Hamlet: Quick Facts

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Last updated

Nov. 13, 2026

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Photos and Videos

Famous performance

Joseph Papp in front of a poster for his production of Hamlet, 1977

Gertrude in Hamlet, as portrayed by Glenn Close, 1990

Glenn Close as Gertrude and Alan Bates as Claudius, dressed in ornate medieval costumes, embrace in a scene from the 1990 film Hamlet directed by Franco Zeffirelli.

Playing the counselor

Watch William Shakespeare's tragic eponymous protagonist bemoan the unweeded garden that is the world

Hear a short summary of Shakespeare's “Hamlet”

Understand the use of soliloquy in William Shakespeare's “Hamlet”

Watch Hamlet's tragic protagonist confront his mother, Queen Gertrude, and accidentally kill Polonius

Know about the character of Ophelia in William Shakespeare's “Hamlet”

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Topics

Macbeth Romeo and Juliet Othello A Midsummer Night’s Dream King Lear Much Ado About Nothing Waiting for Godot The Tempest Twelfth Night The Merchant of Venice

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