First performed in 1603, Hamlet, The Prince of Denmark is probably the best known of William Shakespeare's works, and may well be the most famous English language play ever written. The character, Hamlet, is one of the most compelling characters to ever emerge from the pages of English literature. Hamlet has been the center of admiring critical commentaries. It has also developed a reputation as a difficult work to analyze. Hamlet features a very complicated character, with many complex themes, and presents the reader with a multi-layered text, which defies easy reading. He has been subjected to numerous interpretations and studies over the centuries, his actions and thoughts analyzed again and again. Probably more than anything else is the reason for Hamlet's charismatic appeal. In the first scene Hamlets father, the king, dies mysteriously just two months prior. Claudius, has taken the throne and has married the dead king's wife, Queen Gertrude. The members of the watch, including Prince Hamlet's loyal friend Horatio, are alarmed over the recent appearance of a ghost who resembles Hamlet's late father, and they plan to tell Hamlet about this eerie visitations.The Ghost of Hamlet's father speaks to his son directly and urges him to follow him to a one-on-one encounter. There he explains in detail of his horrid death and tells Hamlet that this heinous crime must be avenged and that it is up to his son to justify this by killing Claudius. “I am thy father's spirit; Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night, And for the day confin'd to wastein fires, Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purg'd away.” Hamlet (Act I, Sc. V) Hamlet has trouble depicting truth from fantasy in this scene, whether or not to believe the ghost who assumes the form of his deceased father. The death of his father leads Hamlet down the road to insanity. With his mother marrying his uncle only a month after King Hamlets deat...
