This study of Hamlet introduces into the canons of Shakespearian criticism a new category, that of the biblical covenant. The author shows how the idea of a covenant is inherent in the imagery and design of the play.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

A cry of critics -- Hamlet agonistes -- My brother Jonathan -- From monologue to dialogue -- Spirit or goblin? -- The covenant task -- The book of the covenant -- A time of forgetting -- All the world's a stage -- The sight is dismal -- Shakespeare and the myth-makers -- On the threshold.