CentralNotice Hamlet From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search This article is about the play by William Shakespeare. For the type of settlement, see Hamlet (place) . For other uses, see Hamlet (disambiguation) . tragedy by William Shakespeare Hamlet Hamlet portrayed by the actor Edwin Booth , c. 1870 Written by William Shakespeare Characters Hamlet Claudius Gertrude Polonius Original language English Genre Shakespearean tragedy Setting Denmark The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark , often shortened to Hamlet ( / ˈ h æ m l ɪ t / ), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play with 30,557 words. Set in Denmark , the play depicts Prince Hamlet and his revenge against his uncle, Claudius , who has murdered Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamle...