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'''Hamlet''' is perhaps Shakespeare's most famous play, a 400-year old [[tragedy]] about incest, [[revenge]], [[madness]], [[homicide]], [[suicide]] and [[duel]]s to the death.

'''''Hamlet''''' is perhaps Shakespeare's most famous play, a 400-year old [[tragedy]] about incest, [[revenge]], [[madness]], [[homicide]], [[suicide]] and [[duel]]s to the death.

The title character is the son of a murdered king, who appears in a ghostly meeting to the young prince. The dead king accuses his brother, Claudius, (young Hamlet's uncle) of murdering him.  

The title character is the son of a murdered king, who appears in a ghostly meeting to the young prince. The dead king accuses his brother, Claudius, (young Hamlet's uncle) of murdering him.  

==Movies==

==Movies==

 

Major film versions of the play have starred [[Laurence Olivier]], [[Mel Gibson]], [[Kenneth Branagh]] and [[Ethan Hawke]]. For years, Olivier's performance was considered an unapproachable ideal. The Gibson version used modernized English and portrayed a grittier, tougher Hamlet. The Branagh version, clocking in at 4 hours because it includes every line in the play, features [[Billy Crystal]] in a comic role as the gravedigger. The Ethan Hawke version is set in Manhattan with Denmark as a corporation and Julia Stiles as a girlfriend driven to suicide by Hamlet's antics.  The British Broadcasting Corporation also filmed a version for television with [[Derek Jacobi]] in the title role.     

Major film versions of the play have starred [[Laurence Olivier]], [[Mel Gibson]], [[Kenneth Branagh]] and [[Ethan Hawke]]. For years, Olivier's performance was considered an inapproachable ideal. The Gibson version used modernized English and portrayed a grittier, tougher Hamlet. The Branagh version, clocking in at 4 hours because it includes every line in the play, features [[Billy Crystal]] in a comic role as the gravedigger. The Ethan Hawke version is set in Manhattan with Denmark as a corporation and Julia Stiles as a girl friend driven to suicide by Hamlet's antics.  The British Broadcasting Corporation also filmed one for television with [[Derek Jacobi]] in the title role.     

==History==

==History==

 

Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'' was based on a long narrative tradition, beginning with Saxo Grammaticus' ''Historica Danica'' (1180-1208). His legendary story of Amlethus was adapted by French writer François Belleforest in 1576; this new version of the story included more dialogue and psychological commentary than the original. By 1589, an English-language Hamlet play was being performed. The author of this Ur-Hamlet is not known, although some evidence points towards Thomas Kyd, author of the prototypical English revenge play, ''[[The Spanish Tragedie]]''. Shakespeare received most of his Hamlet material from this narrative tradition and transformed it into the enduring work known today.<ref>David Bevington, ed., ''The Complete Works of Shakespeare,'' Update 4th ed. (New York: Longman, 1997), A43-A45.</ref>

Shakespeare's Hamlet was based on a long narrative tradition, beginning with Saxo Grammaticus' ''Historica Danica'' (1180-1208). His legendary story of Amlethus was adapted by French writer François Belleforest in 1576; this new version of the story included more dialogue and psychological commentary than the original. By 1589, an English-language Hamlet play was being performed. The author of this Ur-Hamlet is not known, although some evidence points towards Thomas Kyd, author of the prototypical English revenge play, [[The Spanish Tragedie]]. Shakespeare received most of his Hamlet material from this narrative tradition and transformed it into the enduring work known today.<ref>David Bevington, ed., ''The Complete Works of Shakespeare,'' Update 4th ed. (New York: Longman, 1997), A43-A45.</ref>

==References in Popular Culture==

==References in Popular Culture==

In the 1960s, playwright Tom Stoppard wrote the play ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead'', which portrays the action from the viewpoint of Hamlet's schoolmates, and expands on their roles.

In the 1960s, playwright Tom Stoppard wrote the play ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead'', which portrays the action from the viewpoint of Hamlet's schoolmates, and expands on their roles.

The progressive metal band [[Dream Theater]] had their biggest hit in the early 1990s with "Pull Me Under", a song that referenced Hamlet throughout. The song lifted some direct quotations from the play.

The progressive metal band [[Dream Theater]] had their biggest hit in the early 1990s with "Pull Me Under", a song that referenced ''Hamlet'' throughout. The song lifted some direct quotations from the play.

==References==

==References==