Hamlet by William Shakespeare (Oxford World’s Classics)

Description

“Hamlet” by William Shakespeare is one of the most profound and frequently performed tragedies in the history of English literature. Written around 1600, this play explores themes of revenge, madness, mortality, and the complexities of human nature through the story of Prince Hamlet of Denmark.

The play opens with the ghost of King Hamlet appearing on the battlements of Elsinore Castle, revealing to his son, Prince Hamlet, that he was murdered by his brother Claudius, who has since taken the throne and married Queen Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother. The revelation plunges Hamlet into a deep existential crisis and sets him on a path of revenge.

Hamlet’s struggle with his duty to avenge his father’s death and his own moral and philosophical dilemmas is the central tension of the play. He feigns madness to investigate Claudius’s guilt and to buy time as he grapples with his own indecision and doubts. His famous soliloquies, especially “To be, or not to be,” delve into the nature of existence, the fear of the unknown in death, and the pain of life’s injustices.