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Hamlet

by William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

  • Free to read
  • 2 hours to read
  • Reading level: 6th grade

"Hamlet" by William Shakespeare is a tragedy written between 1599 and 1601. Set in Denmark, the play follows Prince Hamlet as he seeks revenge against his uncle Claudius, who murdered Hamlet's father to seize the throne and marry Hamlet's mother. After encountering his father's ghost, Hamlet feigns madness while plotting vengeance. Considered one of the most powerful tragedies in English literature, this complex tale of betrayal, murder, and moral uncertainty remains endlessly influential.

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  • Tragedies (Drama)
  • Hamlet (Legendary character)
  • Kings and rulers · Succession
  • Murder victims' families
  • Fathers · Death
  • Revenge
  • Princes
  • Denmark

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Executive Director's Notes:

In addition to the notes below, and so you will *NOT* think all the spelling errors introduced by the printers of the time have been corrected, here are the first few lines of Hamlet, as they are presented herein:

Barnardo. Who's there?
Fran. Nay answer me: Stand & vnfold
your selfe

Bar. Long liue the King

As I understand it, the printers often ran out of certain words or letters they had often packed into a "cliche". . .this is the original meaning of the term cliche. . .and thus, being unwilling to unpack the cliches, and thus you will see some substitutions that look very odd. . .such as the exchanges of u for v, v for u, above. . .and you may wonder why they did it this way, presuming Shakespeare did not actually write the play in this manner. . . .

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About this edition

This free edition of Hamlet by William Shakespeare comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #2265, released 2000-07-01. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Plays/Films/Dramas, Classics of Literature, British Literature.

Other editions: eBook #1524 (most read), eBook #27761, eBook #1122, eBook #1787, eBook #9077, eBook #10606.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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