Hamlet, a tragedy by Shakespeare, registered as ‘latelie Acted’ in July 1602. A short text probably reconstructed from memory by actors was published 1603 and a good text, almost twice as long, 1604–5. The folio text (1623) adds some passages not in the Second Quarto, and omits others. His chief nondramatic source was Saxo Grammaticus's narrative in his Historiae Danicae, as retold by Belleforest in his Histoires Tragiques.

Old Hamlet, king of Denmark, is recently dead, and his brother Claudius has assumed the throne and married his widow Gertrude. Young Hamlet, returning from university at Wittenberg, learns from the ghost of his father that Claudius murdered him by pouring poison into his ear, and is commanded to avenge the murder without injuring Gertrude. Hamlet warns his friend Horatio and the guard (who have also seen the apparition) that he intends to feign madness, and swears them to secrecy. Immediately after his famous speech of deliberation beginning ‘To be, or not to be’ (iii. i) he repudiates Ophelia, whom he has loved, while spied on by Claudius and by Ophelia's father Polonius. He welcomes a troupe of visiting players, and arranges a performance of a play (‘the Mouse-trap’) about fratricide, which Claudius breaks off, in apparently guilty and fearful fury, when the player Lucianus appears to murder his uncle by pouring poison into his ear. Hamlet refrains from killing Claudius while he is at prayer, but stabs through the arras in his mother's bedroom, killing the old counsellor Polonius, before reprimanding his mother for her affection for Claudius. Claudius sends Hamlet to England with sealed orders that he should be killed on arrival. Hamlet outwits him, however, returning to Denmark, having arranged the deaths of his old friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who were his uncle's agents. During Hamlet's absence Ophelia has gone mad with grief from Hamlet's rejection of her and her father's death, and is found drowned. Her brother Laertes returns from France intent on avenging his sister's death. Hamlet and Laertes meet in the graveyard where Ophelia is to be buried, and fight in her grave. Claudius arranges a fencing match between Hamlet and Laertes, giving the latter a poisoned foil; an exchange of weapons results in the deaths of both combatants, not before Gertrude has drunk a poisoned cup intended for her son, and the dying Hamlet has succeeded in killing Claudius. Fortinbras, prince of Norway, whose resolute military heroism has been alluded to throughout the play, appears fresh from wars with Poland and gives Hamlet a military funeral. (See also objective correlative.)

Hamlet. Shakespeare's most famous play was first offered to Americans in Garrick's version at a theatre in Philadelphia's Society Hill in 1759, with the younger Lewis Hallam Jr. in the title role, and remains the most frequently produced of all Shakespeare's works. At one time or another every great American classical tragedian assumed the role. In his Curiosities of the American Stage, Laurence Hutton devoted an extended chapter to comparing all the major interpreters up to his time. Besides Hallam, his list includes such notables as John Hodgkinson, Thomas Abthorpe Cooper, James Fennell, John Howard Payne, George Frederick Cooke, Edmund Kean, Junius Brutus Booth, James William Wallack, John Jay Adams, William Macready, Charles Kemble, Edwin Forrest, Charles Kean, Edward Eddy, George Vandenhoff, Edward L. Davenport, Lawrence Barrett, James Murdoch, Charles Fechter, Daniel Bandmann, and Tommaso Salvini. Hutton attempted brief descriptions and comparisons of their performances. Noting that both Forrest and Edwin Booth offered interpretations in 1860, he concluded that “the contrast between the powerful robustious figure, deep chest tones, and somewhat ponderous action of the elder actor, and the lithe, poetic, romantic, melancholy rendition of the younger was very marked,” and added, “In many minds Booth is Hamlet, and Hamlet is Booth.” All these 19th‐century artists performed in mountings that today would be perceived as top‐heavy with scenery and very slow‐moving. In 1912 a relatively minor star, John E. Kellerd, established a then long‐run record of 102 performances. Noted 20th‐century Hamlets have included John Barrymore, Leslie Howard, John Gielgud, and Richard Burton. As a rule these actors played in versions that included substantial cuts in text and limited, more suggestive scenery, and allowed the strength and depth of their interpretations to carry the evening. Only Maurice Evans offered anything approaching a totally uncut version, but his often singsong delivery was seen by some critics as standing in the way of a completely satisfying study. Recent notable Hamlets in New York include Sam Waterston, Kevin Kline, Stephen Lang, Ralph Fiennes, and Alex Jennings.

Hamlet a legendary prince of Denmark, hero of a tragedy by Shakespeare. The story is based on one in Saxo Grammaticus's Historiae Danicae, in which the young prince is opposed to the usurping uncle who has murdered Hamlet's father and married his mother.

In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, adjured by his father's ghost to seek revenge, is torn between hatred of his usurping uncle and love for his mother; in allusive use, his name may indicate not only tragedy but also an ultimately fatal indecision.
Hamlet without the prince a performance or event taking place without the principal actor or central figure. The phrase derives from an account given in the Morning Post of September 1775, of a theatrical company in which the actor who was to play the hero ran off with the innkeeper's daughter; when the play was announced, the audience was told ‘the part of Hamlet to be left out, for that night.’

Hamlet. Shakespeare's play (1600–1) has inspired operas and orch. mus. e.g.(1) Opera in 5 acts by Ambroise Thomas to lib. by Barbier and Carré, prod. Paris 1868, London 1869, NY 1872.(2) Opera (Amleto) by Faccio to lib. by Boito, prod. Genoa 1865.(3) Sym.-poem by Liszt, comp. 1858 as prelude to play.(4) Fantasy-ov. Op.67a by Tchaikovsky, 1888, and incid. mus. (16 items) Op.67b, 1891.(5) Opera in 3 acts by Searle to his own lib., prod. Hamburg 1968, London 1969.(6) Ballets on the subject have used mus. by Tchaikovsky, Clerico, Gallenberg, Blacher, and Shostakovich.(7) Other operas on the subject by Gasparini, D. Scarlatti, Mercadante, Grandi, and Szokolay among others.(8) Film music by Shostakovich and Walton.

Hamlet

Prince Hamlet of Denmark, the main character in Shakespeare's famous play Hamlet, is one of the most complex figures in Western literature. Faced with avenging the murder of his father by killing his uncle, Hamlet struggles with the conflict between good and evil, weakness and strength, and his own indecision.

Hamlet is based on a legendary character found in Danish and Icelandic myths and folktales. An early version appears in an Icelandic saga of the a.d. 800S. Later the Prose Edda, a book of Norse* mythology from the 1220s, mentions a man named Amloi or Amlothi, whose story is similar to that of Hamlet.

Another source for the legend is Historiae Danicae (Danish Histories), written by Saxo Grammaticus in the 1100s. The work contains a story about a figure named Amleth who, like Hamlet, slays the uncle who has murdered his father. Modern scholars have found characters in early Celtic* mythology that seem related to the legend of Hamlet as well.

In Shakespeare's play, first performed in about 1600, Hamlet's uncle Claudius has murdered Hamlet's father and married his mother. Although eager for revenge, Hamlet is reluctant to act. The play focuses on his emotional turmoil and eventual acceptance of his fate. Although Hamlet finally kills Claudius, his actions lead to his own death as well as the deaths of others, including his mother.

saga story recounting the adventures of historical and legendary heroes; usually associated with Icelandic or Norse tales of the Middle Ages

* See Names and Places at the end of this volume for further information.

See also Celtic Mythology; Norse Mythology.

Ham·let / ˈhamlit/ a legendary prince of Denmark, hero of a tragedy by Shakespeare. PHRASES: Hamlet without the Prince a performance or event taking place without the principal actor or central figure.

ham·let / ˈhamlit/ • n. a small settlement, generally one smaller than a village.

hamlet XIV. — AN. hamelet(t)e, OF. hamelet, f. hamel (mod. hameau), dim. f. ham — MLG., MDu. See -LET.

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