The Simpsons' Version of 'Hamlet'

'Tales from the Public Domain', the fourteenth episode of the thirteenth series of 'The Simpsons', offers a truncated version of an icon of English culture – 'Hamlet'. It is just six minutes long and its plot is reduced to the essential steps of the Danish prince’s decision to avenge his father’s death. Hamlet’s great soliloquies have been excised and Shakespeare’s hero is perfectly at ease in a setting which is half way between Elizabethan England and contemporary America. Yet, Shakespeare’s story is there: anyone can recognise it and note how it has been manipulated. Despite the tragic ending, Hamlet’s story is developed comically and irony is essential if the episode is to be appreciated and the strange and unexpected reference to 'Ghostbusters' before the ending theme music starts is to be accepted.