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    Hamlet

    tragedy

    Hamlet is Shakespeare's longest and most famous tragedy. Prince Hamlet comes home to find his father dead, his uncle Claudius on the throne, and his mother married to that same uncle within the month. When his father's ghost names Claudius as the murderer, Hamlet is torn between the demand for revenge and his own circling doubt. It turns a simple revenge plot into the deepest study of grief and hesitation in English drama, and ends with a stage full of the dead.

    ▸SCENE I. Elsinore. A platform before the castle.▸SCENE II. A room of state in the castle.▸SCENE III. A room in Polonius' house.▸SCENE IV. The platform.▸SCENE V. Another part of the platform.

    ▸SCENE I. A room in POLONIUS' house.▸SCENE II. A room in the castle.

    ▸SCENE I. A room in the castle.▸SCENE II. A hall in the castle.▸SCENE III. A room in the castle.▸SCENE IV. The Queen's closet.

    ▸SCENE I. A room in the castle.▸SCENE II. Another room in the castle.▸SCENE III. Another room in the castle.▸SCENE IV. A plain in Denmark.▸SCENE V. Elsinore. A room in the castle.▸SCENE VI. Another room in the castle.▸SCENE VII. Another room in the castle.

    ▸SCENE I. A churchyard.▸SCENE II. A hall in the castle.

    Characters

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    HamletPrince of DenmarkOpheliaDaughter of PoloniusClaudiusKing of DenmarkGertrudeQueen of Denmark

    Famous Quotes

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    “To be, or not to be, that is the question.”

    Hamlet — Act 3, Scene 1

    “What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty!”

    Hamlet — Act 2, Scene 2

    “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

    Hamlet — Act 1, Scene 5

    Further Reading

    The Boy Behind Hamlet: What the Hamnet Film Gets Right (and Where Scholars Disagree)

    Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley star in the Hamnet film (2025). Did Shakespeare write Hamlet to grieve his dead son? Here is what history actually records.

    Ophelia: Shakespeare's Most Misunderstood Character

    Ophelia is usually reduced to a passive victim. Look more carefully at the text and a different character emerges, one who sees clearly, speaks coded truths, and pays the full price for living in a court where no one is honest.

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