The young Prince of Denmark first appears dressed all in black, and as he says, his appearance truthfully reflects his inner life. Known popularly as the “melancholy Dane,” Hamlet is mourning not only for his dead father but for the falseness of the world. His suspicions are not unfounded. Even beyond the genuine treachery of his uncle, Hamlet is surrounded by well-meaning but double-crossing friends in the court of Denmark. He is painfully aware of the untruth that may lie under even the most honest-seeming language, and his own virtuosic manipulation of words reveals his terror of the shifting ground of meaning.

Hamlet’s doubts are his downfall. His uncertainty paralyzes him and hurts those who love him. He can’t carry out the revenge against Claudius that he says he longs for, and his cruelty to Ophelia—founded on his anxieties about her faithfulness to him—is instrumental in driving her to true madness.

One of the most famous characters in English literature, Hamlet embodies some of the great human dilemmas: whether truth can ever be known, and how, in the absence of certainty, people should live their lives.