Hamlet

About the book

Hamlet returns to a Danish court transformed by his father's death and his mother's marriage to the new king. An encounter with a figure claiming to speak from the past places an urgent demand upon him, but acting requires judgments about evidence, loyalty, and the consequences of revenge. Shakespeare makes performance part of the investigation: public roles, private speeches, and theatrical representation repeatedly change what can be known. Relationships with friends, family, and Ophelia become entangled in the prince's attempts to understand his situation. This is Charles Kean's substantially edited arrangement for his 1859 stage production, with explanatory notes. It offers a particular theatrical form of the tragedy, whose central tensions remain those between thought and action, grief and duty, appearance and belief.

• Revenge
• Evidence and performance
• Grief

Why read it

For a performance-oriented historical version of the tragedy, with its editorial choices made visible in the accompanying notes.

Charles Kean's edited 1859 stage arrangement · English text