The document provides background information on William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. It discusses: 1) The theme of the play is Hamlet's inability to decide and act on killing his uncle, who had taken the throne that rightfully belonged to Hamlet. 2) The play is set in Denmark in the late 16th/early 17th century during the English Renaissance period. 3) Historically, the play was influenced by the Protestant Reformation and Renaissance humanist thought which questioned religious doctrines and human limitations of knowledge.

1. By: Angel Barajas

2. Theme Of The Story
 A king cannot be a king unless he can make decisions
and act on them immediately.
 The play is a tragedy in which Hamlet's fatal flaw was
his inability to decide and act on killing his uncle and
taking back the throne which was rightfully his.

3. Time Period Of The Play
 The time period of Hamlet is not specified, but most
likely time and place
written · London, England, early seventeenth century
(probably 1600–1602). The story takes place in the 16
century.

4. Background Information
 RELATED HISTORICAL EVENTS: Hamlet is in many ways a
product of the Reformation, in which Protestants broke
away from the until-then dominant Catholic Church, as
well as the skeptical humanism of late Renaissance
Northern Europe, which held that there were limits on
human knowledge. Hamlet’s constant anxiety about the
difference between appearance and reality, as well as his
concerns about and difficulties with religion (the sinfulness
of suicide, the unfairness that killing a murderer while the
murderer is praying would result in sending the murder to
heaven) can be seen as directly emerging from the breaks
in religion and thought brought on by the Reformation and
Renaissance humanist thought.

5. Author/Background Of Author
 BRIEF LIFE STORY: Shakespeare’s father was a glove-
maker, and Shakespeare received no more than a
grammar school education. He married Anne
Hathaway in 1582, but left his family behind around
1590 and moved to London, where he became an actor
and playwright. He was an immediate success:
Shakespeare soon became the most popular
playwright of the day as well as a part-owner of the
Globe Theater. His theater troupe was adopted by King
James as the King’s Men in 1603. Shakespeare retired as
a rich and prominent man to Stratford-upon-Avon in
1613, and died three years later.

6. Watch It Online!
 http://www.movie2k.to/movie-391819-Hamlet-
film.html