What is Hamlet?
{{italictitle}} {{for|the geographic definition for a place smaller than a [[village]]|Hamlet (place)}} {{Not to be confused with|Hamlet (lost play)}} {{Infobox play | name = Hamlet | image = Hamlet.jpg | image_size = | image_alt = | caption = | writer = [[William Shakespeare]] | chorus = | characters = Hamlet<br>Ghost of the dead King<br>Gertrude<br>Claudius | mute = | setting = | premiere = | place = | orig_lang = English | series = | subject = Revenge | genre = [[Tragedy]] | web = | playbill = | ibdb_id = | iobdb_id = | theatricalia_id = }} [[File:Edwin Booth Hamlet 1870.jpg|right|thumb|An [[actor]] playing Hamlet.]] '''''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark''''' is a [[tragedy]] [[Play (theatre)|play]] by [[William Shakespeare]]. It is one of his best-known plays, and many lines have become famous quotations. The play is often just called '''''Hamlet'''''. ''Hamlet'' was written between 1600 and 1602, and first printed in 1603. With 4042 lines and 29551 words, Hamlet is the longest Shakespearean play.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shakespeare-online.com/faq/shakespearelongestp.html|title=Which play is Shakespeare's longest?|accessdate=2021-01-18}}</ref> The play was based on another play also named ''[[Hamlet (lost play)|Hamlet]]'', which is now lost, unlike Shakespeare's Hamlet. It’s also based on a story called [[Amleth]] by [[Saxo Grammaticus]]. == Plot == Hamlet is a young prince in [[Denmark]] who was supposed to become king when his father (also named Hamlet) died. Instead, Hamlet's uncle Claudius took the throne for himself and married Hamlet's mother, Gertrude. Hamlet meets a [[ghost]] of his dead father, who tells him that he was poisoned by Claudius. The ghost tells Hamlet to kill Claudius in [[revenge]]. Hamlet is at first not sure whether to believe the ghost, so he tries to investigate. He pretends to be mad to hide what he is doing. As the play goes on, it becomes hard to tell if Hamlet is actually mad or stil