Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

Furness has said that no personage, real or imaginary, excepting that of the Saviour, has been so much discussed or so universally written about, as that of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. He is of course best known as the hero of one of Shakespeare's greatest plays. His grave is shown at Elsinore, the scene of the play, and there is a garden near by which is called Hamlet's garden. The time when he lived is unknown. Some historians place the date at 500 B. C., some at 700 A. D., while others say that if he ever lived it was in the traditionary ages of history. Shakespeare's play was based on the Danish story of Amleth, whose history is recorded in Saxo-Grammaticus (12th century). Belle-Forest adopted the story in his collection of novels, which he began in 1564. From Belle-Forest the old black-lettered "Historie of Hamlet" was translated, the earliest edition bearing the date 1608. This "Historie" has been lately reprinted in Chicago, a reproduction which attests the growing love for Shakespeare in the far West. The characters of Laertes and Ophelia are wanting in the original. Special historical events in Shakespeare's time must have brought this old legend before the poet's mind. In Scotland, the murder of Darnley and the marriage of his widow, Mary Stuart, with Lord Bothwell (1567), furnished in the immediate past a counterpart of some portions of Hamlet. At the close of the 16th century, revenge was the theme of tragedies. The tragedy of Hamlet in its Shakespearean form appeared in 1601-2, and to its authorship may be applied the maxim,

Goethe describes the character of Hamlet as

"A mind oppressed with the weight of a deed which he fails to carry out."