Hold Hamlet, the king of Denmark, is dead. His widow Gertrude marries his brother, Claudius, who becomes king. Hamlet's son sees a ghost of his father who tells his son that Claudius poisoned him. His father wants revenge, though Gertrude should not be hurt. Hamlet tells his friend Horatio and two guards. He feigns madness and gives his famous 'To be or not to be' speech and casts aside his love for Ophelia. He puts on a play about fratricide and Claudius is furious. Hamlet stabs the father of Ophelia, Polonius, by mistake through a tapestry. Hamlet is sent to England carrying a sealed order that he be killed. The king is outwitted and Hamlet returns to Denmark and sees to the death of the king's agents, Rosencrantz and Guildenstein. Ophelia's grief leads to her drowning. Her brother Laertes seeks to avenge her death and meets Hamlet at the graveside. They fight and both die, and Gertrude drinks the poison meant for her son. Before dying, Hamlet kills Claudius. Hamlet is given a military funeral.
William Shakespeare was born in 1564, lived in Stratford, and died in 1616. He married Anne Hathaway and had three children. The source for this story was from Historiae Danicae by Saxo Grammaticus.