William Shakespeare's defining work may in fact be the masterpiece named after its ambivalent main character Hamlet. In this play the poet-playwright artfully guides his audience through a tangled plot of murder, revenge, madness, and perhaps even love. Hamlet, the prince of Denmark has returned home for his father's funeral, and two months later must watch as his mother marries his uncle. Hamlet is told by the ghost of his father that Hamlets uncle, Claudius, is guilty of the murder. The ghost then tells Hamlet to avenge his murder. Hamlet decides to pretend to be crazy in order to throw people off, and this is the where things get especially interesting. During the time Hamlet is pretending to be crazy some interesting things happen between him and his lady friend Ophelia. The intimate nature of Hamlet and Ophelia's relationship leads to Ophelia's ultimate demise.

The first mention of...