Fratricide Punished

Fratricide Punished, or The Tragedy of Fratricide Punished: or Prince Hamlet of Denmark, is the English name of a German-language play of anonymous origins and disputed age. Due to similarities of plot and dramatis personae, it is considered to be a German variant of the English play Hamlet, though possibly not William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and is a problematic figure in discussions of Hamlet Q1 and the so-called Ur-Hamlet. Such discussions have helped to raise interest in the text, which primarily lived in obscurity before the discovery of Q1 in 1823.Fratricide Punished was first published in German from a written manuscript in 1781 and translated to English by Georgina Archer in 1865. Though the play is readily available online both in English and in German, the manuscript has been lost since its initial publication, and all subsequent editions of the text are, as such, at a remove from the original.Fratricide Punished is often referred to by its German title Der Bestrafte Brudermord, or Tragoedia der bestrafte Bruder-mord oder: Prinz Hamlet aus Dännemark.

Fratricide Punished is a play of five acts, each containing a minimum of six and as many as eleven scenes. While this may suggest a longer play, some scenes are quite scant. For instance, act three, scene seven contains just two sentences of dialogue from a single character. The play as published by Internet Shakespeare Editions runs approximately 545 lines. It contains minimal stage direction, restricting itself to character entrances, musical descriptions, and descriptors of physical action. The plot runs largely along the lines of the familiar Shakespearean Hamlet, but it differs on occasion both in its events and the order of those events, and is notable for its elements of comedic farce, which have been emphasized in various productions.

The play begins with an induction, wherein Night, personified as a wicked, trickster-like figure, calls forth three "furies", Alecto, Mägera, and Thisiphone, to assist her. She informs them that the new King of the land yearns for his sister-in-law and has murdered his brother—the previous king—so that he might have her. Night wishes to cloud both their judgements to aid in their incestuous relationship but also to sow discord and jealousy into their marriage. She also intends to raise up a desire for revenge in those loyal to the slain king. Alecto, Mägera, and Thisiphone agree to assist her. The play ends with an admonishment to those who would seek power through foul play to reconsider, as they will likely be repaid by similar means.

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