Hamlet Summary

Author: William Shakespeare

Setting: Elsinore castle in Denmark; late medieval period

Plot:      On a dark night, a ghost enters outside the Elsinore castle. A pair of watchmen are the first to see it, so they go and tell Horatio. He sees is resembles the recently killed king of Denmark, Old Hamlet. Old Hamlet's brother, Claudius has inherited the throne and married Gerture, the old king's widow. Horatio and the watchmen bring the son of Old Hamlet, Hamlet, to see this ghost. It speaks only to him tell him that he is his father's spirit and that he was mudered by Claudius. The ghost then orders Hamlet to avenge his death.
     Hamlet devotes himself to avenge's his father's death but he is very contemplative and so he cannot bring himself to kill his uncle. He delays this muder, entering a depression and madness. But this is all just a trick. Claudius and Gertrude worry for Hamlet's health., so they tell Hamlet's best friends, Rozencrantz and Guildenstern to go spy on him and figure out what is wrong. Polonius claims Hamlet is just madly in love with his daughter Ophelia. So Claudius and Polonius spy on Hamlet and Ophelia talking. Hamlet seems mad, but not in love with Ophelia. He orders her to a nunnery and declares he wishes to ban marriages.
     Actors then come to Elisnore and Hamlet comes up with a brilliant plan  to create a play about his father's death to test his uncle's guilt. When the murder happens, Claudius hops up and leaves the play. Hamlet and Horatio agree this proves he is guilty. Hamlet goes to kill Claudius but finds him praying. But he cannot kill him because he doesn't want his soul to go to heaven. Claudius, now fearing for his life, sends Hamlet to England.
     Hamlet goes to tell him mother that Clauidus is crazy and killed her husband. Polonius is hidden behind a curtain though. Hamlet believes this to be the king spying, so he kills him. Because he kills Polonius, he is sent to England. Claudius has other plans though, to have Hamlet murderd while in England.
     After Polonius' death and Hamlet leaving for England, Ophelia goes mad and drowns herself. Laerte, Ophelia's brother, returns from France with rage.  Claudius convinces him that Hamlet is the reason Ophelia has killed herself and that Hamlet killed Polonius. Horatio then recieves a letter saying that Hamlet has returned to Denmark. Clauidus then creates a plan to use Laertes to kill Hamlet. They will have a fencing match and Laertes will use a sword with poisoned tip. In the case that Hamlet wins, Claudius will poison a cup of wine for Hamlet to drink in victory. Hamlet returns to Elisnore right before Ophelia's funeral. He and Laertes fight in her grave.
     Hamlet is now convinced death is coming his way any minute and tells Horatio he must prepare. Osric brings the news of the sword fight to Hamlet; he agrees. Hamlet gets the first hit but refuses to drink from the cup. Gertrude drinks it instead even though Claudius tells her not to and he doesn't stop her. Laertes then cuts Hamlet with the poisoned sword. They swap swords and Hamlet has now cut Laertes with the poisoned sword. So now they are both dying, and Laertes apologizes for everyrhing and blames it all on Claudius. Hamlet stabs Claudius and forces the last of the poisoned wine down his throat. Before Hamlet dies, he tells Horatio to tell Fortinbras he is king. Hamlet dies right after he has recieved revenge. Fortinbras comes in and sees everyone dead, and Horatio tells him he is king.

Characters:

• Hamlet
• Gertrude
• Polonius
• Claudius
• Horatio
• Ophelia
• Laertes
• Fortinbras
• Ghost
• Rozencrantz
• Guildenstern
• Oscric
• Voltimand
• Corenelius
• Marcellus
• Bernardo
• Fransico
• Reynaldo

Narrative Voice: none; it's a play

STYLE
1. Point of View: All first person; charcters interact with one another and there is no narrator telling the story.

2. Tone: dark, ironic, melancholy, passionate, contemplative, desperate, violent

3. Imagery:

• unweeded garden
• Hamlet's relationships
• Hamlet's feelings, thoughts, life

4. Symbolism:

• the ghost: spirtual consequences of death
• Yorick's skull: physical consequences of death
• Flowers: rosemary-rememberance; rue-regret; pansies-thought; daisies-innocence;violets-faithfulness

QUOTES:
1. Marcellus: "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."
    Importance: refers to idea that the ghost is an ominous omen for Denmark and the connection between the moral legitimacy of a ruler and the health of the state as a whole. The ghost is a visible symptom of the rotteneness of Denmark created by Claudius's crime.

2. Hamlet: "To be, or not to be: that is the question:/whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer/The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune/Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,/And by opposing end them?-To die,-to slee,-?..."
    Importance: Hamlet's most logical and powerful examniation of the theme or moral legitamacy of suicide in an unbearably painful world. It also touches on many other themes of the play. He poses the question on whether or not he should live. He weighs the moral ramifications of living and dying. He talks about the afterlife and its uncertainity. It helps connects all of the main themes of the play.

3. Hamlet: "O that this too solid flesh would melt,/Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!/Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd/His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! O God!/..."
    Importance: First time Hamlet really comtemplates suicide. He belives it is a desireable alternative to living, but feels this option is closed to him because of religion. He speaks of his mothers second marriage and how much he hates it. He touches upon some main motifs in the play.

Theme: One major theme in this play is the mytery of death. After his father dies, Hamlet is obessed with the idea of death. He thinks about the spiritual aftermath of death and physical remainders of death. Death is closelu related to the themes of spirituality, truth, and uncertainty. He thinks death may bring him answers to his deepest questions (the problem of trying to determine truth in an awful and untruthful world). Death is also tied to the themes of revenge and justice. Hamlet continually contemplates suicide. He wants to end his grief and misery and escape the world's problems, but he fears that he will be damned to eternal suffering in hell for his action of suicide.