Hamlet

Setting – Elsinore, Kingdom of Denmark

Author ­– Shakespeare

Characters –

         Hamlet…was a student before King Hamlet died. He stays at Elsinore against his wishes, hating Denmark for its extravagance. Hamlet struggles throughout the play with whether to kill his uncle, kill himself, or do neither. Everything from Hamlet’s sanity to his love for Ophelia is uncertain. He can often be found making long soliloquies asking unanswerable questions about life, the afterlife, and fate. His foils are Laertes (son of Polonius/Ophelia’s brother/Hamlet’s friend) and Young Fortinbras (Prince of Norway)

         King Claudius…killed his brother for both the throne and Gertrude, though the extent of his care for Gertrude is questionable. Claudius knows he should feel guilty but also knows that he would not give up what he has won. His go-to guy is Polonius, though he does not feel much after Polonius’s death.

         Queen Gertrude…finds herself torn between her son and her husband, acting in one’s favor at one point and the other’s at another.

         Ophelia…is Polonius’s daughter and, at one time was, Hamlet’s fiancé. She gets caught up in Polonius’s and Claudius’s doings against Hamlet, losing his trust. In the process, she loses her sanity.

Horatio…is meant to be the play’s skeptic/scholar. He is also Hamlet’s true friend and confidante.

Plot Summary –

King Hamlet of Denmark has recently died. His brother, Claudius, who also married his wife and queen, Gertrude, took the throne. The play starts with the nightly watch. Marcellus and Bernardo bring the disbelieving Horatio to see a ghost they have seen twice before. When the ghost appears, Horatio identifies it as the ghost of King Hamlet. The ghost will not speak to them, and the three vow to tell young Prince Hamlet about what they have seen. It is also revealed that there is tension between Denmark and Norway because King Hamlet won land from Norway after killing King Fortinbras thirty years ago. Young Fortinbras is said to be on a mission of revenge.

Laertes, Hamlet’s friend, the son of Claudius’s closest advisor (Polonius), and Ophelia’s brother, is given the King’s blessing to return to school in France. The visibly still-upset/grieving Hamlet, however, is not to return to school in Wittenberg. Alone, Hamlet expresses his desire to die when suicide goes against the tenants of religion and remembers when his father was alive, scorning his mother for marrying so soon. Horatio walks in with Marcellus. They tell him what they have seen, and they agree to show Hamlet later that night.

Laertes says farewell to Ophelia, warning her not to sleep with Hamlet because Hamlet must eventually become King of Denmark and is subject to the nation. Ophelia calls him a hypocrite, and their conversation is interrupted by Polonius. Polonius gives Laertes conniving advice before he parts, and then proceeds to call Ophelia a ridiculous fool for thinking Hamlet would ever love her seriously (even though they’re engaged) and forbids her from contacting him.

Hamlet meets the ghost with Horatio and Marcellus, but the ghost beckons Hamlet away. Against the judgment of his friends, Hamlet follows the ghost. The ghost tells him in detail of his murder at the hand of Claudius, ordering Hamlet to seek revenge, but to leave his mother unharmed. Hamlet agrees, saying that he will be dedicated whole-heartedly to the mission. Hamlet then makes Marcellus and Horatio promise multiple times to never repeat the events of that night to anyone.

Claudius and Gertrude send Hamlet’s childhood friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet. Ambassadors return from Norway with the King’s word that Fortinbras will not attack Denmark. Polonius, believing he has found the reason for Hamlet’s odd behavior, announces to the King and Queen Hamlet’s love for Ophelia. He tells him of a scheme he wants to carry out and meets Hamlet alone. Hamlet acts insane. When Polonius leaves, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter. Hamlet sees through them, but they cover themselves by announcing the arrival of a theater troupe. Hamlet creates a plan to prove to himself whether the ghost can be trusted or not: he will have the players enact a player similar to the story the ghost told, and if Claudius is made upset by this, Hamlet will know that the ghost was honest and not a demon from hell.

Polonius and Claudius spy on an arranged meeting between Ophelia and Hamlet. Before Ophelia enters, Hamlet gives his “To be, or not to be” soliloquy, again contemplating death, this time held back by the fear of the unknown. Ophelia enters under the pretense of returning gifts Hamlet had sent her. Hamlet reacts angrily, entering into a tirade about women and ordering Ophelia to a nunnery and storming away. Polonius and Claudius come out, now believing Hamlet’s madness not to be caused by love. Claudius orders Polonius to send Hamlet to Gertrude after the play and to spy on their conversation.

Before the play, Hamlet confides in Horatio and asks him to watch Claudius with Hamlet during the performance. He also warns Horatio of his crazy-act. During the play, Hamlet makes a series of sexual references to Ophelia until Claudius reacts as Hamlet thought he might, and the play is abruptly ended.

Claudius asks R&G to accompany Hamlet to England. After a brief rendezvous with Polonius, Claudius expresses his guilt in a prayer. Hamlet sees him praying and almost enacts his revenge until the fear of sending Claudius to heaven stops him. He goes to his mother. Gertrude scolds Hamlet for upsetting Claudius, and in return, Hamlet scolds her for the death of King Hamlet. Gertrude cries out, and Polonius moves from his hiding spot only for Hamlet to mistake him for Claudius and kill him. As Hamlet and Gertrude react, the ghost appears to Hamlet, but Gertrude cannot see him. The ghost reminds Hamlet of his mission and disappears. Hamlet tries to tell Gertrude that he ahs only been acting insane, begging her to support him and not sleep with Claudius again. Hamlet recognizes that he must leave for England, and departs with Polonius’s body.

Gertrude runs to Claudius and tells him of Hamlet’s madness and murder of Polonius. Worried about how the public may view the events, Claudius decides to expedite Hamlet’s trip to England. R&G find Hamlet and ask him for Polonius’s body. They take him to Claudius, who sends them to England right away. Claudius then reveals that Hamlet is meant to be killed upon his arrival in England.

Fortinbras and his army want to pass through Denmark on their way to Poland and send a captain to ask for Claudius’s permission. The captain meets with Hamlet and tells him of the conflict between Poland and Norway. Hamlet admires Fortinbras’s action and hates himself for being too passive with his revenge, taking new initiative.

A troubled Ophelia, singing songs and wearing vines/flowers, meets Horatio and Gertrude. Claudius enters, warning of Laertes and a mob he’s raised to take over the Kingdom to avenge Polonius’s death. Laertes confronts Claudius, but Gertrude attests to Claudius’s innocence. Claudius tells Laertes that he, too, seeks revenge.

Horatio receives a letter from Hamlet that says his ship was taken over by pirates and he has returned to Denmark.

Claudius and Laertes plan Hamlet’s death until Gertrude enters, announcing that Ophelia has drowned herself (implying that she was also pregnant).

Hamlet and Horatio find two gravediggers digging in the graveyard. They ask the one who remains who is to be buried, but the information is not extracted easily. Hamlet does not find out that it’s Ophelia until he witnesses the funeral from afar. At the funeral, Laertes jumps into the grave with Ophelia and makes a scene. Hamlet reveals himself, declaring that he loved Ophelia and jumping into the grave to fight Laertes. The two are pulled apart.

Hamlet tells Horatio that he discovered Claudius’s plan to kill him and of how he changed to order to have R&G killed instead. The courtier Osric comes to tell Hamlet that Claudius bet that Hamlet will beat Laertes in a fencing match. Hamlet, knowing that he will die, agrees to the match. Before they start fighting, Hamlet apologizes and asks for Laertes’ forgiveness. Claudius declares that he and hamlet will drink if Hamlet strikes the first blow, which he does, but he declines the drink. Gertrude decides to drink from the cup when Hamlet next hits Laertes. The King is too late in warning her that he has poisoned the cup. Laertes hits Hamlet with his poisoned sword, but Hamlet also manages to strike Laertes with the same sword.

Gertrude falls and dies. Laertes follows not without confessing to Hamlet what has happened and making amends. Hamlet stabs Claudius and makes him drink from the cup, killing him. Hamlet says goodbye to Horatio, bidding him to tell his story and make Fortinbras, who approaches, king of Denmark. Hamlet dies. Fortinbras enters with English ambassadors who announce R&G’s deaths. Fortinbras orders Hamlet to have a soldier’s burial.

Theme – Uncertainty plagues/clouds every aspect of life, including death, ambitions, and love, and attempting to control the forces outside of one's will is futile and ruinous.
Narrative Voice/Author’s Style – Shakespeare’s lack of stage directions leaves much of the interpretation of Hamlet ambiguous, dependent on the particular performance/actors’ nuances. This, however, fits with the play’s overwhelming sense of uncertainty: just as the characters are uncertain of themselves and of each other, the audience is as well. But it can be agreed that the tone grows darker as the play progresses, opening with a tension-filled first scene and ending with a harrowing sea of death. Shakespeare often uses the body or body parts (head, ears, veins) to represent all of the state of Denmark, emphasizing that the health of many relies on the health of one. He also uses imagery and description of disease and sickness to demonstrate the behavior of corruption (it spreads like a sickness). The skull Hamlet ponders upon in the graveyard serves as a symbol that we all come to dust. Both Yorik the jester and Alexander the Great ultimately came to the same fate.

Quotes –

Horatio: This bodes some strange eruption to our state.

Hamlet: Foul deeds will rise.

Marcellus: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Three characters foreshadow the tragic events of the play.

Hamlet: What’s Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, That he should weep for her?
Hamlet laments about his internal conflict, that he is even struggling at all to act. 

Laertes: His will is not his own. For he himself is subject to his birth…For on his choice depends the safety and health of this whole state.
Laertes expresses Hamlet's duty and obligation, identifying him as really without free will.