| Full Title | The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark |
| Author | William Shakespeare |
| Type of work | Play |
| Genre | Tragedy, revenge tragedy |
| Language | English |
| Time written | Probably 1600-1602 |
| Place written | London, England |
| Protagonist | Hamlet |
| Major conflict | Hamlet feels a responsibility to avenge his father’s murder by his uncle Claudius, but Claudius is now the king and thus well protected. |
| Setting (time) | The late medieval period, though the play’s chronological setting is notoriously imprecise |
| settings (place) | Denmark |
| Tone | Dark, ironic, melancholy, passionate, contemplative, desperate, violent |
| themes | The impossibility of certainty; the complexity of action; the mystery of death; the nation as a diseased body |
| motifs | Incest and incestuous desire; ears and hearing; death and suicide; darkness and the supernatural; misogyny |
| symbols | The ghost (the spiritual consequences of death); Yorick’s skull (the physical consequences of death) |
Hamlet- Key Facts
September 13, 2019