ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -First performed in 1603, Hamlet, The Prince of Denmark is probably the best known of William Shakespeare’s works, and may well be the most famous English-language play ever written.

Detailed explanation-2: -Shakespeare is thought to have written Hamlet in 1599–1601. It was published as a quarto in 1603 and in a much fuller version in 1604–05.

Detailed explanation-3: -The intended publication of the play is entered in the Stationers’ Register in 1602 by James Roberts, but Q1 was not published until summer or autumn 1603. It was published by the booksellers Nicholas Ling and John Trundell, and printed by Valentine Simmes.

Detailed explanation-4: -First Quarto (Q1): In 1603 the booksellers Nicholas Ling and John Trundell published, and Valentine Simmes printed, the so-called “bad” first quarto, under the name The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet Prince of Denmarke.

Detailed explanation-5: -In London in 1601, a company of boy players were enjoying great success at the Blackfriars Theatre, at the expense of the adult companies performing at other venues. So 1601 is the likeliest date of composition.