ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Hamnet may be a footnote in history but he was in fact William Shakespeare’s only son. He died at just 11 years old – largely abandoned by his famous father, who was making his name in London – in 1596.

Detailed explanation-2: -The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet (/ˈhæmlɪt/), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare’s longest play, with 29, 551 words.

Detailed explanation-3: -Hamnet is named after William Shakespeare’s only son, who died aged 11 in 1596; a few years later, Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. According to Shakespeare scholar Stephen Greenblatt, the names Hamnet and Hamlet were entirely interchangeable at the time, and O’Farrell is interested in determining the connection.

Detailed explanation-4: -A Scandinavian version of the story of Hamlet (called Amleth or Amlóði, which means “mad” or “not sane” in Old Norse) was put into writing around 1200 AD by Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus in his work Gesta Danorum (the first full history of Denmark). It is this work Shakespeare borrowed from to create Hamlet.

Detailed explanation-5: -Shakespeare did not write Hamlet right after his son’s death, as the novel suggests. Instead, he wrote romps and romcoms: The Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It-alongside Henry IV, Henry V, and Julius Caesar.