Special features
Each title in the Philip Weller Annotated Shakespeare series contains—

• A general introduction to the series: an essay on the life and times of Shakespeare, placing the plays in the context of his era. The essay not only covers his life, his work, and his influence on English literature, but also looks at Renaissance theatre and playwriting at the time of Shakespeare.
• Introduction to the play: a critical introduction to the play in question, written by an experienced Indian teacher. This essay looks at the play in detail, and analyses
• plot
• themes and ideas in the play
• characterisation
• stylistic and dramatic devices and techniques
• The unabridged and fully annotated text of the play: the text of each play, carefully edited by   Dr Philip Weller, based on his extensive expertise in this field. Each play also contains annotations by Dr Weller, explaining the meanings of archaic words, phrases, allusions, etc., in simple English. A list of dramatis personae has also been included.
• Act-wise summaries and questions: a simple summary of each act in the play, followed by a set of questions on each act. These questions may be used for classroom discussions as well as in examinations.
• Topics for discussion: broader questions based on the entire play, which will help the student to understand each and every aspect of the play. These questions may be used for project work and assignments, in classroom discussions, as well as in examinations. There are questions for both undergraduate as well as postgraduate students.
• Further reading: a detailed bibliography of useful books and articles that will be of further help to both teachers and students who wish to read and learn more about the play in question as well as on Shakespeare and his plays in general.

Series general editor
Professor Philip Weller has been teaching at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington (USA), for four decades. He specialises in Shakespeare and Renaissance English literature. He also takes courses on the history of British literature and on masterpieces of the western world.

Introduction to Hamlet
Jayati Gupta is Professor of English at the West Bengal State University, Kolkata.