Hamlet Analysis

Hamlet's constant brooding about death and humanity comes to a head (grotesque pun intended) in the infamous graveyard scene, where Hamlet holds up the unearthed skull of Yorick, a court jester Ham...

The story of Hamlet is set in the late middle ages (14th and 15th centuries or, 1300 to 1499) in and around (mostly) the royal palace in Elsinore, a city in Denmark.Sixteenth Century VibeDespite th...

Hamlet fits into the generic category of "Tragedy." More specifically, Hamlet is a classic "Revenge Tragedy," a popular genre in England during the late 16th and early 17th century that includes pl...

When we talk about the play's "tone," we're talking about mood, atmosphere, and/or the play's attitude toward its subject matter. For the most part, Hamlet happens to be a very dark and introspecti...

Hamlet, like Shakespeare's other plays, is written in a combination of verse (poetry) and prose (how we talk every day). (Note: The play Richard II is the one exception to this rule – it's th...

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark…The title is pretty straightforward. The play is a tragedy about a guy named Hamlet, who is a prince in Denmark.

Hamlet is a revenge tragedy and all of Shakespeare's tragedies end in death. (You can read more about his by going to "Genre.") At the same time, the play's conclusion is deeply concerned with cont...

Mom just married Dad's brother. Also, war may be on the way.Only a month after the old King of Denmark dies, his queen remarries – to his own brother. Hamlet is not happy to have his uncle as...

Christopher Booker's analysis of the Seven Basic Plots cites Hamlet as a specific counterexample to his theory of basic plots. According to Booker, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark doesn't...

Coming soon!

So you know how most people think of Hamlet as a skinny blonde Scandinavian? When Gertrude describes Hamlet as "fat and scant of breath" (5.2.269) during his duel with Laertes, some scholars interp...

There's a whole lot of sex in this play but, it's not particularly sexy, especially when Hamlet imagines his mother's bed as a "nasty sty." Here's how Hamlet explains to his mom why she should stop...

Virgil, the AeneidNero (III.i.394)Sir James Hales (V.i.16-20)