audience's response, Booth sat on the stage in the play's first scene and was met by a lengthy standing ovation. Booth's Broadway run of ''Hamlet'' lasted for 100 performances in 1864 , a very long run for the time. When John Barrymore played the part on Broadway to acclaim in 1922 , it was assumed that he would close the production after 99 performances out of respect for Booth. But Barrymore extended the run to 101 performances so that he would have the record for himself. Currently, the longest Broadway run of ''Hamlet'' is the 1964 production starring Richard Burton and directed by John Gielgud , which ran for 137 performances. The actor who has played the part most frequently on Broadway is Maurice Evans , who played Hamlet for 267 performances in productions mounted in 1938 , 1939 , and 1945 . The longest recorded London run is Henry Irving 's, who played the part for over 200 consecutive nights in 1874 and revived it to acclaim with Ellen Terry as Ophelia in 1878 . The only actor to win a Tony Award for playing Hamlet is Ralph Fiennes in 1995 . Richard Burton was nominated for the award in 1964 , but lost to Alec Guinness in '' Dylan ''. Hume Cronyn won the Tony Award For Best Performance By A Featured Actor In A Play for his performance as Polonius in that production. The only actor to win an Academy Award for playing Hamlet is Laurence Olivier in 1948 . The only actor to be nominated for an Emmy Award nomination for playing Hamlet is Christopher Plummer in 1966 (he lost in the final voting to Cliff Robertson ). Margaret Leighton won an Emmy for playing Gertrude in the 1971 Hallmark Hall Of Fame presentation. ADAPTATIONS AND CULTURAL REFRENCES Screen versions See Also: Hamlet on screen There are at least 65 , Maximillian Schell , Derek Jacobi , Mel Gibson , Kenneth Branagh , Nicol Williamson , and Richard Chamberlain . Many of the motion picture versions, however, did not receive a wide release at all, unknown to even the most rabid cinema enthusiasts and/or Shakespeare lovers. The only film versions (so far) to receive wide release in the U.S. (not counting the silent ones) are the ones starring Laurence Olivier, Richard Burton , Nicol Williamson, Mel Gibson, Kenneth Branagh, and Ethan Hawke , respectively. Jacobi and Chamberlain portrayed Hamlet in Television productions of the play. Musical adaptations A Rock Musical adaptation of the play entitled '' Rockabye Hamlet '' had a brief Broadway run in 1976. REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAPHY
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