The young Prince Hamlet, returning from university, finds his Kingdom in disarray: 'something is rotten in the state of Denmark'. With his father dead, and his uncle and mother marrying, Hamlet is confronted by an armored ghost, who, claiming to be the King, implores him to enact revenge upon the newlyweds and restore order to the realm. Yet, Hamlet's ability to act conflicts with his will to think: curing the rot and stabilising the kingdom will unleash a series of tragedies that threaten to ruin his entire family.

Arden Performance Editions are ideal for anyone engaging with a Shakespeare play in performance. With clear facing-page notes giving definitions of words, easily accessible information about key textual variants, lineation, metrical ambiguities and pronunciation, each edition has been developed to open the play's possibilities and meanings to actors and students.
Designed to be used and to be useful, each edition has plenty of space for personal annotations and the well-spaced text is easy to read and to navigate.

Each edition offers:
- Short, clear definitions of words
- Information about key textual variants
- Notes on pronunciation of difficult names and unfamiliar words
- An easy to read layout with space to write your own notes
- A short introduction to the play