William Shakespeare's Hamlet

William Shakespeare's Hamlet (c.1600-1601) has achieved iconic status as one of the most exciting and enigmatic of plays. It has been in almost constant production in Britain and throughout the world since it was first performed, fascinating generations of audiences and critics alike.

Taking the form of a sourcebook, this guide to Shakespeare's remarkable play offers:

extensive introductory comment on the contexts, critical history and performance of the text, from publication to the present

annotated extracts from key contextual documents, reviews, critical works and the text itself

cross-references between documents and sections of the guide, in order to suggest links between texts, contexts and criticism

suggestions for further reading.