FROM THE COVER:
Hamlet is the most popular of Shakespeare's plays for readers and theater audiences, and it is also one of the most puzzling. Many questions about the play continue to fascinate readers and playgoers, making Hamlet not only a revenge tragedy but also very much a mystery.

Hamlet is the most popular of Shakespeares plays for readers and theater audiences, and it is also one of the most puzzling. Many questions about the play continue to fascinate readers and playgoers, making Hamlet not only a revenge tragedy but also very much a mystery.

What is this Ghost that appears to Hamlet? . . . And what happens to Hamlet after the Ghost commands that the throne of Denmark be cleansed? Does Hamlet actually go mad . . . ? And what about Gertrude? Was she unfaithful to her husband during his lifetime? . . . Beyond such questions about the play and its characters lie deeper issues about the rightness of revenge, about how to achieve an ethical life, and about how to live in a world where tears of sorrow, loving smiles, and friendly words are all suspect because all are "actions that a man might play."

Hamlet's world is bleak and cold because almost no one and nothing can be trusted. But his world, and Hamlet himself, continue to draw us to them, speaking to every generation of its own problems and its own yearnings. . . .

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