Excerpt from The Secret of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Act first, this Earth, a stage so gloomed with woe You all but sicken at the shifting scenes. And yet be patient. One Playwright may show, In some fifth act, what this wild drama means. - Tennyson, "The Play." Antonio. In sooth, I know not why I am so sad. It wearies me; you say, it wearies you; But how I caught it, found it, or came by it, What stuff't is made of, whereof it is born, I am to learn; And such a want-wit sadness makes of me, That I have much ado to know myself. Gratiano. You look not well, Signior Antonio; You have too much respect upon the world: They lose it, that do buy it with much care. Believe me you are marvellously chang'd. Antonio. I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano; A stage, where every man must play a part, And mine a sad one. - Shakespeare, "The Merchant of Venice." My mystery is for me, and for the sons of my house. - Saying attributed to Jesus in Clem. Alex. Strom. v. 10, 64. His care to guide his flock and feed his lambs, By words, works, prayers, psalms, alms, and anagrams. - Cotton Mather. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Hamlet and Ophelia express the infinite variety of their passion in a work which takes the form of an epistolary play in verse. Steven Berkoff's startlingly original drama charts the lovers' story beneath the surface of Shakespeare's play. With a muscularity of language tempered with tenderness, Berkoff's play is shot through with images of courtly love, sexual desire and intimations of future tragedy. The chill of the ending perfectly offsets the preceding violent heat in what is another unique piece of work from the individual talent that is Steven Berkoff. The Secret Love Life of Ophelia was first performed at the King's Head Theatre, London, on 25 June 2001.

'Hamlet and the Vision of Darkness' is a radical new interpretation of the most famous play in the English language. By exploring Shakespeare's engagements with the humanist traditions of early modern England and Europe, Rhodri Lewis reveals a 'Hamlet' unseen for centuries: an innovative, coherent, and exhilaratingly bleak tragedy in which the governing ideologies of Shakespeare's age are scrupulously upended.