Hamlet Summary/Analysis

Author: William Shakespeare

Setting: The Elsinore castle in Denmark

Plot:

Act 1

Scene 1- Platform at Elsinore; Bernardo, Francisco, Horatio, Marcellus and Ghost

-First sight of the ghost, a warning to Denmark

Scene 2- Room in castle; King, Cornelius, Voltimand, Laertes, Polonius, Hamlet, Queen

·     = King gives speech about how King Hamlet's death is done with and to focus on the new marriage

·      =Laertes asks the King for permission to go back to France

·      =King tells Hamlet to get over his father’s death, stay in Denmark and love him as a father

·      -Hamlet reminisces of his father, Horatio and Marcellus tell Hamlet about the ghost

Scene 3- Room in Polonius’s house; Laertes, Ophelia and Polonius

·      =Laertes says goodbye and advises Ophelia that Hamlet is 100% wrong for her and to stop spending time with her

·     = Polonius gives Laertes advice and then agrees with Laertes advice to Ophelia and lectures Ophelia more

Scene 4- The platform; Hamlet, Horatio, Marcellus and Ghost

·      =The ghost reappears and tells Hamlet to follow him. Horatio warns him of all the possible dangers and reasons why not to follow

·      =Hamlet claims it’s his fate

Scene 5- The platform (different than before); Ghost, Hamlet, Horatio, Marcellus

·      =Hamlet speaks to the ghost and he tells Hamlet that he needs to seek revenge

·      =Hamlet won’t tell Horatio and Marcellus about his conversation and begins to act mad. Tells them he may pretend to act mad

Act 2

Scene 1- Room in Polonius’s house

·      =The players arrive and Hamlet has one execute a very emotional speech of revenge. Plans to have the players perform a play that reenacts the murder of King Hamlet. Hamlet wants to see the reaction of the King to confirm his suspicions

Act 3

Scene 1- room in the castle; King, Queen, Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Lords

·      =Rosencrantz and Guildenstern tell the King and Queen that Hamlet was amused by the players and Hamlet has invited them to his play

·      =Polonius gives Ophelia a prayer book to mask her bad deeds, Polonius and King hide to ease drop of Ophelia and Hamlet’s conversation

·     = Hamlet enters and recites “To be or not to be” speech

·      =Hamlet tells Ophelia to go to a nunnery, makes it clear that he is not mad for her love

·      =Polonius and the King realize that Hamlet didn’t become mad because of Ophelia’s love

Scene 2- hall in the castle; Hamlet, 3 players, Polonius, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Horatio, King, Queen, Ophelia

·      =Hamlet tells the players how to act with real emotion, no exaggerating

·      =Hamlet tells Horatio to watch the King’s reaction during the scene of this father’s death

·      =Hamlet calls Ophelia a prostitute, insults the King and Queen

·      =Play begins; happy couple, King is poisoned in his sleep through his ear and his crown is removed. Poisoner gives the Queen a lot of gifs and she accepts his love

·      =The players of the King and Queen embrace their faithful love. Queen promises to never remarry

·      =Gertrude, Claudius and Ophelia find it to be offensive

·      =Horatio and Hamlet talk and confirm that the King’s reaction proved he was guilty

·      =Guildenstern and Rosencrantz tell Hamlet that the King and Queen are upset and the Queen wants to talk to him

Scene 3- a room in the castle; King, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Polonius, Hamlet, Queen

·      =King tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that they are going to England with Hamlet so his insanity isn’t a threat

·      =The King admits he is scared that his sins wont be forgiven, guilty, prays

·      =Hamlet debates killing the King but decides to wait and kill him when he is doing something wrong

Scene 4- the Queen’s closet; Queen, Polonius, Hamlet, Ghost

·      =Polonius tells Queen to tell Hamlet he has caused trouble, Polonius hides

·      =Hamlet and the Queen argue, Polonius calls for help and Hamlet (thinking he is the King) stabs him

·      =Hamlet insults the Queen and makes her feel guilty of all of her sins

·      =Ghost enters and tells Hamlet to re-focus on revenge

·      =Hamlet makes the Queen feel guilt for her sins and she tells Hamlet she will make things right

Act 4

Scene 1- a room in the castle; King, Queen, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern

·      =The queen tells the King that Hamlet is mad and killed Polonius. The King is very upset and regretful. Commands for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to go find Hamlet, and bring him back along with Polonius’s body

Scene 2- a different room in the castle; Hamlet, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern

·      =Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ask where the body is; Hamlet insults them by calling them sponges of the King. Then Hamlet goes to see the King

Scene 3- another room in the castle; King, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Hamlet

·      =Rosencrantz and Guildenstern return to tell the King that Hamlet wouldn’t tell them where Polonius’s body is

·      =Hamlet tells the King he buried it

·      =The King tells Hamlet he’s going to England for his own safety, then reveals to himself that Hamlet will be killed

Scene 4- a plain in Denmark; Fortinbras with army, Captain, Hamlet, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern

·      =Fortinbras Norway army enters wanting to cross to fight a pointless war over a worthless piece of land

·      =Hamlet is determined to stop wasting time and seek revenge

Scene 5- Elsinore, a room in the castle; Horatio, Queen, gentleman, Ophelia, Claudius, Laertes and his army, messenger

·      =Queen agrees to seeing Ophelia

·      =Ophelia acts mad and communicates through songs to share why she’s gone mad

·      =King pities Ophelia and worries about his safety because Laertes might think he killed Polonius

·      =Messenger comes to tell the Royals that a mob lead by Laertes has come demanding Laertes King

·      =Laertes comes demanding details of his father. Plots to seek revenge

·      =Ophelia enters in song and sings of her fathers death, gives out symbolic flowers

·      =King promises to help revenge with Laertes when found innocent

Scene 6- another room in the castle; Horatio, gentleman, sailors

·      =Sailors come to bring letters to Horatio (from Hamlet), Hamlet has also sent letters to the King

·      =Hamlet demands for Horatio to come to his rescue

·      =The pirates have brought Hamlet back to Denmark

Scene 7- another room in the castle; the King, Laertes, messenger, Queen

·      =The King wants to hear Laertes to call him a friend so he can no longer feel threatened

·      =Messenger brings letters to the King which reveal the return of Hamlet

·      =King and Laertes plot to kill Hamlet: poisonous sword and cup

·      =The Queen brings news that Ophelia has drowned in the stream

·      =Laertes is very upset and leaves. The King follows him with the Queen to make sure he remains calm

Act 5

Scene 1- churchyard; gravediggers, Hamlet, Horatio, King, Queen, Laertes, corpse of Ophelia

·     = Gravediggers question Ophelia’s proper burial for suicide

·      =Hamlet asks questions about the skulls, bodies, and graves

·      =Laertes isn’t satisfied with the burial; he jumps in the grave, Hamlet jumps in after him and they start fighting

·      =Hamlet claims that he loved Ophelia the most

·      =Gertrude and Horatio go after Hamlet

·      =King tries to make Laertes focus on their plan

Scene 2- a hall in the castle; Hamlet, Horatio, Osric (courtier), Lord, King, Queen, officers, Laertes, Fortinbras, Ambassadors

·      =Hamlet tells Horatio he found papers ordering Hamlet’s death from Claudius. He took and changed the papers and is ready to get revenge

·      =Osric appears with a message for Hamlet, informs him of the bet the King place and of Laertes excellence in fencing

·      =Lord comes to deliver a message from the King asking when he wants to fence Laertes, Hamlet says whenever the King pleases

·      =Horatio warns Hamlet he thinks he is going to lose the bet and if he doesn’t want to do it, he shouldn’t. Hamlet believes destiny will sort everything out

·      =Hamlet apologizes to Laertes and blames it on his madness, Laertes doesn’t forgive him for hurting his reputation

·      =The King announces he will drink to every hit

·      =Hamlet hits Laertes twice, then Gertrude assists Hamlet and Gertrude drinks to his good luck and happinessà cup was poisoned

·      =The Queen falls and her last words are, “no, Hamlet, the drink, I am poisoned.”

·      =Hamlet and Laertes switch swords; both people are infected with poison now

·      =Laertes falls and tells Hamlet of the poisoned sword

·      =Hamlet stabs the King and forces him to drink the poison, King dies

·      =Laertes asks for Hamlet to forgive him, then dies

·      =Hamlet is dying and asks Horatio to tell everyone the truth

·      =Hamlet is dying, he wishes he could hear the news from England, but wants Fortinbras to know that he has his vote, then dies

·      =Young Fortinbras enters with him ambassadors delivering the message that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead

·      =Fortinbras asks Horatio what happened to everyoneà tragedy

·      =Fortinbras will restore his power in Denmark and respectfully carry out Hamlet’s corpse

Significant Characters:

Hamlet

·      =Determined to kill Claudius to avenge his father

·      =Indecisive

·      =Filled with philosophical thoughts

·      =Pretends to act mad

·      =Feels trapped in Elsinore, and trapped in Denmark

·      =Horatio is his only honest friend

·      =Uses complicated language to confuse everyone he talks to

Gertrude

·   =   Mother to Hamlet

·      =Widow to King Hamlet

·      =Married to King Claudius

·      =Completely disregards her past with King Hamlet, disrespectful

·      =Wishes Hamlet would move on from his father’s death and embrace his new family

Claudius

·      =Poisoned King Hamlet, who was his brother, so he could marry Gertrude and take over the thrown

·      =Wants to figure out why Hamlet went mad

·      =Obsessed with power

·      =Greedy

·      =Can’t really make any decisions for himself, always told what to do

·      =Wants to send Hamlet away to England, so he can kill him

Ophelia

·     = Hamlet’s lover

·      =Leaves Hamlet because her brother and father told her to do so

·      =Listens to whatever her family tells her to do

·      =Lies to Hamlet, but always acts innocent

·      =Goes mad after her father dies

·      =Drowns herself in the river

Polonius

·      =Father to Ophelia and Laertes

·      =Gives out a lot of advice; Ophelia, Laertes, the King

·      =Sneaky

·      =Killed by Hamlet while he was spying on Hamlet and Gertrude

Laertes

·     = Ophelia is his sister and Polonius is his dad

·      =Leaves to go to France

·      =Comes after his father’s death

·      =Wants to kill Hamlet

   Narrative Voice:
There is no narrative voice because it's a play. The author's tone throughout the play was dark and revengeful. It sounded somewhat crazy and really added an affect to the characters reactions. Some things that were symbolic in the play were; the ear, poison, gossip, Denmark, Elsinore, the crown, the sword, the ghost, the flowers, the letters, and many more. I thought the imagery that Shakespeare had provided vivid imagery that helped the audience imagine what Shakespeare was trying to convey

   Theme: No bad deed is let go or forgotten. 
This theme is supported throughout the entire play. First, King Hamlet makes it clear to Hamlet Claudius's bad deed of killing him. This revealed secret sets the plot, and Hamlet must set things straight. The reappearance of the ghost during the conversation of Hamlet and his mother is a reminder to take care of his business. Once again, the theme is present by not letting Hamlet forget his duty. As the play goes on each character has to avenge themselves one way or another. The reputation of their family is too important to each one to let a bad deed go forgotten. 

Quotes:

"To be, or not to be: that is the question" -Hamlet
Definitely one of the most famous quotes from all of Shakespeare's work. Could it be because this line brings up a universal debate: the question of life or death? Or could it be symbolic and meaningful in another fashion. I think this quote is important because it is one of Hamlet's longest monologue, and in that it discusses his main internal issue. The issue of whether or not to act upon his revenge. This quote is meaningful because it covers a lot of character development. Hamlet truly questions whether of not to play out his actions. His philosophical questions allow the audience to see Hamlet communicate with his self-conscious and look into his deeper thoughts.

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" -Marcellus
This quote introduces a very important theme and motif in the play. This quote was said in the first act of the play, which sets a dark and spooky tone for the entire act. This warning is something that is about to be very common in Denmark. Marcellus is a guard, so it makes sense for him to give the first warning of Danger. Later in this scene Hamlet talks to his father and learns about his death. The ghost brings the rottenness to Denmark, and sets the rotten State.