This volume bears potent testimony not only to the dense complexity of Hamlet¿s emotional
dynamics but also to the enduring fascination that audiences adaptors and academics have
with what may well be Shakespeare¿s moodiest play. Its chapters explore emotion in Hamlet as
well as the myriad emotions surrounding Hamlet¿s debts to the medieval past its relationship
to the cultural milieu in which it was produced its celebrated performance history and its
profound impact beyond the early modern era. Its component chapters are not unified by a single
methodological approach. Some deal with a single emotion in Hamlet while others analyse the
emotional trajectory of a single character and still others focus on a given emotional
expression (e.g. sighing or crying). Some bring modern methodologies for studying emotion to
bear on Hamlet others explore how Hamlet anticipates modern discourses on emotion and still
others ask how Hamlet itself can complicate and contribute to our current understanding of
emotion.
