Hamlet is the most famous play in the world. The primary reason for this fame is the complex protagonist, who has continued to fascinate, intrigue, puzzle, and entrance audiences for over four centuries. Hamlet is a young man who rails and scoffs at fate and criticizes the world as a place of corruption and decay. With the death of his father, the King of Denmark, Hamlet, the prince, feels that the best and the good in life are now over. Hamlet is full of depression and sadness. Yet, he is also a witty and clever character who becomes a social critic of great insight and understanding. The members of the audience may either relate to him or be puzzled by him, but nearly everyone in the audience will recognize the truth that is contained in Hamlet’s critical assessment of the world.
Hamlet is an astonishing and remarkable character, and many critics argue that Shakespeare was able to create such a complex and intriguing character because of his own personal experiences, notably the death of his son in 1596. Shakespeare son, who was only eleven years of age when he died, was named Hamnet. And, indeed, the possibility is quite strong that Shakespeare chose the story of Prince Hamlet because of the similarity in names. Shakespeare wrote this, his greatest play, around 1601. Five years had passed since the death of his son, but the emotional upheaval and depression within Shakespeare would not have passed in any amount of time. Shakespeare appeared to pour all of his emotional energy and resources into this play. It is a working out of many of Shakespeare’s own anxieties and uneasiness regarding death and the father-son relationship. So, although the play is not autobiographical in regards to plot or story, the rich emotional intensity of the play most certainly does reflect the powerful and bitter emotional upheaval that Shakespeare would surely have experienced at the time of his own son’s death.
Shakespeare is, of course, known for creating some of the greatest characters in world literature; and, indeed, Hamlet stands out as the greatest of these great creations. Therefore, the reader should not be surprised that most commentary and criticism about this play focuses on the character of young Prince Hamlet.
However, this story, the plot of this tragic play, also deserves and merits the serious attention of the reader. Shakespeare took a rather simple and straightforward medieval tale of revenge and developed it into a complex account of political intrigue and family dysfunction. It is, furthermore, a ghost story and social allegory. The play of Hamlet is so rich and multifaceted that most readers will need to read it several times before they realize just how intricate and marvelous the play really is. Each time readers approach the play, they will discover something else new to amaze, startle, and astound them.