Books like Hamlet

If you liked Hamlet by William Shakespeare, start here: 12 similar summaries, with why each one matches.

  1. Othello

    William Shakespeare · 1622

    Because also by William Shakespeare; shares tags: classics, tragedy, plays.

    Iago's lies drive the Moor of Venice to murder his innocent wife in Shakespeare's tragedy of jealousy.

  2. Macbeth

    William Shakespeare · 1623

    Because also by William Shakespeare; shares tags: classics, tragedy, plays.

    Macbeth hears witches hail him king and murders Duncan with Lady Macbeth pushing him on.

  3. Romeo and Juliet

    William Shakespeare · 1597

    Because also by William Shakespeare; shares tags: classics, tragedy, plays.

    Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet retold: Verona feud, balcony, Friar's plan, and why the last minutes collapse.

  4. A Midsummer Night's Dream

    William Shakespeare · 1600

    Because also by William Shakespeare; shares tags: classics, plays, shakespeare.

    Four lovers flee to a forest where fairies mix them up, while workmen rehearse a play for a duke's wedding.

  5. The Importance of Being Earnest

    Oscar Wilde · 1895

    Because shares tags: classics, plays.

    Jack and Algernon invent Ernest to court Gwendolen and Cecily until fiction collapses.

  6. Madame Bovary

    Gustave Flaubert · 1857

    Because shares tags: classics, tragedy.

    Emma Rouault marries Charles Bovary for romance, then seeks lovers and luxury until debts ruin them both.

  7. A Farewell to Arms

    Ernest Hemingway · 1929

    Because shares tags: classics, tragedy.

    Frederic loves Catherine in Italy until desertion leads to Switzerland and stillbirth.

  8. East of Eden

    John Steinbeck · 1952

    Because shares tags: classics, tragedy.

    In California's Salinas Valley, the Trasks and Hamiltons replay Cain and Abel through love, betrayal, and the hard choice to rise above the…

  9. Flowers for Algernon

    Daniel Keyes · 1966

    Because shares tags: classics, tragedy.

    Charlie Gordon's experimental surgery makes him a genius, then the mouse Algernon starts to slip.

  10. The Count of Monte Cristo

    Alexandre Dumas · 1844

    Because shares tags: classics, revenge.

    Edmond Dantes escapes Chateau d'If and returns as the Count to repay friends and ruin betrayers.

  11. Lolita

    Vladimir Nabokov · 1955

    Because shares tags: classics, tragedy.

    Humbert Humbert confesses his obsession with Dolores Haze and the road trip that ruins them.

  12. Anna Karenina

    Leo Tolstoy · 1878

    Because shares tags: classics, tragedy.

    Anna leaves Karenin for Vronsky while Levin seeks faith and farming outside Moscow.

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