To the common public ‘Hamlet’ is a famous piece by a famous poet, with crime, a ghost, battle, and carnage; and that is sufficient. To the youthful enthusiast ‘Hamlet’ is a piece handling the mystery of the universe, and having throughout cadences, phrases, and words full of divinest Shakespearean magic; and that, too, is sufficient. To the pedant, finally, ‘Hamlet’ is an occasion for airing his psychology; and what does pedant require more? But to the spectator who loves true and powerful drama, and can judge whether he gets it or not, ‘Hamlet’ is a piece which opens, indeed, simply and admirably, and then: "The rest is puzzle!"