Hamlet as a Great Work

There are many things that critics say make Hamlet a "Great Work," one of which is the way that Shakespeare masterfully incorporates so many sub-plots into the story, and ties them all into the main plot of Hamlet?s revenge of his father?s murder. By the end of Act I, not only is the main plot identified, but many other sub-plots are introduced. Among the sub-plots are trust in the Ghost of King Hamlet, Fortinbras, and the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia. These three sub-plots are crucial to making Hamlet the master piece that it is.
In the times that Shakespeare lived ghosts were a readily accepted idea, but one had to be wary of them because it was difficult to decipher a good ghost from a bad one. Horatio, Hamlet?s best friend, first brings that question into our mind when the Ghost is asking Hamlet to follow it. Horatio warned:
What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord,
Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff
That beetles o?er his base into the sea,
And there assu...