Here’s Why Hamlet By William Shakespeare Is So Popular

Hamlet By William Shakespeare is still so popular play to our present generation from when it was first published. Hamlet, the most powerful and influential work of world literature by William Shakespeare, and published in a quarto edition in 1603 from an unauthorized text.

This writing was derived from the legend of Amleth was first performed around 1600 and told the story of a prince whose duty to revenge his father’s death entangles him in philosophical problems he can’t solve.

William Shakespeare In Literature

William Shakespeare, an English playwright, was born on 26 April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. He is also known as the poet, and actor, widely regarded as the most excellent writer in the English language and the world’s greatest dramatist worldwide.

He is most familiar as England’s national poet and the “Bard of Avon.” He got married to Anne Hathaway at the age of only 18, and he had three children named Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith.

Shakespeare had a successful career between 1585 and 1592 in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men game.

Around 1613, when his age was about 49, he appeared to have retired to Stratford, and in the same place, he died on 23 April 1616 at the age of 52 in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. Now we will know about his famous play Hamlet.

Hamlet By William Shakespeare

Hamlet by William Shakespeare is the most famous play, having other names, The Tragedy of Hamlet and Prince of Denmark. William Shakespeare wrote this tragedy between 1599 and 1601. This is the most extended play of William Shakespeare, containing 30,557 words.

In this play, Prince Hamlet and his revenge against his uncle Claudius, are set in Denmark. He had murdered Hamlet’s father to seize his throne and marry Hamlet’s mother. The original language of this famous play was English.

Hamlet Play Plot

Hamlet is such a long play by William Shakespeare that it is divided into five different acts. I will discuss each act in the following description. Have a look at the plot summary in five different acts below.

Hamlet: Act 1

Prince Hamlet of Denmark is the main character of Hamlet’s play. He was the son of the recently deceased King Hamlet. Claudius married Prince Hamlet’s widow mother, Gertrude, to arrive at the throne.

At the Danish royal castle, Bernardo and Marcellus’s sentries, have recently seen a ghost resembling the late King Hamlet. They discuss that ghost on a cold night on Elsinore’s ramparts and bring Prince Hamlet’s friend Horatio as a witness.

King Claudius and Queen Gertrude discuss state affairs with their elderly adviser Polonius when the court gathers on the next day, then Hamlet looks on glumly. After exiting the court, Hamlet despairs his father’s death and his mother’s hasty remarriage.

Ophelia is Polonius’s daughter, and she admits her interest in Hamlet, but Laertes warns her against seeking the prince’s attention. The ghost appears to Hamlet to tell the prince that Claudius and demands to murder him that Hamlet avenge him.

Hamlet: Act 2

Then Ophelia comes to his father and tells him that Hamlet arrived at her door the prior night, half-undressed and behaving erratically. Love is blamed by Polonius for Hamlet’s madness and decides to inform Claudius and Gertrude.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two student acquaintances of Hamlet; Elsinore and welcoming are finished by the king and queen when Polonius enters to inform Hamlet’s madness.

The royal couple requests the students to investigate the cause of Hamlet’s mood and behavior. Depending on Hamlet’s madness behavior, Polonius tells Claudius and Gertrude his theory and speaks to Hamlet in a castle hall to uncover more information. But Hamlet insults Polonius all the while.

Hamlet: Act 3

Polonius forces Ophelia Hamlet’s love letters. As the King and Polonius await Ophelia’s entrance, Hamlet is walking alone in the hall, musing whether “to be or not to be.” Soon court assembles so that they can watch the play Hamlet has commissioned.

Hamlet was called to the chamber of Gertrude to demand an explanation. On the other hand, Claudius talks to himself about the impossibility of repenting just because of possessing his ill-gotten goods: his brother’s crown and wife. Hamlet will visit his mother and sneak up behind him but not kill him.

Hamlet: Act 4

Hamlet creates a joke for Claudius where he has hidden Polonius’s body. The king sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to accompany Hamlet to England with a sealed letter to the English king to execute Hamlet immediately fearing his life.

Ophelia wanders Elsinore despite being grieved at Polonius’s death. Enraged by his father’s death and his sister’s madness, Laertes came back from France.

After arriving, Laertes is convinced by Claudius that Hamlet is solely responsible, although a letter soon arrives, indicating that Hamlet has returned to Denmark after foiling Claudius’s plan.

Hamlet: Act 5

Hamlet sends a letter to Horatio explaining that the prince escaped by negotiating with pirates who attempted to attack his England-bound ship, and then the friends reunite offstage.

In the period of digging Ophelia’s grave, the two gravediggers discuss her apparent suicide.

Hamlet discovered Claudius’s letter with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s belongings which he explained to Horatio. He also replaced it with a forged copy, indicating that he killed his former friends.

Fortinbras was ostensibly marching towards Poland and arrived at the palace. For recounting the full story of what happened, Horatio was promised.

Fortinbras takes the crown for himself and orders a military funeral to honor Hamlet when he sees that the whole Royal Family is dead.

Hamlet Play Characters

Hamlet’s play contained many characters in its accurate roles. Here I made a table of the characters with their roles in Hamlet by William Shakespeare below:

Characters	Roles
Hamlet	son of the late king and nephew of the present king, Claudius
Claudius	king of Denmark, Hamlet’s uncle, and brother to the former king
Gertrude	Queen of Denmark and Hamlet’s mother
Polonius	chief counselor to the king
Ophelia	Polonius’s daughter
Horatio	friend of Hamlet
Laertes	Polonius’s son
Voltimand and Cornelius	courtiers
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern	courtiers, friends of Hamlet
Osric	a courtier
Marcellus	an officer
Barnardo	an officer
Francisco	a soldier
Reynaldo	Polonius’s servant
Ghost	the ghost of Hamlet’s father
Fortinbras	prince of Norway
Gravediggers	a pair of sextons
Player King, Player Queen, Lucianus, etc	players

So, readers, these are enough for this article. I hope you can get preliminary information about Hamlet by William Shakespeare. However, some important information was taken from a valuable source.

If you are curious about this famous play, this article will come to work for you. Don’t forget to add your precious comment in the comment box below and stay connected with our site to get the next updates.