The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare and one of his most well-known and oft-quoted plays.
Written between 1600 and the summer of 1602, this masterpiece of Elizabethan theatre first appeared in print in 1603 in a version known as the Bad Quarto, a pirated version with no authority. The authorized Second Quarto (Q2) followed shortly after the first, while a slightly altered and reduced version was published in the First Folio of Shakespeare's complete works. The text in modern editions is a compromise between the Second Quarto text and the Folio text.(Julia,1992).
In theatre, Hamlet is possibly the most often produced work in almost every western country and it is considered a crucial test for mature actors (somewhat unfortunately, since Hamlet is supposed to be a young man). Hamlet's "To be, or not to be" soliloquy (Act Three, Scene One), the most popular passage of the play, is so well known that it has become a stumbling-block for many modern actors.(Larry,1986)
Main characters.
Prince Hamlet, the title character, is the son of the late King of Denmark, who was also named Hamlet. He is charged by the ghost of his father to avenge his murder, which he finally succeeds in doing, but only after the rest of the royal house has been wiped out and he himself has been mortally wounded with a poisoned rapier by Laertes.
Claudius is the current King of Denmark, Hamlet's uncle, who succeeded to the throne upon the death of his brother. The ghost of King Hamlet tells Prince Hamlet that he was murdered by brother Claudius, who poured hebenon in his ear while he was asleep. Claudius is killed with a poisoned rapier by Hamlet who, for good measure, also forces him to drink the wine with which he had intended to poison Hamlet.
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