Lex

Browse

GenresShelvesPremiumBlog

Company

AboutJobsPartnersSell on LexAffiliates

Resources

DocsInvite FriendsFAQ

Legal

Terms of ServicePrivacy Policygeneral@lex-books.com(215) 703-8277

© 2026 LexBooks, Inc. All rights reserved.

Hamlet

1603

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

1603

British Literature, Classics of Literature, Plays/Films/Dramas

The most famous play in the English language, and perhaps the greatest tragedy ever written. At its heart is a young prince whose father has been murdered and whose mother has married the murderer within months of the death. When the ghost of King Hamlet appears demanding vengeance, his son Prince Hamlet must navigate a court poisoned by corruption, betrayal, and his own spiraling sanity. What unfolds is a meditation on death, revenge, madness, and the impossible weight of action. Hamlet's famous indecision, his 'to be or not to be' soliloquy, and his increasingly erratic behavior have fascinated audiences for four centuries. This is a play that asks what happens when thought paralyzes action, when grief becomes impossible to express, and when the world itself seems fundamentally rotten. For those who love literature that demands to be wrestled with, that reveals new depths with each encounter, Hamlet remains essential.

Project Gutenberg

A tragic play written during the late 16th or early 17th century. The narrative centers on the character of Prince Hamle...

Goodreads

Among Shakespeare's plays, "Hamlet" is considered by many his masterpiece. Among actors, the role of Hamlet, Prince of D...

4.0(1.0M)

Editions

Hamlet
HamletCurrent
Project Gutenberg · 130 pages
EPUB
Hamlet
Hamlet
Standard Ebooks · 131 pages
EPUB
Hamlet
Hamlet
Project Gutenberg · 121 pages
EPUB
Hamlet: A Study with the Text of the Folio of 1623
Hamlet: A Study with the Text of the Folio of 1623
Project Gutenberg · 348 pages
EPUB

X-Ray

“Doubt thou the stars are fire;Doubt that the sun doth move;Doubt truth to be a liar;But never doubt I love.””

— William Shakespeare

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.””

— William Shakespeare

“This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.””

— William Shakespeare

“To be, or not to be: that is the question:Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to sufferThe slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;No more; and by a sleep to say we endThe heart-ache and the thousand natural shocksThat flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummationDevoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;For in that sleep of death what dreams may comeWhen we have shuffled off this mortal coil,Must give us pause: there's the respectThat makes calamity of so long life;For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,The insolence of office and the spurnsThat patient merit of the unworthy takes,When he himself might his quietus makeWith a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,To grunt and sweat under a weary life,But that the dread of something after death,The undiscover'd country from whose bournNo traveller returns, puzzles the willAnd makes us rather bear those ills we haveThan fly to others that we know not of?Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;And thus the native hue of resolutionIs sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,And enterprises of great pith and momentWith this regard their currents turn awry,And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisonsBe all my sins remember'd!””

— William Shakespeare

“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.””

— William Shakespeare

“To die, - To sleep, - To sleep!Perchance to dream: - ay, there's the rub;For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,Must give us pause: there's the respectThat makes calamity of so long life;””

— William Shakespeare

“Though this be madness, yet there is method in't.””

— William Shakespeare

“Listen to many, speak to a few.””

— William Shakespeare

“Brevity is the soul of wit.””

— William Shakespeare

Link to this book

Add a free, dofollow link to Lex on your blog, forum, syllabus, or reading list.

Read Hamlet by William Shakespeare free on Lex
HTML
<a href="https://lex-books.com/book/hamlet-952484e7-48ed-4cf5-844b-c7a6de024d09"><img src="https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg" alt="Read Hamlet by William Shakespeare free on Lex" width="160" height="40"></a>
Markdown
[![Read Hamlet by William Shakespeare free on Lex](https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg)](https://lex-books.com/book/hamlet-952484e7-48ed-4cf5-844b-c7a6de024d09)
BBCode
[url=https://lex-books.com/book/hamlet-952484e7-48ed-4cf5-844b-c7a6de024d09][img]https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg[/img][/url]
Plain link
Read Hamlet by William Shakespeare free on Lex: https://lex-books.com/book/hamlet-952484e7-48ed-4cf5-844b-c7a6de024d09

Cite this book

Reading this edition for a paper or guide? Copy a citation.

MLA
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Lex, lex-books.com/book/hamlet-952484e7-48ed-4cf5-844b-c7a6de024d09.
APA
Shakespeare, W. (1603). Hamlet. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/hamlet-952484e7-48ed-4cf5-844b-c7a6de024d09
Chicago
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/hamlet-952484e7-48ed-4cf5-844b-c7a6de024d09.

Across the web

aggregate ratings
Goodreads4.031M ratings↗

More books from this author

William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
1564-1616

Iconic English playwright known for his profound tragedies and innovative comedies.

King Lear

William Shakespeare

King Lear

Othello

William Shakespeare

Othello

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

Henry V

William Shakespeare

Henry V

The Tamingof the Shrew

William Shakespeare

The Taming of the Shrew

JuliusCaesar

William Shakespeare

Julius Caesar

Poetry

William Shakespeare

Poetry

Henry IV,Part II

William Shakespeare

Henry IV, Part II

Edward III

William Shakespeare

Edward III

King John

William Shakespeare

King John

Richard III

William Shakespeare

Richard III

The Tempest(Comprehen...Summary)

William Shakespeare

The Tempest (Comprehensive Summary)
Premium

Romeo andJuliet(Comprehen...Summary)

William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet (Comprehensive Summary)
Premium

Macbeth(Comprehen...Summary)

William Shakespeare

Macbeth (Comprehensive Summary)
Premium

King Lear(Comprehen...Summary)

William Shakespeare

King Lear (Comprehensive Summary)
Premium

JuliusCaesar(Comprehen...Summary)

William Shakespeare

Julius Caesar (Comprehensive Summary)
Premium

Hamlet(Comprehen...Summary)

William Shakespeare

Hamlet (Comprehensive Summary)
Premium

A MidsummerNight’sDream(Comprehe...

William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Comprehensive Summary)
Premium

The TwoNobleKinsmen

William Shakespeare

The Two Noble Kinsmen

Henry VI,Part II

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part II

The Tempest

William Shakespeare

The Tempest

The Winter’sTale

William Shakespeare

The Winter’s Tale

Love’sLabour’sLost

William Shakespeare

Love’s Labour’s Lost

A MidsummerNight’sDream

William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Henry VI,Part I

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part I

Henry IV,Part I

William Shakespeare

Henry IV, Part I

Henry VI,Part III

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part III

All’s WellThat EndsWell

William Shakespeare

All’s Well That Ends Well

The MerryWives ofWindsor

William Shakespeare

The Merry Wives of Windsor

The TwoGentlemen ofVerona

William Shakespeare

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

Shelves with this book

right arrow
Pride and Prejudice
Moby Dick; Or, the Whale
Hamlet

Best Books Ever

191 books
The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
Hamlet

Plays

8 books
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Romeo and Juliet
Hamlet

Short Reads

500 books
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Romeo and Juliet
Hamlet

Bite-Sized Classics

807 books
Moby Dick; Or, the Whale
Frankenstein; Or, the Modern Prometheus
Hamlet

New bookshelf #1

558 books
Romeo and Juliet
Pride and Prejudice
Hamlet

Madi's Goodreads

17 books
Romeo and Juliet
Pride and Prejudice
Hamlet

Jolie McAdoo's Goodreads

89 books
Anna Karenina
Wuthering Heights
Hamlet

Abby Parker's Goodreads

7 books
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Dracula
Hamlet

Kelsie Rae's Goodreads

22 books
Middlemarch
Romeo and Juliet
Hamlet

kaila's Goodreads

33 books
Macbeth
Romeo and Juliet
Hamlet

Madison's Goodreads

11 books
Sense and Sensibility
Anna Karenina
Hamlet

Jasmin's Goodreads

7 books

More books like this

right arrow

Don Juan

1819

George Gordon Byron, Baron Byron

TheAdventuresof FerdinandCount Fat...

T. Smollett

The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete

Pride andPrejudice

1813

Jane Austen

Now We AreSix

1927

A. A. Milne

Now We Are Six

The Rainbow

1915

D. H. Lawrence

The Rainbow

Nostromo: ATale of theSeaboard

1904

Joseph Conrad

New GrubStreet

George Gissing

The CompleteProse Worksof MartinFarquhar...

Martin Farquhar Tupper

Men andWomen

Robert Browning

Phantasmag...and OtherPoems

1869

Lewis Carroll

Outlines ofEnglish andAmericanLiteratur...

William J. Long

Sybil, Or,the TwoNations

1845

Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield Disraeli

KiplingStories andPoems EveryChild Sho...

Rudyard Kipling

TheGourmet'sGuide toLondon

Lieut.-Col. Newnham-Davis

The Gourmet's Guide to London

The Works ofJohnMarston.Volume 3

John Marston

The Works of John Marston. Volume 3

OldMortality,Complete

Walter Scott

Old Mortality, Complete