Prince Hamlet is haunted by his father's ghost, who urges him to seek revenge. His father is said to have been murdered by his brother Claudius, who has seized the throne and married the queen, the prince's mother Gertrude. Hamlet finds a way to ascertain if the ghost has spoken the truth but does not foresee the entire chain of violent events. Hamlet is William Shakespeare's most famous tragedy and the world's most performed play, written around the year 1600, about murder and madness, with the bewildered Danish prince grappling with the ultimate question of existence. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE [1564-1616], born in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England, is known as the greatest playwright of all time, with his name attached to a long line of immortal plays, including Othello, Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth.