William Shakespeare THE EMC MASTERPIECE SERIES Access Editions EMC/Paradigm Publishing St. Paul, MinnesotaHAMLET, Prince of Denmark

Staff Credits: ForEMC/Paradigm Publishing,St. Paul, Minnesota ForPenobscot School Publishing, Inc.,Danvers, Massachusetts ISBN 0-8219-1633-5 Copyright © 1998 by EMC Corporation All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be adapted, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, elec- tronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without permis- sion from the publisher. Published by EMC/Paradigm Publishing 875 Montreal Way St. Paul, Minnesota 55102 Printed in the United States of America. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 xxx 06 05 04 03 02Laurie SkibaEditorShannon O’Donnell TaylorAssociate EditorEileen Slater Editorial Consultant Jennifer J. Anderson Assistant Editor EditorialRobert D. ShepherdPresident, Executive EditorChristina E. KolbManaging EditorSara HyryEditorAllyson StanfordEditorLaurie Faria Associate Editor Sharon Salinger Copyeditor Marilyn Murphy Shepherd Editorial Advisor Design and Production Charles Q. Bent Production Manager Sara Day Art Director Diane Castro Compositor Janet Stebbings Compositor

Table of Contents The Life and Works of William Shakespeare. . . . . . . . . . .iv Time Line of Shakespeare’s Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii The Historical Context ofHamlet, Prince of Denmark. . . . .x Echoes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiv Illustration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xvi Dramatis Personae. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 ACT I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 ACT II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 ACT III. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95 ACT IV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149 ACT V. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187 Plot Analysis ofHamlet, Prince of Denmark. . . . . . . . . . .226 Creative Writing Activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .240 Critical Writing Activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .242 Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .248 Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250 Handbook of Literary Terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257 TABLE OF CONTENTSiii

ivHAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARKTHE LIFE AND WORKS OF William Shakespeare William Shakespeare (1564–1616).William Shakespeare may well be the greatest dramatist the world has ever known. His mother, Mary Arden Shakespeare, was from a well-to-do, well-connected family. His father, John Shakespeare, was a prosperous glove maker and local politician. William’s exact birthdate is unknown, but he was baptized in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon on April 26, 1564, and tradition has assigned him a birthdate of April 23, which was also the day of his death and the feast day of Saint George, England’s patron saint. Shakespeare attended the Stratford grammar school, where he studied Latin and perhaps some Greek. At the age of eigh- teen, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, who was with child. Altogether, William and Anne had three children, a daughter Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith. He may have worked for a while as a schoolteacher, for there are many references to teaching in his plays. By 1592, however, he was living in London and pursuing a life in the theater. Shakespeare continued to provide for his family and to expand his holdings in Stratford while living in London.