The Hamlet

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The Hamlet

Author	William Faulkner
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Snopes trilogy
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	Random House
Publication date	1940
Media type	Print (Hardback and Paperback)
Pages	421 pp
ISBN	0-394-70139-9
Preceded by	The Wild Palms
Followed by	Go Down, Moses

The Hamlet is a novel by the American author William Faulkner, published in 1940, about the fictional Snopes family of Mississippi.

[edit] Plot introduction

The Hamlet is the first of the "Snopes" trilogy, completed by the The Town (1957), and The Mansion (1959).

The novel follows the exploits of the Snopes family, beginning with Ab Snopes, who is introduced more fully in Faulkner's "The Unvanquished". Most of the book centers around Frenchman's Bend, into which the heirs of Ab and his family have migrated from parts unknown. In the beginning of the book Ab, his wife, daughter, and son Flem settle down as tenant farmers beholden to the powerful Varner family.

As the book progresses, the Snopes move from being poor outcasts to a very controversial, if not dangerous element in the life of the town. Faulkner uses the eccentricities of the Snopes to great comic effect, most notably in his description of Ike Snopes and his carnal inclinations towards livestock.

A section towards the end of this book, detailing Flem's return from Texas and the auction of several horses, has also been published as the short story "Spotted Horses"