A 100-page scene-by-scene guide to Hamlet for A-level English Literature, featuring detailed summaries, thematic analysis, AO3 context, performance interpretations and exam-style questions.

Written for Key Stage 5 (Years 12 and 13) and designed to support students studying Hamlet across four specifications: AQA English Literature B (7717, Elements of crime writing), Pearson Edexcel (9ET0), OCR (H472) and WJEC Eduqas (A720).

Each scene chapter includes:

• Characters present
• Scene introduction and summary
• Thematic analysis
• Language and imagery
• Historical and cultural context (AO3)
• Interpretations in performance (AO5)
• Questions for discussion
• Essay prompts
• Exercises
• Teaching tip

Exam Focus sections follow every act, offering three original exam-style questions drawn from the formats of the four specifications. Each question is mapped to the relevant Assessment Objectives and followed by indicative content in note form. Fifteen questions in total.

Also included: an overview of the four A-level specifications and of AO1–AO5 as they apply to Hamlet, a note on the three early texts (Q1, Q2 and the Folio), and an introduction to the play’s sources.

Quotations follow the Folger Shakespeare Library edition. British spelling throughout. Available as an A4 PDF and EPUB.