Hamlet is the play that gave English the phrase 'to be or not to be,' the concept of the Oedipus complex (via Freud's reading of it), and more words and phrases in general use than any other single work of literature. It is also thirty thousand words long and free to read in your browser.
What Hamlet Is About
The premise is a revenge tragedy: Hamlet's father has been murdered by his uncle Claudius, who has married Hamlet's mother Gertrude and taken the throne of Denmark. The ghost of the murdered king appears to Hamlet and tells him what happened, demanding vengeance.
A conventional revenge tragedy would proceed directly from here. Hamlet does not. He doubts the ghost's reliability, stages a play to verify the accusation, declines the clear opportunity to kill Claudius at prayer, kills Polonius by mistake, is sent to England, escapes, returns — and the play accumulates nine deaths before it ends, including Hamlet's own.
The play's central fascination is why Hamlet doesn't act. Four hundred years of interpretation have produced answers ranging from psychological paralysis to philosophical doubt to political calculation. Shakespeare gives Hamlet the longest interior monologue in theatre history specifically so that readers and audiences can witness the failure of reasoning to produce action. No answer has been universally accepted because the play is constructed to resist one.
How Long Is Hamlet?
Hamlet is approximately 30,000 words — a play, not a novel, so the reading experience is dense but compact.
| Reading speed | Time to finish |
|---|---|
| 200 WPM | ~2.5 hours |
| 250 WPM (average) | ~2 hours |
| 350 WPM (practised) | ~1.4 hours |
| 500 WPM (RSVP) | ~1 hour |
You can read all of Hamlet in an evening — and probably will want to read some passages twice.
How to Read Shakespeare Faster
The main friction in reading Shakespeare is unfamiliar vocabulary and compressed syntax. Modern editions include glosses, but even without them, some strategies help:
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Use RSVP at 200–250 WPM initially — warpread's reader lets you go slower than your usual pace without losing focus. Give yourself time to process the Elizabethan diction.
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Read aloud (or sub-vocalize) the verse — iambic pentameter is meant to be spoken. Sub-vocalizing as you read RSVP makes the rhythm apparent and the meaning clearer.
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Track the scene structure — Hamlet is divided into five acts and multiple scenes, which function as natural reading breaks. Finishing a scene is a natural stopping point.
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Don't stop at every unfamiliar word — context usually makes meaning clear. The larger patterns of the play are more important than every lexical item.
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Read the soliloquies slowly — 'To be or not to be' (Act III, Scene 1), 'O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I' (Act II, Scene 2), 'How all occasions do inform against me' (Act IV, Scene 4). These are the thematic engine of the play and deserve slow attention.
The Great Soliloquies
Hamlet contains six major soliloquies. In order:
- "O, that this too, too solid flesh would melt" (Act I, Scene 2)
- "O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I" (Act II, Scene 2)
- "To be or not to be" (Act III, Scene 1)
- "Tis now the very witching time of night" (Act III, Scene 2)
- "Now might I do it pat" (Act III, Scene 3)
- "How all occasions do inform against me" (Act IV, Scene 4)
These passages reward careful reading and re-reading. They are not plot — they are the play's interior life.
Where to Read Hamlet Free
- warpread library — full text, RSVP mode, adjustable speed, dark mode
- Project Gutenberg — EPUB and text download
- MIT Shakespeare — clean HTML version, free
Read More Shakespeare and More Classics
Hamlet sits alongside Romeo and Juliet in the warpread library. For the full list of free classics available to read now, see the 50 best free classic novels online.
Continue Reading
If you enjoyed this guide, here are the best next steps:
Read Hamlet free in warpread.app →
For tips on building reading speed with books like this, see How to Speed Read: 7 Proven Techniques — covering RSVP practice, subvocalisation reduction, and how to track your progress.
If you're looking for more books at a similar level, warpread's free library has 70+ public domain classics ready to read in your browser, organised by author, genre, and difficulty.
For speed reading techniques that apply across all older literature, see the guide to reading faster.
Topics
Frequently asked questions
Is Hamlet free to read online?
Yes. Hamlet was written around 1600–1601 and has been in the public domain for centuries. You can read it free at warpread.app's library, Project Gutenberg (ID 1524), and MIT's Shakespeare site. No account or payment required.
How long does it take to read Hamlet?
Hamlet is approximately 30,000 words. At 250 WPM it takes about 2 hours. At 350 WPM around 1.4 hours. With RSVP speed reading at 500 WPM, under 1 hour. It is one of the shorter texts in the warpread library.
What is Hamlet about?
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is told by his father's ghost that his uncle Claudius murdered the king, married the queen, and took the throne. The play follows Hamlet's attempt to verify this, exact revenge, and reconcile his intellectual hesitation with the violence the situation demands. It is the most psychologically complex revenge tragedy ever written.
Is Shakespeare's language hard to read?
Elizabethan English is different from modern English but not incomprehensible. The vocabulary is the main challenge — many words have shifted meaning or fallen out of use. Most modern editions include glosses. After a few scenes, the patterns become familiar and the reading becomes faster. RSVP reading helps some people because it enforces forward momentum.
Should I read Hamlet or watch it?
Both. Reading the play gives you access to the full text — soliloquies, asides, and stage directions that productions often cut — and lets you set your own pace. Many readers find that reading the play first enriches the experience of watching it. The great soliloquies (including 'To be or not to be') are best appreciated on the page.
Which edition of Hamlet should I read?
The free Project Gutenberg and warpread texts use standard editions of the play. For a first reading, the text alone is sufficient. For deeper study, the Arden Shakespeare or Norton Critical Edition editions include valuable scholarly apparatus — but for reading the play, the free versions work perfectly.
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