Hamlet by William Shakespeare
- Author: William Shakespeare
- Setting:
- Plot:
- The Ghost of Old Hamlet appears to the watchmen, they decide to tell young Hamlet this news.
- Claudius sends a letter back to
- The watchmen, including Horatio tell Hamlet of the Ghost.
- Laertes says goodbye to Ophelia and warns her about her relationship with Hamlet. Polonius then forbids Ophelia from seeing or speaking to Hamlet.
- Hamlet goes and speaks with the Ghost, it tells him to take revenge on Claudius who killed Old Hamlet.
- Ophelia reports to Polonius that Hamlet has just come and acted as though he was mad when finding her, so Polonius decides that Hamlet is mad because of his love of Ophelia.
- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive to spy on Hamlet as the King and Queen requested.
- The Players arrive and Hamlet arranges for them to play a show with a few of his own lines thrown in so he can see the King’s reaction.
- Polonius proposes his theory on Hamlet’s madness and arranges a meeting.
- The meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia is staged and overheard by Polonius and Claudius, this is the “Get thee to a nunnery” speech, and Claudius is not thrilled with the results.
- The play that includes Hamlet’s mousetrap scene is put on, Horatio and Hamlet are watching for the King’s reaction. When the scene comes the King is angry and leaves at once, confirming the guilt, so Hamlet decides to kill him.
- Claudius is attempting to pray and Hamlet almost takes the opportunity to kill him, but decides that it would be a reward and not a punishment, so he doesn’t kill him at that time.
- Hamlet goes to his mother’s chamber, and thinking Polonius is Claudius, kills him when Polonius cried out.
- Hamlet convinces his mother to stop helping Claudius and to stop with the incest, and tells her what Claudius really did.
- The Ghost appears and tells Hamlet to get on with the revenge.
- Gertrude reports to Claudius that Hamlet killed Polonius.
- Hamlet won’t just give the body back he makes them follow him around to find it.
- The King orders that Hamlet be sent to
- Hamlet sees Fortinbras in passing and decides to take action.
- Ophelia has gone crazy since Hamlet killed Polonius, and Laertes returns to get revenge with the whole city roused up to make him king.
- Hamlet escapes the trip to
- Claudius and Laertes hear that Hamlet has returned and form a plan to kill him in a fencing match with poison.
- Gertrude announces that Ophelia drowned.
- Hamlet sees that Ophelia is being buried and a fight between Hamlet and Laertes ensues in the grave, over who loved her more.
- The duel between Laertes and Hamlet is proposed, Hamlet accepts.
- During the match the Queen drinks from the poisoned cup and dies.
- Laertes wounds Hamlet with the poisoned sword, and Hamlet wounds him back also with the poisoned sword.
- Laertes tells Hamlet it was the King’s idea, then dies.
- Hamlet stabs the King with the poisoned sword, the King dies.
- Hamlet dies after saying the throne should go to Fortinbras who was just passing through again.
- Main Characters:
o Hamlet – Hamlet is a very thoughtful character, he does not act quickly, in fact most of the play is Hamlet debating whether or not he should listen to the Ghost and kill Claudius or to not kill Claudius.
o Claudius – Claudius is a selfish character, killing his brother to gain his wife and crown. Even after that Claudius always worries first about how to keep the bad news from making himself look bad, like when Polonius died, and when Ophelia died.
o Gertrude – Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, is a character that is kind of hard to tell where her loyalties lie, she agrees with Hamlet in one scene and in the very next she agrees with Claudius again. It is difficult to say about Gertrude’s definitive character.
o Ophelia – Ophelia is Hamlet’s love interest and the daughter of Polonius, she is what appears to be an honest and virtuous girl, but the implications in Hamlet’s “Get thee to a nunnery” speech, as well as how she drowned herself may indicate otherwise.
o Polonius – Polonius is a jerk who thinks only of himself. Polonius must make sure his position as the King’s counselor is safe before he can allow for any other actions, so he ordered Ophelia not to talk to Hamlet to make sure he wouldn’t be fired.
- Narrative Voice: This play does not have a narrative voice.
- Author’s Style:
o Point of View: Shakespeare wrote this play, even though it was set in Denmark a few hundred years earlier than his own time, as if it were his own time. The succession of the throne storyline is based more on the Elizabethan England royal throne than on that of Denmark ’s monarch system in the 1200s.
o Tone – The tone in Hamlet is one that is somewhat oppressive and disapproving of the actions going on at Elsinore . Shakespeare does not approve of the actions that are going on in the royal house, but fixes this problem with the destruction of the entire royal house at the end of the play.
o Imagery – The imagery in the play is seen sometimes, like when Ophelia is mad and she comes into the room and sings fragments of songs, the imagery of madness is clear.
o Symbolism – One of the instances of symbolism in the play is when Ophelia is mad and she begins to go around handing out flowers to people. She gives rue to both the Queen and herself, but the rue for herself she wears in a different manner, this could symbolize the fact that Ophelia could be pregnant.
- Quotes:
- “To be, or not to be, that is the question” (3.1.64)
- This is an important quote to include because it shows how important thought is to Hamlet, even as the middle of the play is reached.
- “Oh, from this time forth my thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth” (4.4.67-68).
- This is a quote to include to show how actions are what counts and when Hamlet sees a man determined with action he realizes what he should do. He should stop wasting his time debating with himself and just get on with it.
· Theme: Although thought may be useful for decisions, it is ultimately action that decides your course.
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