Often when we consume media we end up focusing our attention on the hero, or main character. This is no fault of our own, media is designed to be engaging and entertaining. Shakespeare wrote Hamlet to be just that, spectacle for the masses.

• Follow the villain.
• Follow the action.
• Follow the setting.

Hamlet follows the kingdom of Elsinore and the fate of its King from just after King Hamlet's death to Claudius's inevitable death.

Through Hamlet's emotions, his proximity to the King, and other factors, Shakespeare varies the danger to the King and builds dramatic tension over the course of the play.

How close is the King to dying?