A short summary of William Shakespeare's Hamlet. This free synopsis covers all the crucial plot points of Hamlet. Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark; he is son to the late King Hamlet, and nephew to the present King Claudius. Claudius is the King of Denmark, elected to the throne after the death of his brother, King Hamlet. Claudius has married Gertrude, his brother's widow. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play depicts Prince Hamlet and his attempts to exact revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet's mother. Hamnet, which releases in limited theaters beginning on Nov. 26, takes creative liberties with Shakespeare’s marriage and family life. At its center is a story of two parents buckling under the. Synopsis Events before the start of Hamlet set the stage for tragedy. When the king of Denmark, Prince Hamlet’s father, suddenly dies, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, marries his uncle Claudius, who becomes the new king. Hamlet is a tragedy in five acts written by William Shakespeare about 1599–1601 and published in a quarto edition in 1603 from an unauthorized text. Often considered the greatest drama of all time, the play tells the story of the troubled titular prince of Denmark. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Shakespeare homepage | Hamlet | Entire play Hamlet is Shakespeare's most popular, and most puzzling, play. It follows the form of a revenge tragedy, in which the hero, Hamlet, seeks vengeance against his father's murderer, his uncle Claudius, now the king of Denmark. The story of Hamlet is based on a Danish revenge story first recorded by Saxo Grammaticus in the 1100s. In these stories, a Danish prince fakes madness in order to take revenge on his uncle, who had killed the prince's father and married his mother. Read and download Hamlet for free. Learn about this Shakespeare play, find scene-by-scene summaries, and discover more Folger resources.