Hamlet

by Shakespeare

First published 1603

Amazon

4.0(1,086,289)

Prince Hamlet returns to Denmark after his father’s death and finds his mother Gertrude married to his uncle Claudius, now king. When the dead king’s ghost claims that Claudius murdered him, Hamlet sets out to test the accusation while concealing his intentions behind an assumed madness.

The investigation destroys the fragile life of the Danish court. Polonius is killed, Ophelia dies, Laertes returns seeking revenge and a diplomatic contest with Norway continues beyond the palace walls. Shakespeare turns the revenge plot into an examination of evidence, conscience, grief, performance and the political consequences of a succession founded on suspected murder.