Hamlet

The Arden Shakespeare is well-known in academic circles for their authoritative and comprehensive annotated editions of Shakespeare's works, and for the academic reader, this edition of Hamlet offers a lot of useful information ...

There is a long section covering the different printed source editions of the play, and arguments of what source is chosen to be represented in the text of the play itself and why, Shakespeare's topical allusions, and lots more

A large portion of the preface is also dedicated to discussing Shakespeare's own source for his play, the Ur-Hamlet, and of possible other plays, before or after Hamlet, using the same story

The text pages are covered more with notes than with the play text itself, which can be a bit impractical when trying to read only the play, but for closer readings, most of the information is practically gathered on the page, with additional references to longer notes after the play text

Notes include source disparities, word interpretations and also all of the traditionally debated items in the play

All in all, an excellent edition for close readings and academic work on what is one of the most fascinating, poetic and humorous plays of all time