In his brilliant novel, Updike tells the story of Gertrude and Claudius, Kingand Queen of Denmark, before the action of Shakespeares Hamlet begins. n nGertrude and Claudius are the villains of Hamlet: he the killer of Hamlets father and usurper of the Danish throne; she his lusty consort, who marries Claudius before her late husbands body is cold. But in this imaginative prequel to the play, John Updike makes a case for the royal couple that Shakespeare only hinted at. Gertrude and Claudius are seen afresh against a background of fond intentions and family dysfunction, on a stage darkened by the ominous shadow of a sullen, erratic, disaffected prince. I hoped to keep the texture light, Updike said of this novel, to move from the mists of Scandinavian legend into the daylight atmosphere of the Globe. I sought to narrate the romance that preceded the tragedy.n