Hamlet
(William Shakespeare)

William Shakespeare, playwright extraordinaire, lived in 16th to 17th Century England. He wrote a considerable number of plays, including the still popular Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Romeo & Juliet. Many of his plays were written as part of the Lord Chamberlain's Men—later known as the King's Men—who were a company of players, or actors. Although Shakespeare is synonymous with the Globe Theatre, a great number of his plays were performed at Blackfriars Theatre and at court for royalty and their guests. He was also a seasoned poet and is still celebrated for his 154 sonnets, including the popular Sonnet 18. The beginning lines are possibly the most quoted out of all the sonnets: “Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.” I bet you've heard those lines before!

The 16th and early 17th Centuries in England were periods of considerable wealth and strength. Shakespeare lived through the Spanish war, saw the end of Elizabeth the Virgin Queen's reign, and heralded in the reunification of the English and Scottish thrones under one monarch, King James VI. However, despite the Royal family's immense wealth and rich noblemen in the upper classes, the poor were extremely poor. Famine, poor hygiene and the lack of wages created an environment full of disease, crime and pestilence. If you were poor during this time, you had exceedingly little to look forward to! Some would visit the theatre as a means to escape their lives if they could afford it, but they would only be able to afford standing room. Imagine standing up through an hour long play! Other entertainment available to the poor included watching executions, tormenting those placed in stocks and attending witch trials. A pretty grim past-time, but there was little else to do!

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's most loved, most studied and most often performed plays. Many actors strive to play the lead role of Hamlet on stage as it is considered one of the most challenging and rewarding roles to play. It is also Shakespeare's longest play!

Some theorists believe that the story of Hamlet was based on the legend of Amleth, a fictional figure in Scandinavian romance. Most of the written work about Amleth was written by Saxo Grammaticus, in the Gesta Danorum, in the 13th Century. No evidence exists to suggest that Saxo's work was his own or was collected through other oral and written sources. Another source of Shakespeare's may have been a since-lost play called Ur-Hamlet, which no one is certainly sure who wrote. Many suggest either Thomas Kyd or Shakespeare himself wrote the play, but there is evidence to suggest that Shakespeare's company, the Chamberlain's Men, performed this play which may have led to his interest in the legend.

There are also some who suggest the grief and tragedy of the play was fuelled by the loss of Shakespeare's young son, Hamnet, who died at age 11. While the legend of Hamlet was the most obvious source for the play, many theorists believe that this event prompted Shakespeare to write Hamlet.