ies his mother, and claims the throne. The prince pretends to be mad to throw his uncle off guard, then manages to kill his uncle in revenge. Shakespeare made Hamlet a philosophically-minded prince who delays taking action because his knowledge of his uncle's crime is uncertain. At the play's end it is not even clear whether justice has been achieved.
             Shakespeare deals with the most fundamental themes and problems of the Renaissance through this revenge story. These themes and problems are reflected in the innumerable ambiguities and dualities which torment our hero, Hamlet. For example, whether Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, shares in Claudius's guilt; whether Hamlet continues to love Ophelia, whether Ophelia's death is suicide or accident; whether the ghost offers reliable knowledge, or seeks to deceive and tempt Hamlet; and, whether Hamlet would be morally justified in taking revenge on his uncle. The world of other people is a world of appearances, and Hamlet is, fundamentally, a play about the difficulty of living in that world.
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