Summary of Hamlet

Author: William Shakespeare was a widely known playwright and poet during the Elizabethan Era. Hamlet is one of the 38 plays he wrote and discusses the themes of revenge, incest to keep the throne “pure, and guilt.

Setting: The main portion of the play takes place in the Elsinor castle in Denmark. Other portions take place in England and France.

Characters:

Hamlet: The Prince of Denmark who is extremely bitter towards his uncle, Claudius, for marrying his mother when his father, old Hamlet, had just died. Through the play one can see that Hamlet is an extremely intelligent man who is indecisive especially on to kill or not to kill Claudius.

Claudius: The current king of Denmark. He poured poison into old Hamlet’s ear in order to gain this position. He is considered the antagonist of the play and has an extremely manipulative personality. At time his compassionate side shows through especially for Gertrude.

Gertrude: The queen of Denmark and the former wife of old Hamlet and the current wife of Claudius. She is so obsessed with being queen and holding social status that she cannot realize that she has preformed incest.

Polonius: The father of Laertes and Ophelia. He is extremely conniving and will do anything to stay in power. He is often seen helping or advising Claudius on certain matters

Horatio: Hamlet’s close friend and supposedly lover, Horatio is an extremely caring and loyal friend. He is the only one to not die at the end of the play and carried on Hamlet’s story.

Ophelia: The daughter of Polonius, Ophelia is an innocent woman who depends on men to tell her what to do. (She willingly lets Laertes scheme against Hamlet) She is supposedly pregnant with Hamlet’s child, which prompts her to drown herself in a river.

Laertes: Brother of Ophelia, Laertes is extremely protective and passionate in protecting his family. He is in France for much of the play.

Fortinbras: The young Prince of Norway who wants to attack Denmark to avenge his father’s death.

The Ghost: A mirror image of old Hamlet, the ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius murdered him. The ghost serves as a constant struggle for Hamlet throughout the play because it cannot be differentiated as to whether he is the devil (therefore deceiving him) or actually wants revenge of Claudius.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: Former friends of Hamlet, they are called upon by Claudius to essentially spy on Hamlet for the causes of his strange behavior.

Osric: The one who initiated the duel between Laertes and Hamlet.

Narrative Voice: N/A

Plot:

-       On the outskirts of Elsinore, a ghost appears who resembles the recently deceased king, Old Hamlet. It is first discovered by two watchmen and then Horatio.

-        Horatio decides to bring Hamlet to see the ghost. The ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius was the one to murder him and it is necessary to take revenge.

-       Hamlet quickly begins to plot against Claudius but due to his thoughtful nature he has a nard time carrying through on is plans causing him to fall into deep madness.

-       Claudius and Gertrude was n tot know the source of this madness so they order Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to figure this out by talking to him as friends. Polonius suggests that Hamlet’s source of madness is his love for his daughter Ophelia. This is proven wrong when Claudius and Polonius spy in on a conversation between Ophelia and Hamlet. HE tells Ophelia to enter a nunnery.

-       In the mean time, groups of traveling actors come to Ellsinore and Hamlet decides to put on a play that mirrors how his father was murdered. If Claudius reacts to it, the he indeed did kill old Hamlet and if he does not then the ghost is the devil. At the moment of the murder Claudius does indeed leap up from his chair and exit the room.

-       Hamlet and Horatio both agree that Claudius is guilty and Hamlet decides to kill him. Hamlet finds Claudius praying and decides that to not kill now because ten Claudius may go to heaven.

-       Claudius decides to send Hamlet to England to secure his own safety.

-       Hamlet then goes to his mother’s chamber to confront of her of the terrible deeds that she has preformed. Polonius decides to hide behind a tapestry and spy on in the conversation (Gertrude is aware). Hamlet stabs Polonius through the fabric and is immediately banished to England because of this. Claudius gives Rosencrantz and Guildenstern orders to give to the king of England to kill Hamlet.

-       Ophelia kills herself after learning that hamlet killed her father Laertes returns from France in rage and Claudius says that Hamlet is to blame for both deaths. Claudius and Laertes learn that Hamlet was not killed because pirates attacked their ship on the way to England. The two of them make a plan to challenge Hamlet to a duel and Laertes kills him by poisoning the sword. Claudius also makes a backup plan to give Hamlet a poisoned drink if he wins the first two hits.

-       When Hamlet returns he sees Ophelia’s funeral and is stricken with grief and begins to attack Laertes. When he gets back to the castle he tells Horatio that anyone can die at any moment.

-       Osric challenges Hamlet to a duel with Laertes.

-       The sword fighting begins and Hamlet wins the first hit but declines to drink. Gertrude drinks from it and dies. Then Laertes stabs Hamlet with the poisoned sword and also himself in the process. Hamlet kills Claudius also.

-       Right after, Fortinbras arrives and is in awe by the entire royal family dead and immediately assumes to take over the kingdom. Horatio carries on Hamlet’s story.

Quotes:

1     “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark (Shakespeare, Act 1, Scene 4, Line 67)

Marcellus at the beginning of the play says this line. It perfectly foreshadows all the events that is going to happen in the future but also refers to althea events that happened in the past. Hamlet is going to try to avenge Claudius, which is going to lead to more turmoil in the royal family, which eventually causes the kingdom to collapse.

    “To be or not to be: that is the question”

This line is said by Hamlet and questions the meaning of life. This quote lends insight into the true nature of Hamlet’s madness. He is not feigning his madness but actually has these suicidal thoughts.

Themes:

1    No one is always certain of what they are doing. Many may consider Hamlet as a way to show what happens when one becomes indecisive when in reality it shows the opposite. Human nature is to question and this is exactly what Hamlet does.

2 Taking action is a complex process in which human being must first questions what she/he is doing and if it is right or wrong.