El príncipe Hamlet, by the Spanish playwright Carlos Coello (1850-1888), premiered in Madrid on November 22, 1872 and, described by the author as a “trágico-fantástico” drama, is unique in the history of Spanish translations and adaptations of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The play reflects Spain’s late introduction to Shakespeare’s work, in comparison to other European countries. In the Prologue, Coello, who calls Shakespeare “the English Calderón,” insists that his play is a completely new play, “subject to the needs of the Spanish scene and the special conditions of our audience.” Built from the original text, the play includes dialogues and soliloquies of the original and much of its plot. One of the play’s most interesting features is that of the development of the characters and of the subtexts—including such topics as lost honor and the unequal relationship between men and women. In this way, El príncipe Hamlet becomes a rewrite of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, emblematic of the Spanish theatrical tradition of the Golden Age, which was revitalized in the first half of the 19th century in Spain. The Spanish theatre of the 19th century, with its romantic and nationalistic bent, looked to its own 16th and 17th century plays as models, rather than importing foreign works. Nevertheless, Coello’s El príncipe Hamlet exposed the Spanish public to Shakespeare’s work at a time when performances of his plays in Spain were scarce and translations of his works were still based on previous versions done by the French.
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