Hamlet (Pocket Classics)

By William Shakespeare

Experience the power of Shakespeare's iconic tragedy, Hamlet, in this compact and portable Pocket Classics edition. Immerse yourself in the complex world of the Danish prince as he grapples with revenge, loyalty, and the human condition. Perfect for Shakespeare lovers on the go.

• Pocket Classics edition of Shakespeare's renowned tragedy, Hamlet
• Carry the profound tale of the Danish prince wherever you go
• Dive into the themes of revenge, loyalty, and existential introspection
• Perfect for Shakespeare enthusiasts and students studying his works
• Compact size for convenient reading, ideal for travel or daily commutes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fingerprint Publishing
• Release date: Apr 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9789362144379

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is the world's greatest ever playwright. Born in 1564, he split his time between Stratford-upon-Avon and London, where he worked as a playwright, poet and actor. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway. Shakespeare died in 1616 at the age of fifty-two, leaving three children—Susanna, Hamnet and Judith. The rest is silence.

Book preview

Act 1

Scene: Denmark

SCENE I. Elsinore.

A platform before the castle.

FRANCISCO at his post. Enter to him BERNARDO

BERNARDO

Who’s there?

FRANCISCO

Nay, answer me: stand, and unfold yourself.

BERNARDO

Long live the king!

FRANCISCO

Bernardo?

BERNARDO

He.

FRANCISCO

You come most carefully upon your hour.

BERNARDO

’Tis now struck twelve; get thee to bed, Francisco.

FRANCISCO

For this relief much thanks: ’tis bitter cold,

And I am sick at heart.

BERNARDO

Have you had quiet guard?

FRANCISCO

Not a mouse stirring.

BERNARDO

Well, good night. If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus,

The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste.

FRANCISCO

I think I hear them. Stand, ho! Who’s there?

Enter HORATIO and MARCELLUS

HORATIO

Friends to this ground.

MARCELLUS

And liegemen to the Dane.

FRANCISCO

Give you good night.

MARCELLUS

O, farewell, honest soldier:

Who hath relieved you?

FRANCISCO

Bernardo has my place.

Give you good night.

Exit

MARCELLUS

Holla! Bernardo!

BERNARDO

Say, what, is Horatio there?

HORATIO

A piece of him.

BERNARDO

Welcome, Horatio, welcome, good Marcellus.

MARCELLUS

What, has this thing appear’d again to-night?

BERNARDO

I have seen nothing.

MARCELLUS

Horatio says ’tis but our fantasy,

And will not let belief take hold of him

Touching this dreaded sight, twice seen of us:

Therefore I have entreated him along

With us to watch the minutes of this night;

That if again this apparition come,

He may approve our eyes and speak to it.

HORATIO

Tush, tush, ’twill not appear.

BERNARDO

Sit down awhile;

And let us once again assail your ears,

That are so fortified against our story

What we have two nights seen.

HORATIO

Well, sit we down,

And let us hear Bernardo speak of this.

BERNARDO

Last night of all,

When yond same star that’s westward from the pole

Had made his course to illume that part of heaven

Where now it burns, Marcellus and myself,

The bell then beating one—

Enter Ghost

MARCELLUS

Peace, break thee off; look, where it comes again!

BERNARDO

In the same figure, like the king that’s dead.

MARCELLUS

Thou art a scholar; speak to it, Horatio.

BERNARDO

Looks it not like the king? Mark it, Horatio.

HORATIO

Most like: it harrows me with fear and wonder.

BERNARDO

It would be spoke to.

MARCELLUS

Question it, Horatio.

HORATIO

What art thou that usurp’st this time of night,

Together with that fair and warlike form

In which the majesty of buried Denmark

Did sometimes march? by heaven I charge

thee, speak!

MARCELLUS

It is offended.

BERNARDO

See, it stalks away!

HORATIO

Stay! speak, speak! I charge thee, speak!

Exit Ghost

MARCELLUS

’Tis gone, and will not answer.

BERNARDO

How now, Horatio? You tremble and look pale:

Is not this something more than fantasy?

What think you on’t?

HORATIO

Before my God, I might not this believe

Without the sensible and true avouch

Of mine own eyes.

MARCELLUS

Is it not like the king?

HORATIO

As thou art to thyself:

Such was the very armour he had on

When he the ambitious Norway combated;

So frown’d he once, when in an angry parle,

He smote the sledded Polacks on the ice.

’Tis strange.

MARCELLUS

Thus twice before, and jump at this dead hour,

With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch.

HORATIO

In what particular thought to work I know not;

But in the gross and scope of my opinion,

This bodes some strange eruption to our state.

MARCELLUS

Good now, sit down, and tell me, he that knows,

Why this same strict and most observant watch

So nightly toils the subject of the land,

And why such daily cast of brazen cannon,

And foreign mart for implements of war;

Why such impress of shipwrights, whose sore task

Does not divide the Sunday from the week;

What might be toward, that this sweaty haste

Doth make the night joint-labourer with the day:

Who is’t that can inform me?

HORATIO

That can I;

At least, the whisper goes so. Our last king,

Whose image even but now appear’d to us,

Was, as you know, by Fortinbras of Norway,

Thereto prick’d on by a most emulate pride,

Dared to the combat; in which our valiant Hamlet—

For so this side of our known world esteem’d him—

Did slay this Fortinbras; who by a seal’d compact,

Well ratified by law and heraldry,

Did forfeit, with his life, all those his lands

Which he stood seized of, to the conqueror:

Against the which, a moiety competent

Was gaged by our king; which had return’d

To the inheritance of Fortinbras,

Had he been vanquisher; as, by the same covenant,

And carriage of the article design’d,

His fell to Hamlet. Now, sir, young Fortinbras,

Of unimproved mettle hot and full,

Hath in the skirts of Norway here and there

Shark’d up a list of lawless resolutes,

For food and diet, to some enterprise

That hath a stomach in’t; which is no other—

As it doth well appear unto our state—

But to recover of us, by strong hand

And terms compulsatory, those foresaid lands

So by his father lost: and this, I take it,

Is the main motive of our preparations,

The source of this our watch and the chief head

Of this post-haste and romage in the land.

BERNARDO

I think it be no other but e’en so:

Well may it sort that this portentous figure

Comes armed through our watch; so like the king

That was and is the question of these wars.

HORATIO

A mote it is to trouble the mind’s eye.

In the most high and palmy state of Rome,

A little ere the mightiest Julius fell,

The graves stood tenantless and the sheeted dead

Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets:

As stars with trains of fire and dews of blood,

Disasters in the sun; and the moist star

Upon whose influence Neptune’s empire stands

Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse:

And even the like precurse of fierce events,

As harbingers preceding still the fates

And prologue to the omen coming on,

Have heaven and earth together demonstrated

Unto our climatures and countrymen.

But soft, behold! lo, where it comes again!

Re-enter Ghost

I’ll cross it, though it blast me. Stay, illusion!

If thou hast any sound, or use of voice,

Speak to me:

If there be any good thing to be done,

That may to thee do ease and grace to me,

Speak to me:

Cock crows

If thou art privy to thy country’s fate,

Which, happily, foreknowing may avoid, O, speak!

Or if thou hast uphoarded in thy life

Extorted treasure in the womb of earth,

For which, they say, you spirits oft walk in death,

Speak of it: stay, and speak! Stop it, Marcellus.

MARCELLUS

Shall I strike at it with my partisan?

HORATIO

Do, if it will not stand.

BERNARDO

’Tis here!

HORATIO

’Tis here!

MARCELLUS

’Tis gone!

Exit Ghost

We do it wrong, being so majestical,

To offer it the show of violence;

For it is, as the air, invulnerable,

And our vain blows malicious mockery.

BERNARDO

It was about to speak, when the cock crew.

HORATIO

And then it started like a guilty thing

Upon a fearful summons. I have heard,

The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn,

Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat

Awake the god of day; and, at his warning,

Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air,

The extravagant and erring spirit hies

To his confine: and of the truth herein

This present object made probation.

MARCELLUS

It faded on the crowing of the cock.

Some say that ever ’gainst that season comes

Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated,

The bird of dawning singeth all night long:

And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad;

The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,

No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,

So hallow’d and so gracious is the time.

HORATIO

So have I heard and do in part believe it.

But, look, the morn, in russet mantle clad,

Walks o’er the dew of yon high eastward hill:

Break we our watch up; and by my advice,

Let us impart what we have seen to-night

Unto young Hamlet; for, upon my life,

This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him.

Do you consent we shall acquaint him with it,

As needful in our loves, fitting our duty?

MARCELLUS

Let’s do’t, I pray; and I this morning know

Where we shall find him most conveniently.

Exeunt

SCENE II. A room of state in

the castle.

Enter KING CLAUDIUS, QUEEN GERTRUDE, HAMLET, POLONIUS, LAERTES, VOLTIMAND, CORNELIUS, Lords, and Attendants

KING CLAUDIUS

Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death

The memory be green, and that it us befitted

To bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom

To be contracted in one brow of woe,

Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature

That we with wisest sorrow think on him,

Together with remembrance of ourselves.

Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen,

The imperial jointress to this warlike state,

Have we, as ’twere with a defeated joy,

With an auspicious and a dropping eye,

With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage,

In equal scale weighing delight and dole,

Taken to wife: nor have we herein barr’d

Your better wisdoms, which have freely gone

With this affair along. For all, our thanks.

Now follows, that you know, young Fortinbras,

Holding a weak supposal of our worth,

Or thinking by our late dear brother’s death

Our state to be disjoint and out of frame,

Colleagued with the dream of his advantage,

He hath not fail’d to pester us with message,

Importing the surrender of those lands

Lost by his father, with all bonds of law,

To our most valiant brother. So much for him.

Now for ourself and for this time of meeting:

Thus much the business is: we have here writ

To Norway, uncle of young Fortinbras,

Who, impotent and bed-rid, scarcely hears

Of this his nephew’s purpose,

Reviews for Hamlet (Pocket Classics)

[dinadansfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

You cannot give Hamlet, as written, a bad review. Starting out as a simple revenge tragedy, it just stretches out to a study of our attitude to life itself. The characters are well drawn, and while the conflict is clear, "Is Hamlet going to exact revenge for his father's death? And on Whom?" We readers soon are drawn to examining our own conflicts, and the solutions we have, or will have tried for them. At the end, after " ...carnal,Bloody and unnatural acts, of accidental judgements,casual slaughters,of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause...and purposes mistook fall'n on the inventor's heads"...the stage is filled with corpses, and only a messager character Horatio is left to explain to the eventual heir of the country what happened. As with almost all of the plays, you will find yourself reading aloud. The play was presented to the Lord Chamberlain in 1602. I seem to have read it nine times.

[schneider_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was an OK production. An all American cast that at times feels like they are uncomfortably reading the lines. Some of the actors/actresses do very good jobs, others make the listening to and the flow of the story choppy and tough. Good enough for fans of the Bard, but I wouldn't use this for a classroom or early students of Shakespeare. Probably would turn them away...

[kslade-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've read it about 3 times. Great play. Love the language.

[thedivineoomba · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

On rereading classic plays - I found Hamlet to be, well Hamlet. As in any book that gives extra information, much of it is useful, a lot of it repetitious. I found the information about the folio's vs the quarto's and the difference between the two fascinating. For example, some of the editions were put together from actor's memories well after the last performance. So parts are added, removed, and expanded on. Putting this all together in the way Shakespeare intended it is always a lot of guessing and arguing.

[pgchuis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

More of the action seemed to happen off-stage than on! Excellent notes, and again many familiar lines I have seen referenced another literature and in everyday speech. Most of the cast dead by the end...

[thornton37814 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hamlet, perhaps the best known of Shakespeare's tragedies, follows the title character as he seeks revenge upon his father's assassin--an uncle. The number of well-known lines from this work attests to its enduring influence. I chose to listen to the fully dramatized audio book produced from a performance of the Folger Theatre. It was well-done, but I do recommend either reading the book along with it or watching the recorded production to help sort cast members when you lack the name cues of the written format.

[triduana-794064 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I feel I would have got more from this if I'd read it as a physical book instead on on my iPad, as there were a few times when I would haved liked to check back on things or make notes in the margins (I like to annotate books) so I will probably read this again at some point.

I like reading plays. They go to show that a story still works when all you have is dialogue. Writers of huge novels with reams and reams of unnecessary discription should take note.

Anyway, I really enjoyed Hamlet. It was full of interesting characters and events and I don't really think the story could have ended any other way! And the way Shakespeare wrote his plays was superb.

[et.carole · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It will be one of life's mysteries, I think, how Hamlet can be likeable.

[gridcube-504137 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well, what can you say about this book that has not already been said.

it was good :3

[browner56 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Few stories are likely better known to most fans of literature or the theater than that of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s legendarily morose Danish prince. As the play begins, Hamlet’s scheming and duplicitous uncle has killed his father to assume the throne and, adding insult to injury, has also married the widowed mother. Hamlet is then visited by his father’s ghost, who demands revenge for his murder. This sets in motion a complicated series of events in which Hamlet wrestles with the morality of the request and the responsibility he feels to his father. Of course, nothing ends well for almost anyone connected to the main plot—this is one of the Immortal Bard’s tragedies, after all. Along the way to the fatal ending, though, the reader is treated to some of most memorable scenes in fiction, including those involving spectral visitations, sword duels, deceitful alliances, philosophical introspection, the quest for revenge, unrequited love, a descent into madness, and the loyalty of friends.Beyond its merits as a great stand-alone story, Hamlet is notable for the profound impact it has had on the creative arts over the past few centuries. There have been countless adaptations and retellings of this tale, both in literature and in film, which is certainly a mark of how enduring the play’s themes and central message are. Also, the text is packed with phrases and quotations that have become staples in the common lexicon, such as ‘to thine own self be true’, ‘neither a borrower or a lender be’, ‘to the manner born’, ‘something is rotten is the state of Denmark’, ‘brevity is the soul of wit’, ‘though this be madness, yet there is method in’t’, ‘the lady doth protest too much, methinks’, and, of course, ‘to be or not to be, that is the question’. (In fact, Shakespeare must rival the Bible for providing aphorisms to the English-speaking world!) In short, this is altogether great stuff that really is essential reading for any lover of the written word.

[librolindsay · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!

[aglassman-452875 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was expecting Hamlet to be more like the Lion King, but Hamlet ended up being one of the most enjoyable Shakespeare plays I've read. He really is a pun master.

[nx74defiant · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I find it much easier to listen to Shakespeare than to read it.

[andy_dimartino · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Love listening to Classical!!!

[arewenotben · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Harold Pinter Theatre, London. Glorious, an electric production.

[faith_murri · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The only Shakespeare plays I had read before this were Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth, Macbeth being my favorite. Having now read Hamlet, I can honestly say that Macbeth is still my favorite.

Let's discuss.

So, Hamlet himself is an emo icon, and also a misogynist, who basically goes crazy, murders someone, and essentially ruins everything.

The ending came a little too quickly for me, tbh. There wasn't enough time to really develop any other characters. It was pretty quotable, though. Really, it gave me more Romeo and Juliet feels than Macbeth feels.

[steller0707 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a re-read, in anticipation of seeing Hamlet live on the stage later this week in Stratford, ON. Reading the play it is easier to savor and appreciate the phrasing that goes by all too quickly on the stage. And In my mind, I could see Kenneth Branagh as the lead, though I have not seen his film version.

[wellreadcatlady · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It amazes me how many people like Hamlet, no exception here, when it's really hard to relate to, but yet it's just one of those plays once you get into it, you come to love it. I read it for the first time in 12th grade and everyone would talk about it even when they didn't have to. The characters in Hamlet are amazingly complex and it doesn't just state how they are, you learn it through their actions and what they say. It's just so unique, I know everytime I read it I get a different opinion of the characters and the overall play.

[matke-261098 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Almost intriguing play, and not the easiest work to read. The tale of a young prince trying to come to terms with his father’s death is probably the best known of Shakespeare’s tragedies. There’s something for everyone here: high drama, low comedy, intriguing characters. I’d advise watching a video or move, or perhaps listening to an audio presentation either before or while reading this one. No matter how good your reading skills are, the enjoyment and understanding of any play is enhanced Psy seeing it performed. This time out I watched an old stage production starring Richard Burton. The highlight of that one is Hume Cronyn’s marvelously humorous take on Polonius.Highest recommendation possible.

[deckla_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My favorite, of all the histories and tragedies. I've seen it in performance at least 5 times--with Kevin Kline and Ralph Fiennes two of the most memorable.

[michael_rose-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Forcing myself into reading Shakespeare as an adult, I started here. I'm not sorry. Excellent poetry. "What a piece of work is man" is one of my favorite bits of writing period, not just within Shakespeare's works. I believe this is also the longest of his plays? Partly my reason for tackling it first. If you only read one of his works, read Hamlet.

[meandmybooks-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My favorite of Shakespeare's plays. It just gets better with every reading, and this time I started with Marjorie Garber's excellent chapter on the play (in her Shakespeare After All), which helped me appreciate the themes of “playing” – of dramas within dramas, “staged” events, audiences being observed, etc. – and of borders...”In suggesting that these three worlds – the world of Hamlet's mind and the imagination; the physical, political, and “historical” world of Denmark; and the world of dramatic fiction and play – are parallel to and superimposed upon one another, I am suggesting, also, that the play is about the whole question of boundaries, thresholds, and liminality or border crossing; boundary disputes between Norway and Denmark, boundaries between youth and age, boundaries between reality and imagination, between audience and actor. And these boundaries seem to be constantly shifting.”Also, of course, fathers and sons, words and meanings, just so much in this one, which, I suppose, is why I enjoy new things about it each time I read it. And I do love Hamlet. He treats Ophelia terribly, and Laertes at her grave, but his indecision, his anxiety, his sincerity, his hopefulness are all so... relatable! Really, I love it all. The relationships, the humor, the wordplay, the poetry. Happy sigh.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

BBC Audiobook performed by Michael Sheen (Hamlet), Kenneth Cranham (Claudius), Juliet Stevenson (Gertrude) and Ellie Beaven (Ophelia), and a full castI’ll dispense with the summary for this classic tragedy by William Shakespeare, but as I’ve said before, I really dislike reading plays. I much prefer to see them performed live by talented actors, the medium for which they are written. The next best thing to a live performance, however, must be an audio such as this one, with talented actors taking on the roles and really bringing the play to life for the listener. There are hundreds of editions of this work, and I recommend that readers get one that is annotated. The text copy I had as an accompaniment to the audio was published by the Oxford University Press, and included several scholarly articles, appendices and footnotes to help the modern-day reader understand Shakespeare’s Elizabethan terms and use of language, as well as historical references. One appendix even includes the music to accompany the songs!

[antao-3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Play of Plays: "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare, Jonathan Bate, Eric Rasmussen Published 2008.

“He helps us understand the human condition. But he cannot do this without a good text of the plays. Without editions there would be no Shakespeare. That is why throughout the last three centuries there has been a major new edition of his complete works.”
(Jonathan Bate)

I studied Shakespeare at Universidade de Letras de Lisboa and have seen many plays in performance since then. We read twelve plays in sixteen weeks: “A Midsummer Night's Dream”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “Richard II”, “Richard III”, “The First Part of King Henry IV”, and “Twelfth Night” among others. I did not do as well in that class as I would have liked. In fact, I distinctly remember not studying much for the exam because the girl with whom I was studying asked me if I was interested in going out and, since I was attracted to her, I said yes. After my professor returned my exam to me, she asked me if I would visit her during office hours to discuss my poor academic performance. I told her, "I'm not going to lie. Instead of studying, I went out with a girl in our class." Her reply, "I can hardly fault you for acting upon the sort of thing Shakespeare wrote about. I am willing to give you another chance. If you do better on the final exam, I will not weight this exam as heavily."

The rest of this review is available elsewhere.

[booksfordinner · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My fav editions of the Bard.

[knotbox · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Really enjoyed, and could relate to the performance done on DVD in 1996, and that is what recommended the play to me. Really interesting and moving.... it's hard to review something so integral to the classics, but as with all of shakespeare, it is best read simultaneous (the dreaded, read-and-pause) with a good adaption.

Kenneth Branagh helped me appreciate Hamlet. Despite it's leangth, it is lush and fantastical in the most bearable way. A great play.

[floratina · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

READ IN ENGLISH

To be or not to be; that is the question

That's probably one of the best known parts of Western literature.
I never really like Shakespeare (okay, I only read Romeo and Juliet and my school forced me to do so), but things have changed a bit lately after I went to see a theatre production of The Tempest in London's Globe Theatre.
So, why not try and read Hamlet? (The Tempest will be read as well, as soon as I have the time to do so)
Indeed, and I liked the play. It was still a relatively easy read and great for some winter evenings.

[john257hopper · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

To commemorate in my own small way the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death, I decided to read Hamlet for the first time in my life. While one of his greatest plays, I don't enjoy this as much as Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet, which I studied at school and have enjoyed also in adulthood. There are some amazing scenes, though, and the flow of phrases which have entered the English language from this play alone comes thick and fast.

[katieloucks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great classic

[jennaelf · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The more I learn about the English language and literature in general, the richer Shakespeare's works become. Hamlet is no exception.

When considered as a boundary/change marker in the landscape of literature, it makes an interesting mile-marker between earlier eras of the oral heroic, the epic and the blossoming of humanism. (Forgive me if I'm using any of these terminologies incorrectly; I will elaborate what I mean.) Which is to say, the oral heroic focused (in general terms) on family units, clans, tribes, etc. and the conflicts between them. These narratives usually dealt with inscribing some sort of expected behavior(s) that sorted out the violent chaos that accompanied the birthings of civilizations. As an example of a major trope in this early literature that's relevant to Hamlet: blood-feud violence.

The Odyssey comes from the beginning of this and in its ending tries to address the ending of such tit-for-tat retribution.

In this way, Hamlet might be considered (and I'm happy to do so) the ending of this particular literary tradition as a major trope. Instead of focusing on the blood feud (the plot going on with Fortinbras & Norway), it turns a bit more inward. Instead of Hamlet marching off to claim what is his by rights from Norway, there's a more humanistic struggle at play.

I feel that most Shakespeare could benefit from a little extra knowledge and context than most of us get upon our first exposure. Hamlet's definitely gotten 'better' for me over time.