First performed in 1600-01 and published in quarto edition in 1603, William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark with its brilliant depiction of the hero's struggle with two opposing forces - moral integrity and the need to avenge his father's murder - highlights some of the most fundamental themes and problems of the Renaissance.

William Shakespeare, perhaps the greatest English playwright ever, was born in 1564. By 1592 he was sufficiently established as a playwright to be criticized in print. He was a leading member of the Lord Chamberlain's Company, which became the King's Men on the accession of James I in 1603. He died in April 1616 and is buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon.