Introduction

For those wanting to learn more about Hamlet on the Internet, this page offers a directory of web pages devoted to Hamlet. This list of links is divided into the categories as shown on the left, and includes brief descriptions of what each page provides. Emphasis is placed on informative, useful, and worthwhile sites of interest. In general, print works are not covered, although some of the major Shakespeare finding tools are mentioned in the papers section.

To begin with, here are three sites that stand out as the most valuable Hamlet pages online.

Hamlet Works

     Features comments and textual notes on individual lines of the play, texts and concordances.

 

A Short Course on Shakespeare's Hamlet by Ian Delaney

Quality introductory analysis to Hamlet

     Ian Delaney, a former teacher of a Hamlet course, has made a wealth of Hamlet resources available online. As well as containing the full text of the play and annotated links to other Hamlet sites, the pages are most notable for their educational aids. The Hamlet teaching aids include summaries, review questions with suggested answers, and brief essays on themes in the play. This site is a useful tool for use in conjunction with an introductory course on Shakespeare's Hamlet.

 

The Hamlet Home Page by Gary Munro

An elegant presentation of Hamlet information

     This page is a solid starting point for obtaining information on Hamlet. The site includes the text and summary of the play, and a sizable photo album from the Branagh and Oliver movies. The page includes several commentaries Hamlet, such as on identifying the climax of the play and the debate over Hamlet's sanity. From this page you can also connect to one of the many online discussions about Hamlet that the server hosts [the discussions are currently unavailable]. These discussions in particular make the site a valuable Hamlet resource.

 

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by eNotes

Presentation of and commentary on the play and commentary

     The text of the play along with related images and links. Also includes a modern translation.

Directories

The World Wide Web contains several indexes to Hamlet and Shakespeare related sites. Below are three of the more authoritative and comprehensive connections to sites about Hamlet.

About.com (The Mining Company) > Shakespeare by Amanda Mabillard

Many annotated quality links

     About.com (formerly The Mining Company) is an authored and annotated internet index of selected sites. Peter Lathan's Shakespeare section provides categorized and annotated links to many useful internet sites. The list is kept current, and is a good starting point for searching Shakespeare online.

Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet by Terry A. Gray

Extensive guide to online Shakespeare resources

     Terry A. Gray's annotated lists of links is the most comprehensive Shakespeare index on the internet. The site covers all areas of Shakespeare, including both scholarly and non-scholarly sites, and is divided into subcategories such as quotations, festivals, and criticism, making it an excellent location to begin online research in Shakespeare.

Yahoo > Hamlet

Yahoo entries under Hamlet

     Yahoo (Yet Another Hierarchically Organized Oracle) is one of the oldest and largest internet directories. The Shakespeare's Hamlet category contains about one dozen briefly annotated links. Yahoo's large volume of links are not frequently maintained, so some of the sites may be offline. While this page may include sites that the above directories have missed, it is not a recommended starting point for an online search on Hamlet.

Discussions

There are several internet forums for discussions relating to Hamlet and Shakespeare. These discussion groups are useful areas for gathering popular opinions on Shakespeare, as well as voicing your own comments or questions (although in the event your question has already been answered, you should read the postings before adding one yourself).

[http://www.hamlet.edmonton.ab.ca/discussions/hamlet/index.html] Hamlet Discussion Page from The Hamlet Homepage [OFF-Line Mar-29-2000]

Many discussions from a page devoted to Hamlet

     This page contains one of the more prolific online discussions on Hamlet (i.e. 19 responses to a question asking how old Hamlet was). Postings are arranged by topic. The site also contains several specialized discussion areas, such as the Hamlet movies and Madness in Hamlet, useful for more specific inquiries.

Surfing with the Bard Discussion Zone

Educational Shakespeare site's postings

     Surfing with the Bard is an educational resource site containing information on Shakespeare for teachers and students. Postings to their online discussion page can be sorted by date or topic. This page is a good place to look for ideas on a paper on Hamlet.

 

USENET: humanities.lit.authors.shakespeare

Shakespeare newsgroup postings

     USENET newsgroups are worldwide bulletin boards on any topic under the sun. In this newsgroup, devoted to Shakespeare, there are a variety of topics covered relating to Shakespeare (such as movies, paper topics, etc.). Viewing the postings requires a newsreader.

Full Text

The complete text of the play is available online in a variety of formats. There are also different versions of the play, based on different compilations of Shakespeare's works. Three versions of the play are the:

• First Quarto (1603)
• Second Quarto (1604)
• First Folio (1623)

For more information on the textual differences between these versions, see The Relation Between the Second Quarto and the Folio Text of Hamlet by Harold Jenkins. Below are notes on three quality versions of the play, followed by a table listing some of the other online editions of Hamlet.

Hamlet 1623 @ University of Pennsylvania

Scanned images from an original printing of Hamlet

     The University of Pennsylvania Library's Center for Electronic Text and Image has scanned a 1623 printing of Hamlet from Shakespeare's First Folio. These images are freely available online. The scans are high quality, so a high speed connection is recommended, but it is worth the wait to see the play arranged in antique format with Elizabethan characters. The site contains navigation aids to flip between the pages.

 

Hamlet from Jeremy Hylton

A clear presentation of the text of Hamlet  

     The Tech server at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has housed the complete works of Shakespeare online since 1995. Hamlet is available as either divided into different pages by act and scene, or with the entire play on one page. The play is presented in a simple and elegant page design, with black text on a white background. Links on the top of each page provide navigation to move between scenes. To aid understanding, many of the words throughout the play link to a glossary of Shakespearean terms. The site includes other writings by Shakespeare, and also contains many other Shakespeare resources.

 

Hamlet Classroom Version and Recording by Lynch Multimedia

Prose adaptation in parallel with Hamlet's original text

     Lynch Multimedia has produced a unique Shakespeare education resource. A modern translation and retelling of Hamlet is presented side by side with Shakespeare's text. Being able to look back and forth between the versions offers a fuller understanding of the play while keeping the original work intact. A full audio adaptation recording is also available from the site.

For printed publications of Hamlet, consult your library or bookstore.

Humor

There are several jokes online about Shakespeare, such as a comparison of Macbeth to Melrose Place, and other modern revisions of Shakespeare's plays. Here are some comedic retellings of Hamlet.

Green Eggs and Hamlet and What if Dr. Seuss did Shakespeare?

Hamlet mixed with the childrens' rhymes of Dr. Seuss

     "Green Eggs and Hamlet" presents a unique approach to Hamlet's "To Be..." monologue, done in the style of the children's books by Dr. Seuss ("I ask to be or not to be. That is the question I ask of me."). Similarly, "What If Dr. Seuss did Shakespeare?" contains a brief rewriting of Hamlet in Dr. Seuss format. Those that are familiar with Shakespeare and Dr. Seuss will be amused by with this unlikely pairing.

The Three-Minute Hamlet by Adam McNaughton

A cheerful tune and rhyming plot summary of Hamlet

     Although it is questionable why anyone would create a musical summary of Shakespeare's tragedy, the result is pretty funny ("So Hamlet wrote a scene for the players to enact, So Horatio and he could watch to see if Claudius cracked"), and a worthwhile read.

Lost Quarto of Hamlet by Michael S. Schiffer

An alternative and happier ending to Hamlet

     In this revised ending of Hamlet, the sword fight between Hamlet and Laertes is preempted by a cartoon crossover with the detectives from Scoody Doo. The trademark Scooby Doo ending ensues, but this time in iambic pentameter ("My scheme blinded them all, as if by fog, But for these medd'ling kids and this their dog."). This variation is one of the more silly adaptations of Hamlet.

Movies

There have been several film and television versions of Hamlet. Below are two key access points for information about the Hamlet movies.

The Internet Movie Database

If you have a question about a movie, this site will likely have the answer

     The Internet Movie Database is a powerful and useful online reference tool containing detailed information on virtually every movie ever made. In addition to a movie's credits, an array of miscellaneous information is included with each entry. Here you can look up the different movie versions of Hamlet (simply do a title search for "Hamlet"), including the film starring Ethan Hawke.

Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet Movie Links by Virginia Leong

Extensive site devoted to Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1996)

     Virginia Leong's fan pages are an authoritative site for information about the 1996 film version of Hamlet starring and directed by Kenneth Branagh. As well as information about the film, the site boasts links to over 200 reviews of the film, articles about Hamlet, and over 50 interviews with the cast. You can also download the full length trailer from this site, and pictures of Blenheim Palace, a filming location for the movie. These pages are frequently updated and currently maintained.

Papers

The World Wide Web is not the place to look for scholarly papers on Hamlet. With a few possible exceptions, such as and The Undiscovered Country, most Hamlet pages do not contain much serious research on the play. Rather than surfing through the sporadic sampling of the Hamlet papers available online, consult your library, which, while smaller than the Internet in holdings, will likely contain more quality commentary on Hamlet. In addition to the library catalog and general bibliographies in the humanities (such as Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature, Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, Year's Work in English Studies), here are some bibliographic reference works which index papers on Hamlet.

Two things to keep in mind:

1. It is recommended and efficient to ask your librarian if you need help locating information.
2. Many of the papers on Hamlet may not be available at your library, so plan ahead if you need to use an interlibrary loan service to obtain the articles.

Shakespeare Quarterly: World Shakespeare Bibliography (Annual publication, 1950-present), Washington, D. C.: Folger Shakespeare Library.

Authoritative source for searching for publications on Hamlet and Shakespeare

     As well as holding the largest collection of Shakespeare's works, the Folger Shakespeare Library publishes the journal Shakespeare Quarterly. Each year the Shakespeare Quarterly produces a bibliography issue containing the most comprehensive listing of published works on Shakespeare. The bibliography is divided into several categories, and even the Hamlet section is further classified into categories such as such as editions, translations, criticisms, and music. Many of the records also include brief abstracts. A large index to the bibliography makes it possible to look up authors, actors, dramatists, and descriptive terms. A compilation of several year's bibliographies is also available on CD-ROM.

 

The Essential Shakespeare: An Annotated Bibliography of Major Modern Studies (2nd Edition, 1993), by Larry S. Champion, New York: G.K. Hall.

Large and well-annotated Shakespeare bibliography

     Larry Champion's annotated bibliography is one of the largest single volume sources for writings on Shakespeare. Each entry contains a well-written abstract, which is both informative and concise. Within the Hamlet section, there are categories of reference works, editions, textual studies, criticism, and stage history. The index to the bibliography can also be used to look up records in other categories. This is a good reference book to browse for an overview of the scholarly publications on Shakespeare.

 

Shakespeare Survey: An Annual Survey of Shakespearean Study and Production (Annual publication, 1948-present), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Arranged bibliographic essays on Shakespeare scholarship

     Shakespeare Survey is a yearly publication that contains essays on a particular theme in Shakespeare. Each volume also contains bibliographic essays that summarize and evaluate recent publications in Shakespearean studies. These volumes can be useful if they cover a particular topic you are interested in, and also provides a scholarly summary and reading of the past and current Shakespeare publications.

Shakespeare

These are some of the major and worthwhile sites on the internet devoted to the The Bard and his world.

Complete Works of William Shakespeare from Jeremy Hylton

Definitive online Shakespeare resource

     The Tech server at Massachusetts Institute of Technology is host to the full text of all of Shakespeare's writings: comedies, histories, tragedies, and poetry, taken from The Complete Molby^TM Shakespeare. The plays are presented in a good, simple page design, with either each scene on a separate page, or with the entire play on one page. A custom search engine is useful for locating passages within all or selected plays, and the scenes are linked to from a list of Shakespeare's Monologues. Other pages available include Bartlett's familiar Shakespearean quotations, a chronological listing of the plays, and links to other Shakespeare sites. The server also hosts several online Shakespeare discussion groups, which are lively areas for talk about Shakespeare.

Shakespeare's Globe

Information on the Globe Theater in the past and present

     The Globe Theater in London was where many of Shakespeare's plays were first performed. This site provides background information on Shakespearean performance in original conditions. It includes facts about the original Globe Theater, including a virtual tour of the theater, a Shakespeare in performance database, and an online archive about the Globe in the form of a timeline from 1599 to the present. There is also a brief guide to the reconstructed replica of the Globe playhouse in London, including visitor information.

Shakespeare Illustrated by Harry Rusche

Nineteenth-century paintings, criticism and productions of Shakespeare

     "An extremely useful and interesting starting point for any study of the illustration of Shakespeare. Includes color pictures, information about the artists, and a lengthy bibliography. The information is organized efficiently: you can search by play title or by artist's name. Pluses: if you're teaching Shakespeare, this is a website that undergraduates would probably find interesting. Also, it includes good resources for further research and the information is easily accessible. Limitations: this is a limited sample, with no explanation or warning of just how limited the sample is. If there is a selection principle at work here, it isn't explained." - Rachel Mines

Shakespeare Oxford Society

Information on the Shakespeare authorship debate

     The purpose of the Shakespeare Oxford Society is to document and establish Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, as the universally recognized author of the works of William Shakespeare. The site starts with a beginner's guide to the Shakespeare authorship problem. Also included are an informative Shakespeare Authorship FAQ, and a connection to The Ever Reader, the online magazine of the Shakespeare Oxford Society. The site contains information on related current news and events. The opposing viewpoint is presented by The Shakespeare Authorship Page. These sites are a great place to obtain introductory and detailed information on the Shakespeare authorship issue.

Shakespeare's Life and Times by Michael Best

Detailed information about Shakespeare and his environment

     Developed with support from the University of Victoria and Athabasca University, these pages contain a wealth of information on Shakespeare-related history, and a considerable cultural overview of the era in which Shakespeare lived. Audio enchancments are included. The site features user-friendly navigation and the capability to search the pages within the site. Shakespeare's Life and Times also includes some plot notes on Hamlet. A new CD-ROM version of the site is under development.

Yahoo > Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Yahoo entries under Shakespeare

     The internet directory Yahoo has classified over one hundred links within the William Shakespeare category and subcategories. Since each page is reviewed by a human before addition into Yahoo's directory, the pages included here are more selective than those within a spider search engine (AltaVista, for example, produces over 40,000 hits from the search term "William Shakespeare"). Some the entries, however, may be offline. The list contains brief descriptions of the sites, and is a good place to start to get a feel for the amount and type of Shakespeare sites online.

Spinoffs

In addition to the many movies and productions of Hamlet, the play has spawned several related works of art. Here are some of the more notable works that have developed from Hamlet.

Titles from Hamlet by Barbara Paul

List of works whose names are derived from Hamlet

     Many artistic works have taken lines from Hamlet. This page lists writings whose titles are derived from the text of Hamlet. The list does not include studies of Shakespeare, but many other works that have borrowed from Hamlet for their title. While the page is not a comprehensive list, several hundred entries are included (for example, 23 titles are listed from: "The play's the thing Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king." [II,ii]). The author and title of each work is included. The list is divided into five pages by act, and each title is matched with the relevant text from Hamlet. The pages have a well-balanced design, with some black and white drawings. This page is a subset of a more comprehensive and searchable page called Titles from Shakespeare.

Green Eggs and Hamlet by Rock's Eye Productions

Information on a Dr. Seuss adaptation of Hamlet

     Green Eggs and Hamlet is a homemade movie (production costs were $4000) version of Hamlet, featuring Dr. Seuss style rhyme instead of iambic pentameter. The movie is designed to be a useful relief which aids understanding of the play. Ordering information is included on the site. This looks to be a cheerful and enjoyable variation on Hamlet.

The Hamlet Case by Arthur Asa Berger

A comic novel about the analysis of Hamlet

     The Hamlet Case begins with a demented professor of literature confessing to the murders of the board of editors of the journal he edits. The books narrates how the professors were killed off, but not before each of them has had a chance to offer his or her analysis of Hamlet, each from a different school of thought. This text could be a useful read for those with an interest in different types of analysis of Hamlet.

I Hate Hamlet by Paul Rudnick

Reviews a production of the play I Hate Hamlet

     The play I Hate Hamlet starts with a young actor landing the title role in Hamlet. The actor's apartment is then haunted by the ghost of a dead Shakespearean actor, who becomes a mentor to the young actor. Although the play is a comedy about the actor's apprehension to Shakespeare, it provides many insights about Shakespeare and Hamlet.

A Night in Elsinore by Richard Nathan

The complete spinoff play A Night in Elsinore

     A Night in Elsinore is a witty parody of Hamlet, full of puns and the like. Most of the text and action of the play remains intact, but is considerably spiced up with slapstick dialogue. This version may hold some people's attention better than the more serious version by Shakespeare.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead [Movie|Play] by Tom Stoppard

Information on the film and theater versions of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

     Tom Stoppard's play and movie focusing on the two minor characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet's two friends, is perhaps the most famous spinoff from Hamlet. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are charged with discovering the reason for Hamlet's distemper, and proceed to wander in and out of the scenes covered in Hamlet in a comedic attempt to solve the supposed mystery (as Rosencrantz states: "To sum up! Your father, whom you love, dies, you are his heir, you come back to find that hardly was the corpse cold before his young brother popped on to his throne and into his sheets, thereby offending both legal and natural practice. Now - why exactly are you behaving in this extraordinary manner?"). These sites contain information on the play's first production, and detailed information on the movie, which is a close adaptation of the play.

Summaries

If you want to cut to the chase and find out what the play is about, or need to refresh your knowledge of Hamlet, these sites provide introductory analysis and abstracts of the play.

Summary of Hamlet from Tales From Shakespeare

A concise summary of the play

     Tales From Shakespeare is a book from the nineteenth century, written by Charles and Mary Lamb, containing plot summaries for Shakespeare's plays. These plot summaries have been made available online as part of much larger site entitled Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet. The summary of Hamlet provides an eloquent plot synopsis, and is a useful review of the events of the play.

Hamlet in Prose by Lynch Multimedia

The full play with paraphrased dialogue and elaboration

     Lynch Multimedia, a small startup based in Glasgow, Scotland, has online resources containing adaptations and originals of Shakespeare. In their prose adaptation of Hamlet, the dialogue is translated into modern vernacular, and made easier to understand (for example, "Old Norway" is replaced with "King of Norway"). The actions in the play are also further narrated. The pages are split by act and scene (here called books and chapters). A version with the adaptation presented alongside the original is available. These adaptations are extremely useful educational tools. Lynch Multimedia also offers Macbeth and the Tempest, available online in the same format, and other plays are forthcoming.

Translations

For those with an interest in Hamlet in languages other than English, here are a few sites containing information about foreign (and extra-terrestrial!) language editions of Hamlet. A related tool for translating text and web pages is Alta Vista's Babel Fish Translator.

German Hamlet @ Projekt Gutenberg

Text of Hamlet in German

     The Project Gutenberg Digital Library provides online texts in German from more than 250 classical authors, totaling over 120,000 book pages. Project Gutenberg contains German translations of the majority of Shakespeare's plays, including Hamlet. From the index page, you can link to the German translation of Hamlet. The play is presented in a nice simple design, and is divided into five pages by act.

Klingon Hamlet by The Klingon Language Institute

Summary information on the Klingon edition of Hamlet

     The Klingon Language Institute is designed to support and foster the language of the fictional Klingon race from Star Trek. Hamlet was the first work undertaken as part of the Klingon Shakespeare Restoration Project, an effort to restore the complete works of Shakespeare to the "original Klingon." Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (The Restored Klingon Version) was published in hardcover in March 1996, and a paperback version is expected in 1999. This page links to other projects of The Klingon Language Institute.