Hamlet is without question the most famous play in the English language. Probably written in 1601 or 1602, the tragedy is a milestone in Shakespeare's dramatic development; the playwright achieved artistic maturity in this work through his brilliant depiction of the hero's struggle with two opposing...

William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" has been filmed and performed on stage numerous times. What is interesting is the distinct differences a director or screenwriter can create in the same play through film. Three versions of Hamlet, the classic, long-time favorite starring and directed by Laurence Oli...

Cain, from the Bible, is the person who brought the evil of fratricide into the world. He opened the gates for two very evil characters in Grendel of Grendel and King Claudius of Hamlet. Throughout their respective epic poem and play, these characters portray the utmost evil within our society. &quo...

Hamlet's Sanity and Insanity In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the main character offers a puzzling and ambiguous persona. Hamlet often contradicts himself throughout the play. Hamlet may be considered eccentric at least, insane or deranged at worst. He seems to balance the virtues of "playing ...

Context The most influential writer in all of English literature, William Shakespeare was born in 1564 to a successful middle-class glove-maker in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Shakespeare attended grammar school, but his formal education proceeded no further. In 1582 he married an older woman, A...

Context William Shakespeare was born in 1564 to a prosperous leather merchant in the village of Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire, England. He attended grammar school, married an older woman named Anne Hathaway, and eventually left Stratford for London to pursue a career in the theater. Le...