The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
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| Hamlet original Edition |
This is one of most famous classic books, people wrote books about it and about its meaning even changing the ends and characters , this is a the original celebrated play by William Shakespeare.
Publication date 1899📖
Author: William Shakespeare
Original written: ~1600–1601
First printed: 1603 (First Quarto), 1604 (Second Quarto), 1623 (First Folio)
1899 Edition: Published by Methuen & Co., London — The Arden Shakespeare, edited by Edward Dowden
Summary
Hamlet, young Prince of Denmark, is visited by his father's Ghost, who reveals he was murdered by his own brother — now King Claudius, who has hastily married Hamlet's mother, Queen Gertrude. Hamlet vows revenge, but is paralyzed by doubt, grief, and fear.
He pretends madness to uncover the truth, stages a play to catch Claudius's guilt, and struggles to act — while Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and finally his mother all fall in the tragic wake of his hesitation. In the end, Laertes, Claudius, Gertrude, and Hamlet himself all perish — and Fortinbras arrives to take a silent, ruined throne.
Key Characters
- Hamlet — the Prince, brilliant, grief-stricken, paralyzed by thought
- Claudius — the King; murderer, usurper, yet human in his guilt
- Gertrude — the Queen; loving but shallow, caught between son and husband
- Ophelia — Polonius's daughter; Hamlet's beloved, driven to madness and death
- Polonius — chief councillor; meddlesome, sent to spy — pays with his life
- Laertes — Ophelia's brother; impulsive, seeks revenge
- Horatio — Hamlet's one true friend; steady, loyal, the only survivor
- The Ghost — Hamlet's murdered father; demands justice
Famous Lines
"To be, or not to be: that is the question." — Act 3, Scene 1
"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." — Act 1, Scene 4
"Frailty, thy name is woman!" — Act 1, Scene 2
"The rest is silence." — Hamlet's final words, Act 5, Scene 2
What Makes It the Greatest Play Ever Written
Hamlet isn't just a revenge story — it's a mirror held up to the human soul. Shakespeare explores thought itself: how we doubt, how we grieve, how we fear death, and how hard it is to know what is true and what is right. Every age sees something different in Hamlet — which is why it still speaks to us, four centuries later.