Hamlet (Bantam Classic) - Softcover

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William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He was one of eight children born to John Shakespeare, a merchant of some standing in his community. William probably went to the King’s New School in Stratford, but he had no university education. In November 1582, at the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, who was pregnant with their first child, Susanna. She was born on May 26, 1583. Twins, a boy, Hamnet ( who would die at age eleven), and a girl, Judith, were born in 1585. By 1592 Shakespeare had gone to London working as an actor and already known as a playwright. A rival dramatist, Robert Greene, referred to him as “an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers.” Shakespeare became a principal shareholder and playwright of the successful acting troupe, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men (later under James I, called the King’s Men). In 1599 the Lord Chamberlain’s Men built and occupied the Globe Theater in Southwark near the Thames River. Here many of Shakespeare’s plays were performed by the most famous actors of his time, including Richard Burbage, Will Kempe, and Robert Armin. In addition to his 37 plays, Shakespeare had a hand in others, including Sir Thomas More and The Two Noble Kinsmen, and he wrote poems, including Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. His 154 sonnets were published, probably without his authorization, in 1609. In 1611 or 1612 he gave up his lodgings in London and devoted more and more time to retirement in Stratford, though he continued writing such plays as The Tempest and Henry VII until about 1613. He died on April 23 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. No collected edition of his plays was published during his life-time, but in 1623 two members of his acting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell, put together the great collection now called the First Folio.

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One of the greatest plays of all time, the compelling tragedy of the tormented young prince of Denmark continues to capture the imaginations of modern audiences worldwide. Confronted with evidence that his uncle murdered his father, and with his mother's infidelity, Hamlet must find a means of reconciling his longing for oblivion with his duty as avenger. The ghost, Hamlet's feigned madness, Ophelia's death and burial, the play within a play, the "closet scene" in which Hamlet accuses his mother of complicity in murder, and breathtaking swordplay are just some of the elements that make "Hamlet an enduring masterpiece of the theater.
Each Edition Includes:
- Comprehensive explanatory notes
- Vivid introductions and the most up-to-date scholarship
- Clear, modernized spelling and punctuation, enabling contemporary readers to understand the Elizabethan English
- Completely updated, detailed bibliographies and performance histories
- An interpretive essay on film adaptations of the play, along with an extensive filmography

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Dramatis Personae

*

ghost of Hamlet, the former King of Denmark

Claudius, King of Denmark, the former King's brother

Gertrude, Queen of Denmark, widow of the former King and now wife of Claudius

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, son of the late King and of Gertrude

Polonius, councillor to the King

Laertes, his son

Ophelia, his daughter

Reynaldo, his servant

Horatio, Hamlet's friend and fellow student

Voltimand,

Cornelius,

Rosencrantz,

Guildenstern,         members of the Danish court

Osric,

a gentleman,

a lord,

Bernardo,

Francisco,                officers and soldiers on watch

Marcellus,

Fortinbras, Prince of Norway

captain in his army

Three or Four players, taking the roles of  prologue, player king, player queen, and Lucianus

Two messengers

first sailor

Two clowns, a gravedigger and his companion

priest

first ambassador from England

Lords, Soldiers, Attendants, Guards, other Players, Followers of Laertes, other Sailors, another Ambassador or Ambassadors from England

scene: Denmark]

*

BERNARDO,

FRANCISCO, officers and soldiers on watch

MARCELLUS,

FORTINBRAS, Prince of Norway

CAPTAIN in His army

Three or Four PLAYERS, taking the roles of PROLOGUE, PLAYER KING, PLAYER QUEEN, and LUCIANUS

Two MESSENGERS

FIRST SAILOR

Two CLOWNS, a gravedigger and his companion

PRIEST

FIRST AMBASSADOR from England

Lords, Soldiers, Attendants, Guards, other Players, Followers of Laertes, other Sailors, another Ambassador or Ambassadors from England

SCENE: Denmark]

1.1 Location: Elsinore castle. A guard platform.

2 me (Francisco emphasizes that he is the sentry currently on watch.) unfold yourself reveal your identity.

14 rivals partners

16 ground country land.

17 liegemen to the Dane men sworn to serve the Danish king.

18 Give May God give

BERNARDO Who's there?

FRANCISCO

Nay, answer me. Stand and unfold yourself. 2 BERNARDO Long live the King!

FRANCISCO Bernardo?

BERNARDO He.

FRANCISCO

You come most carefully upon your hour.

BERNARDO

'Tis now struck twelve. Get thee to bed, Francisco.

FRANCISCO

For this relief much thanks. 'Tis bitter cold,

And I am sick at heart.

BERNARDO Have you had quiet guard? FRANCISCO Not a mouse stirring.

BERNARDO Well, good night.

If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus,

The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste. 14

Enter Horatio and Marcellus.

FRANCISCO

I think I hear them--Stand, ho! Who is there?

HORATIO Friends to this ground. 16

MARCELLUS And liegemen to the Dane. 17

FRANCISCO Give you good night. 18

MARCELLUS

Oh, farewell, honest soldier. Who hath relieved you?

27 fantasy imagination

30 along to come along

31 watch keep watch during

33 approve corroborate

39 Last... all i.e., This very last night. (Emphatic.)

40 pole polestar, north star

41 his its. t'illuine to illuminate

FRANCISCO

Bernardo hath my place. Give you good night.

Exit Francisco.

MARCELLUS Holla! Bernardo! BERNARDO Say, what, is Horatio there?

HORATIO A piece of him.

BERNARDO

Welcome, Horatio. Welcome, good Marcellus.

HORATIO

What, has this thing appeared again tonight?

BERNARDO I have seen nothing.

MARCELLUS

Horatio says 'tis but our fantasy, 27

And will not let belief take hold of him

Touching this dreaded sight twice seen of us.

Therefore I have entreated him along 30

With us to watch the minutes of this night, 31

That if again this apparition come

He may approve our eyes and speak to it. 33

HORATIO

Tush, tush, 'twill not appear.

BERNARDO Sit down awhile And let us once again assail your ears, That are so fortified against our story, What we have two nights seen.

HORATIO Well, sit we down, And let us hear Bernardo speak of this.

BERNARDO Last night of all, 39

When yond same star that's westward from the pole 40

Had made his course t'illume that part of heaven 41

Where now it burns, Marcellus and myself,

The bell then beating one-- Enter Ghost.

46 scholar one learned enough to know how to question a ghost properly

47 'ahe

49 It... to (It was commonly believed that a ghost could

not speak until spoken to.)

50 usurp'st wrongfully takes over

52 buried Denmark the buried King of Denmark

53 sometimes formerly

59 on't of it.

61 sensible confirmed by the senses. avouch warrant,

evidence

MARCELLUS

Peace, break thee off! Look where it comes again!

BERNARDO

In the same figure like the King that's dead.

MARCELLUS

Thou art a scholar. Speak to it, Horatio. 46

BERNARDO

Looks 'a not like the King? Mark it, Horatio. 47

HORATIO

Most like. It harrows me with fear and wonder.

BERNARDO

It would be spoke to.

MARCELLUS Speak to it, Horatio. 49 HORATIO

What art thou that usurp'st this time of night, 50

Together with that fair and warlike form

In which the majesty of buried Denmark 52

Did sometimes march? By heaven, I charge thee, speak! 53 MARCELLUS

It is offended.

BERNARDO See, it stalks away.

HORATIO

Stay! Speak, speak! I charge thee, speak! Exit Ghost. MARCELLUS 'Tis gone and will not answer.

BERNARDO

How now, Horatio? You tremble and look pale.

Is not this something more than fantasy?

What think you on't?

HORATIO

Before my God, I might not this believe

Without the sensible and true avouch 61

Of mine own eyes.

MARCELLUS Is it not like the King?

65 Norway King of Norway

66 parle parley

67 sledded traveling on sleds. Polacks Poles

69 jump exactly

70 stalk stride

71 to work i.e., to collect my thoughts and try to understand this

72 gross and scope general drift

74 Good now (An expression denoting entreaty or expostulation.)

76 toils causes to toil. subject subjects

77 cast casting

78 mart shopping

79 impress impressment, conscription

81 toward in preparation

87 Thereto... pride (Refers to old Fortinbras, not the Danish King.) pricked on incited. emulate emubus, ambitious

89 this ... world i.e., all Europe, the Western world

90 sealed certified, confirmed

91 heraldry chivalry

93 seized possessed

HORATIO As thou art to thyself.

Such was the very armor he had on

When he the ambitious Norway combated. 65

So frowned he once when, in an angry parle, 66

He smote the sledded Polacks on the ice. 67

'Tis strange.

MARCELLUS

Thus twice before, and jump at this dead hour, 69 With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch. 70

HORATIO

In what particular thought to work I know not, 71

But in the gross and scope of mine opinion 72

This bodes some strange eruption to our state.

MARCELLUS

Good now, sit down, and tell me, he that knows, 74

Why this same strict and most observant watch

So nightly toils the subject of the land, 76

And why such daily cast of brazen cannon 77

And foreign mart for implements of war, 78

Why such impress of shipwrights, whose...