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Hamlet is a tragedy, believed written between 1599 and 1601. It tells the story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, who takes revenge on his uncle (the current king) for killing his father (the former king), and charts the course of his real or feigned madness.
It is one of Shakespeare's best-known plays, one of the most-quoted works in the English language, and often included on lists of the world's greatest literature. Critics have called Hamlet "Shakespeare's greatest play" and it ranks high among his most-performed, topping, for example, the Royal Shakespeare Company's list since 1879.
Hamlet is derived from elements in several sources. These include a Danish legend, recorded in the 12th century by Saxo Grammaticus in Gesta Danorum and retold by François de Belleforest in Histoires Tragiques (1570), and a now-lost Elizabethan play known today as the Ur-Hamlet. Three different early versions of the play survive: known as the First Quarto ("Q1"), Second Quarto ("Q2"), and First Folio ("F1"), each has lines—and even scenes—missing in the others.
Hamlet is the longest play—and Hamlet is the largest part—in the entire Shakespeare canon. It starts with Hamlet's desire for revenge and ends, more than three hours later, with its fulfilment. For centuries, commentators have studied the reasons behind this delay. Some see it as a plot device to prolong the action; others as an exploration of the complex philosophical and ethical issues that surround revenge, intrigue, incest and desire. When Hamlet is genuinely insane, and when he is feigning it, is another conundrum. More recently, psychoanalytic critics have probed Hamlet's unconscious desires and feminist critics have explored Ophelia's and Gertrude's experiences.
Even during Shakespeare's lifetime (he died in 1616), Hamlet was one of his most popular plays. The role was almost certainly created for Richard Burbage, the leading tragedian of the Lord Chamberlain's Men. Hamlet was revived during the Restoration period and has been popular ever since. Many adaptations for cinema have been made, beginning with silent versions in the early 20th century.