Edited Introduced & Annotated by Cedric Watts Professor of English Literature University of Sussex The Wordsworth Classics& Shakespeare Series presents a newly-edited sequence of William Shakespeare&s works The Textual editing takes account of recent scholarship while giving the material a careful reappraisal Hamlet is not only one of Shakespeare&s greatest plays but also the most fascinatingly problematical tragedy in world literature First performed around 1600 this a gripping & exuberant drama of revenge rich in contrasts & conflicts Its violence alternates with introspection its melancholy with humour & its subtlety with spectacle The Prince Hamlet himself is depicted as a complex divided introspective character His reflections on death morality & the very status of human beings make him the first modern man& Countless stage productions & numerous adaptations for the cinema & television have demonstrated the continuing cultural relevance of this vivid enigmatic profound & engrossing drama