Hamlet by William Shakespeare

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare

Series: The 10 Greatest Books of All Time

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1578073,00.html#ixzz2DitztA29

Hamlet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601. The play, set in Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father, the King, and then taken the throne and married Hamlet's mother. The play vividly charts the course of real and feigned madness—from overwhelming grief to seething rage—and explores themes of treachery, revenge, incest, and moral corruption.

It has been theorized that Hamlet is based on the legend of Amleth, preserved by 13th-century chronicler Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum as subsequently retold by 16th-century scholar François de Belleforest. Shakespeare may also have drawn on or perhaps written an earlier (hypothetical) Elizabethan play known today as the Ur-Hamlet. He almost certainly created the title role for Richard Burbage, the leading tragedian of Shakespeare's time. In the 400 years since, the role has been performed by highly acclaimed actors and actresses from each successive age.

— Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Cover is the picture of painter Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863)

App icon is the Stataue of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Stratford-upon-Avon, by Lord Ronald Gower

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