Hamlet

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For other uses, see Hamlet (disambiguation).

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is one of his best-known works, and also one of the most-quoted writings in the English language. Hamlet has been called "Shakespeare's greatest play" and it is universally included on lists of the world's greatest books. 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. With 4,042 lines and 29,551 words, Hamlet is also the longest Shakespeare play. 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

The story of the Danish Prince Hamlet who plots revenge on his uncle, the current king, for killing his father, the former king, is an old one (see Hamlet). Many of the story elements—Hamlet'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, the prince being sent to England with two retainers and substituting (for the letter requesting his execution) one requesting theirs—are already here in this medieval tale, recorded by Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum around 1200. A reasonably accurate version of Saxo was rendered into French in 1570 by François de Belleforest in his Histoires Tragiques.

Shakespeare's main source, however, is believed to be an earlier play—now lost (and possibly by Thomas Kyd)—known as the Ur-Hamlet. This earlier Hamlet play was in performance by 1589, and seems to have introduced a ghost for the first time into the story. Scholars are unable to assert with any confidence how much Shakespeare took from this play, how much from other contemporary sources (such as Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy), and how much from Belleforest (possibly something) or Saxo (probably nothing). In fact, independent scholar Eric Sams has advanced the (as yet unpopular) notion that Shakespeare himself wrote the Ur-Hamlet as a form of early draft. Harold Bloom supports this theory in both his major popular works on Shakespeare, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human and Hamlet: Poem Unlimited. But certainly, no matter the sources, Shakespeare's Hamlet has elements that the medieval version does not: the secrecy of the murder, a ghost that urges revenge, the "other sons" Laertes and Fortinbras, the testing of the king via a play, and the mutually fatal nature of Hamlet's (nearly incidental) "revenge".

Date and texts

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 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).

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.

There are three extant texts of Hamlet from the early 1600s: the "first quarto" Hamlet of 1603 (called Q1), the "second quarto" Hamlet of 1604/5 (Q2), and the Hamlet text within the First Folio of 1623 (F1). Later quartos and folios are considered derivative of these, so are of little interest in capturing Shakespeare's original text. Q1 itself has been viewed with scepticism, and in practice Q2 and F1 are the editions editors mostly rely upon. However, these two versions have some significant differences that have produced a growing body of commentary, starting with early studies by J. Dover Wilson and G. I. Duthie, and continuing to today. (See References below, and also: Folios and Quartos (Shakespeare)).

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. 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 appendix.

The discovery of Q1 in 1823, 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).

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. However, any abridgement of the standard conflation of Q2 and F1 runs the obvious risk of leaving out genuine Shakespeare writing.

Performance history

The earliest recorded performance of Hamlet was in June 1602, with the title role enacted by Richard Burbage; in 1603 the play was acted at both Universities, Cambridge and Oxford. Along with Richard II, Hamlet was acted by the crew of Capt. William Keeling aboard the British East India Company ship Dragon, off Sierra Leone, in September 1607. More conventional 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.

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.

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.

There are at least 65 motion picture and television versions of the play dating back to the earliest days of silent movies. While it's impossible to catalogue all of the actors who have played the role on screen since many of the early versions no longer have an existing print, the youngest actor to play Hamlet on film may be Ethan Hawke, who was 29, in the 2000 film version. The oldest is probably Johnston Forbes-Robertson, who was 60 when his performance was filmed in 1913. Other actors who have played Hamlet on film or television include Laurence Olivier, Derek Jacobi, Mel Gibson, Kenneth Branagh, Nicol Williamson, and Richard Chamberlain.

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 win an Emmy Award nomination for playing Hamlet is Christopher Plummer in 1966. Margaret Leighton won an Emmy for playing Gertrude in the 1971 Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation.

Characters

Hamlet, the title character, is the son of the late king, for whom he was named. He has returned to Elsinore Castle from Wittenberg, where he was attending the university.
Claudius is the King of Denmark, elected to the throne after the death of his brother, King Hamlet. Claudius has married Gertrude, his brother's widow.
Gertrude is the Queen of Denmark, and King Hamlet's widow, now married to Claudius.
the Ghost, appears in the exact image of Hamlet's father, the late King Hamlet.
Polonius is Claudius's chief advisor, and the father of Ophelia and Laertes. (This character is called "Corambis" in the First Quarto of 1603.)
Laertes is the son of Polonius, and has returned to Elsinore Castle after living in Paris.
Ophelia is Polonius's daughter, and Laertes's sister, who lives with her father at Elsinore Castle.
Horatio is a good friend of Hamlet, from the university at Wittenberg, who came to Elsinore Castle to attend King Hamlet's funeral.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are childhood friends and schoolmates of Hamlet, who were summoned to Elsinore by Claudius and Gertrude.
Fortinbras is the nephew of old King Norway. He is also the son of Fortinbras Sr, who was killed in single combat by Hamlet's father.
Marcellus, Barnardo, and Francisco are sentinels who help guard Elsinore Castle.
Voltemand and Cornelius are ambassadors King Claudius sends to old King Norway.
Reynaldo is Polonius's servant. (This character is called "Montano" in the First Quarto.)
First Player in a company of Players who arrive at Elsinore.
the Lad in the Players' company who plays the female characters.
Other Players of the Players' company.
a Captain in Fortinbras's army.
a Gentleman who informs Gertrude of Ophelia's strange behavior.
Messengers
Switzers who are Claudius's bodyguards.
Ladies in waiting to Queen Gertrude.
Townspeople who are followers of Laertes.
Sailors (are actually two pirates.)
Two Clowns, a sexton and a bailiff.
Yorick, a dead jester, who is honored by Hamlet.
A Priest (identified as a protestant cleric, a doctor of divinity, in the Second Quarto.)
Osric, a courtier (originally named "Ostricke" in the Second Quarto.)
English Ambassadors
Lords, ladies, courtiers, servants, guards, and other extras as required.

Themes and motifs

Further information: Hamlet literary criticism

Revenge

Hamlet is usually classified in the revenge genre. The theme of Hamlet's hesitation to act is one the reverberates throughout the entire play. Within Hamlet, the stories of five murdered father's sons are told: Hamlet, Laertes, Fortinbras, Pyrrhus, and Brutus. Each of them faces the question of revenge in a different way. For example, Laertes moves quickly to be "avenged most throughly of father," while Fortinbras attack Poland, rather than the guilty Denmark. Pyrrhus only stays his hand momentarily before avenging his father, Achilles, but Brutus never takes any action in his situation. Hamlet is a perfect balance in the midst of these stories, neither acting quickly nor being completely inactive.

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Death

Hamlet looks at the uncertainty of death in his famous "To be or not to be" solilique. He also ponders the physical results in the cemetary scene when his looks at Yoric's skull.

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Synopsis

File:Henry Fuseli- Hamlet and his father's Ghost.JPG

Marcellus, Horatio, Hamlet, and the Ghost by Henry Fuseli.

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, after lecturing Ophelia against Hamlet, and after Laertes, himself, receives a lecture from Polonius.

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.

Adaptations and cultural references

This section needs expansion. You can help by making an edit request adding to it . (April 2007)

The play has greatly influenced culture. See the below articles for more information.

References to Hamlet in popular culture
Phrases from Hamlet in common English phrases from the play in everyday English
References to Ophelia
To be or not to be
What a piece of work is a man
Hamlet on screen

References

Hamlet has 208 quotations in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations; it takes up 10 of 85 pages dedicated to Shakespeare in the 1986 Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (14th ed. 1968)
E.g. Professor James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
E.g. Harvard Classics, Great Books, Great Books of the Western World, Harold Bloom's The Western Canon, St. John's College reading list, Columbia College Core Curriculum.
(Crystal, 2005, p.66)
based on the first edition of The Riverside Shakespeare (1974)
Edwards, pp. 1-2
Jenkins, pp. 82-5
Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human and Hamlet: Poem Unlimited
Edwards, p.2
see Jenkins, pp. 82-122 for a complex discussion of all sorts of possible influences that found their way into the play.
. Some copies of Q2 are dated 1605, possibly reflecting a second impression; so that Q2 is often dated "1604/5,"
Halliday, p. 204.
Hibbard, pp. 22-3
See 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.
Jenkins, p.14
Thompson & Taylor, 2006
ibid
Hibbard, G. R. Hamlet. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998: 17
http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=Hamlet
Filmhead.com review accessed 6 April 2007.
Dworkin, Martin. "'Stay Illusion': Having Words About Shakespeare On Screen." Journal of Aesthetic Education 11 (1977): 55.
sparknotes.com/shakespeare/hamlet/themes.html
Rasmussen, Eric. "Fathers and Sons In Hamlet." Shakespeare Quarterly. (Jan 1984) 35.4 pg. 463
sparknotes.com/shakespeare/hamlet/themes/html

Bibliography

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Phillip Edwards, ed., Cambridge, 1985, 2003. (New Cambridge Shakespeare)
Hamlet. G.R. Hibbard, ed., Oxford, 1987. (Oxford World's Classics)
Hamlet, The Texts of 1603, 1604, and 1623. Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor, eds, 2 vols, Thompson Learning, 2006. (The Arden Shakespeare, Third Series)

Brown, John Russell, Hamlet: a guide to the text and its theatrical life. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. (Shakespeare Handbooks)
Crystal, David, & Ben Crystal, The Shakespeare Miscellany. New York, 2005.
Dawson, Anthony B., Hamlet. Manchester University Press, 1995. (Shakespeare in Performance)
Duthie, G. I., The "Bad" Quarto of "Hamlet," A Critical Study, Cambridge University Press, 1941.
Eliot, T.S., ‘Hamlet and his Problems’, in The Sacred Wood: Essays in Poetry and Criticism. Faber & Gwyer, 1920.
Foakes, R. A., Hamlet versus Lear. Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Halliday, F. E., A Shakespeare Companion 1564-1964, Baltimore, Penguin, 1964.
Lennard, John, Shakespeare: Hamlet. Humanities-Ebooks, 2007. (Literature Insights)
Pennington, Michael, Hamlet: A User’s Guide. Nick Hern Books, 1996.
Tomm, Nigel Shakespeare's Hamlet Remixed. BookSurge, 2006.
Wilson, John Dover, The Manuscript of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Cambridge, 1934.
-- What Happens in Hamlet. Cambridge University Press, 1935, 1959.

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