by Richard Hall

Created on: January 20, 2010

“Hamlet”, written during the period 1599-1601, is, in terms of plot, Shakespeare’s least original play. Shakespeare invariably based his plots on earlier sources, but older versions of the “Hamlet” plot are remarkably similar to that used by Shakespeare. The tragic hero appears as Amleth in an 11th century Icelandic poem, but the full story appears in the 12th century work of the Danish scholar, Saxo Grammaticus, with a cast of characters most of whom have their counterparts in Shakespeare’s play. The French chronicler, Belleforest, retold the story in his Histoires Tragiques in 1570 and Shakespeare was undoubtedly familiar with this work. Finally, a play called “Hamlet” was being performed by Shakespeare’s company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, in the 1590s; no text survives, although it is believed that this was based on Belleforest and was possibly written by Shakespeare’s contemporary, Thomas Kyd.

The play’s first striking feature is its length. The full version, comprising some 4,000 lines, is Shakespeare’s longest play and the Prince speaks nearly 40 per cent of the lines – a higher proportion than for any other Shakespearean character. The play could not have been performed in full in Shakespeare’s time, as London theatre productions took place in the afternoon, from 2 o’clock until about 5 o’clock, and in that time a maximum of about 3,000 lines could be accommodated. The play would therefore have been staged in a “cut” version, as is usually the case today. There is a sense of “Hamlet” being a very personal play for Shakespeare, in which he was finding a new direction in his writing and letting it take him where it would, irrespective of the practical theatrical constraints within which he worked.

In analysing “Hamlet”, it is important to appreciate the historical background against which Shakespeare was writing in 1599-1601. This period was an extraordinary crossroads in English history. Shakespeare was born into a world in which the Reformation was transforming England from a Catholic into a Protestant country. He would have received extensive tuition in Protestant doctrine at Stratford Grammar School, and his plays contain numerous biblical references. However, there is evidence that his father maintained strong Catholic sympathies throughout his life; these were dangerous beliefs to hold in Elizabethan times. The

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