SARAH:  In Act 1, Shakespeare establishes the basic premise of the play. Hamlet is a royal prince who's father has been murdered. His mother hastily remarries the murderer, who then becomes the new king. Hamlet is called upon to take revenge.

RALPH:  For audiences watching the first performances of Hamlet around 1601, this premise would have seemed eerily familiar.

SARAH:  Everyone knew that Queen Elizabeth was dying, and would soon be replaced by her cousin, King James of Scotland, whose family history was common knowledge.

RALPH:  When James was a young Scottish prince, his father, the king, was murdered. His mother, Mary Queen of Scots, hastily remarried the murderer, the Earl of Bothwell, who became the new king.

SARAH:  James was called upon to take revenge — not by his father's ghost, but by his father's family.

RALPH:  They commissioned this famous painting. James is the child sitting in front of his father's casket. The latin inscription calls on James to take revenge for his father's death.

SARAH:  Fortunately for James, events proved much easier for him than for Hamlet. While James was still a child, the Scottish nobles rose up against Bothwell and Mary. His mother was forced to flee to England where Queen Elizabeth had her beheaded.

RALPH:  And as for Bothwell, ironically, he, ended up in Denmark where he was imprisoned, went insane, and died.

SARAH:  We're not suggesting that Shakespeare's choice of Hamlet as the subject of his play was influenced by King James's family history, but it is an interesting historical coincidence.