William Shakespeare composed the tragedy The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, between 1599 and 1602. The play, which is set in the Kingdom of Denmark, dramatises the vengeance Prince Hamlet exacts on his uncle Claudius for killing King Hamlet, who was Claudius's brother and Prince Hamlet's father, and taking Gertrude, the widowed old king, and Prince Hamlet's mother, as his wife. King Hamlet was Claudius's uncle. The piece deftly tackles themes of treachery, retaliation, incest, and moral decay while portraying both genuine and staged psychosis, ranging from deep grief to seething wrath.
