Hamlet / edited by Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Hamlet in our time -- Hamlet in Shakespeare's time -- Story of Hamlet -- Composition of Hamlet -- Hamlet on stage and screen -- Novel Hamlets -- Continuing mystery of Hamlet -- Tragical history of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, the second quarto (1604-5) -- Appendices: Folio-only passages; Nature of the texts; Editorial conventions and sample passages; Act division at 3.4/4.1; Casting; Music.

Both the introduction and the commentary are designed to present the play as texts for performance, and make appropriate reference to stage, film and television versions, as well as introducing the reader to the range of critical approaches to the plays. They discuss the history of the reception of the texts within the theatre and in scholarship and beyond, investigating the interdependency of the literary text and the surrounding 'cultural text' both at the time of the original production of Shakespeare's work and during [its] long and rich afterlife. -p.xviii.