Hamlet:
By William Shakespeare
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Full title: ​The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Author: ​William Shakespeare
Type of work: ​Play
Genre: ​Tragedy, revenge tragedy
Time and place written: ​London, England in early seventeenth century (1600–1602)
Protagonist: ​Hamlet
Antagonist:​ Claudius
Major conflict​: Hamlet feels a responsibility to avenge his father’s murder by his
uncle Claudius, but Claudius is now the king and thus well protected. Moreover,
Hamlet struggles with his doubts about whether he can trust the ghost and whether
killing Claudius is the appropriate thing to do.
Rising action: ​The ghost appears to Hamlet and tells Hamlet to revenge his murder;
Hamlet feigns madness to his intentions; Hamlet stages the mousetrap play; Hamlet
passes up the opportunity to kill Claudius while he is praying.
Climax: ​When Hamlet stabs Polonius through the arras in Act III, scene iv, he
commits himself to overtly violent action and brings himself into unavoidable conflict
with the king. Another possible climax comes at the end of Act IV, scene iv, when
Hamlet resolves to commit himself fully to violent revenge.
Falling action: ​Hamlet is sent to England to be killed; Hamlet returns to Denmark
and confronts Laertes at Ophelia’s funeral; the fencing match; the deaths of the royal
family
Setting (time): ​The late medieval period, though the play’s chronological setting is
notoriously imprecise
Settings (place): ​Denmark
Foreshadowing: ​The ghost, which is taken to foreshadow an ominous future for
Denmark
Tone: ​Dark, ironic, melancholy, passionate, contemplative, desperate, violent
Themes: ​The impossibility of certainty; the complexity of action; the mystery of
death; the nation as a diseased body
Motifs: ​Incest and incestuous desire; ears and hearing; death and suicide; darkness
and the supernatural; misogyny
Symbols: ​The ghost (the spiritual consequences of death); Yorick’s skull (the
physical consequences of death)
ACT ONE, SCENE 1:
● Kingdom in Elsinore, Denmark, Bernardo and Francisco are hanging out on the
castle battlements.
● Francisco is done with his shift and gets ready to head out. Marcellus, another
watchman, shows up with a man named Horatio.
● Dark outside, no one can see anything, a lot of "who's there?" and "what?"
● Everyone starts talking about a mysterious "thing" that's been appearing lately (the
last two nights) Bernardo starts to explain what he saw when the ghost shows up
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The guards all think the ghost looks suspiciously like the recently deceased King of
Denmark, especially around the eyes. Everyone tells Horatio to talk to the ghost,
since he's the scholar in the group
Horatio asks the ghost a few questions, ghost walks off without answering.
To further confirm that the ghost is the image of the dead King, Horatio remarks that
it was wearing the same armor the King wore when fighting Norway. Everyone's got
a bad feeling about this, and to try to make sense of it, Marcellus asks Horatio for a
little history lesson.
We learn that, a while back, Old King Hamlet made a little wager with the King of
Norway about who could kill the other person first in combat.
Old King Hamlet won so he got to take a bunch of Norway's land. The king of
Norway's son, young Fortinbras, has raised an army to get his family's land back.
He also wants revenge for his dad's death
Because the kingdom of Denmark is preparing for war with Norway, Horatio's number
one concern is that a dead man walking about in ghost form might be a sign that
Denmark is going to lose.
Horatio is busy detailing just how bad an omen this is, with many references to Julius
Caesar's death and all the nasty things that came before it, when the ghost comes
back.
The guards want the ghost to stay and speak, so they try to hit it to make it stand still.
Unfortunately, they can't really keep it in their sights long enough to land any blows.
Then they rehash events: (1) they were silly for trying to strike at the ghost, and (2)
the ghost was probably going to say something, except the cock crowed and scared
it off.
Horatio suggests they tell Prince Hamlet about the ghost that looks an awful lot like
his father.
ACT ONE, SCENE 2:
● Claudius, the new King of Denmark, gives his inaugural address to the court. He
manages to explain away the fact that he has married his brother's widow, Gertrude,
only a month after her husband's death. No one has any issues with this.
● Conveniently, marrying the Queen also meant that Claudius got to become King.
● No one has any issues with this either, and especially not courtier Cornelius, who
kisses up to the new king.
● Claudius sends Voltimand (also a courtier) and Cornelius to Norway with the
following message to young Fortinbras' uncle, the King of Norway: "How about telling
your bratty little nephew to quit thinking about attacking Denmark?"
● King Claudius then turns to Laertes and asks what would make him happy. Laertes
wants to go to France, and Claudius says he'd better check with Laertes' father,
Polonius (who says yes)
● With all that out of the way, Claudius gets down to business: dealing with Hamlet, his
nephew and his son.
● Hamlet makes a snarky comment under his breath remark about being more than
"kin" (because of the double relationship of nephew/son) but less than "kind."
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Since Hamlet's been moody lately, Gertrude tells him to cut it out already. Everybody
dies, and Hamlet should really ditch his all black get-up for some more cheerful
clothes.
Hamlet responds tensely and sarcastically and makes a big deal about how his inner
grief and anguish is more intense than any outward "show" (dark clothing, somber
behavior, etc.).
Both Claudius and Gertrude, for some reason, declare that they would rather Hamlet
stay with them than go back to school in Wittenberg, Germany.
Hamlet says fine, and the King and Queen exit with their courtiers, leaving the moody
and depressed Prince alone.
Hamlet reveals that he is contemplating suicide and wishes that his "flesh" would
"melt."
○ If Hamlet were a real person and alive today, he'd probably be diagnosed with
clinical depression. Elizabethans thought that ​melancholy​ was brought on by
too much "black bile" in the body, which caused lethargy, irritability, distorted
imagination, and all kinds of unpleasant symptoms. "Black bile"? Elizabethans
believed the human body was made up of four basic elements, called humors,
which affected your mood: phlegm, blood, yellow bile, and black bile.
Dislikes his mother's hasty marriage to his uncle, faked her heartache for the death of
her husband, selfish and deceitful
Enter Horatio, one of Hamlet's buddies from Wittenberg. He's accompanied by
Marcellus and Bernardo
Horatio explains that he's in town for King Hamlet's funeral.
They used the leftover snacks from the funeral wake at the wedding reception.
Hamlet says he sees his father - in his mind's eye.
Horatio distracts Hamlet from his misery by telling him about his father's ghost.
Hamlet asks questions like “Did the Ghost look mad?”
He tells the other guys to keep quiet about the dead-dad sighting, and plans to meet
them at 11:30pm on the designated ghost-meeting platform area.
Hamlet feels that his dad's ghost showing up armed is probably a bad sign. He
suspects foul play and pledges that truth of the crime will rise to the top in this matter,
though the earth tries to hide it from men's eyes.
ACT ONE, SCENE 3:
● Laertes, a young lord about to depart for Paris, has some dear parting words with his
sister, Ophelia.
● He asks her about her relationship with Prince Hamlet, and says that because
Hamlet is way above her (in the social status way), he might have to marry someone
else for the sake of the state.
● So, he's worried that Hamlet might take advantage of her. He warns her that if she
has sex with Hamlet, she'll be damaged goods.
● Ophelia thanks her brother for the talk, but she also tells him he better not be a
hypocrite, like so many people who are quick to give advice to others. In other words,
if he's telling her not to sleep around outside of marriage, he better be holding himself
to the same standard.
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Their dad enters and gives his son a lot of long-winded advice: listen more than he
talks; to not borrow or lend money; not to bling himself out (he actually says not to be
gaudy); and, famously, "This above all, to thine own self be true."
When Laertes finally leaves, Polonius asks what they were talking about. When
Ophelia said it was about Hamlet, Polonius doesn't beat around the bush.
He tells his daughter that Hamlet only wants to sleep with her. He also says she's an
idiot if she actually believes any of Hamlet's lines. Polonius orders his daughter to
stop seeing Hamlet, and Ophelia agrees to obey her father's wishes.
ACT ONE, SCENE 4:
● We're back to the battlement with Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus.
● While waiting for the ghost, Hamlet and Horatio look through the windows of the
palace at Claudius, who is carousing drunkenly.
● The ghost shows up, and Hamlet is freaked out. He wonders if it's a "spirit of health
or goblin damned." - Is this a friendly ghost, or an evil spirit sent from hell?
● The specter beckons Hamlet forward in a horrible and ominous way.
● Hamlet's friends get freaked out and tell him not to go with the evil-spirit-looking
thing, since it might convince him to do terrible things, or make him go insane.
● Marcellus says, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."
● Hamlet ignores his friends' warnings and the ghost leads Hamlet away for a private
conversation.
ACT ONE, SCENE 5:
● The ghost (who says he is indeed the ghost of Hamlet's father) says he needs
revenge, and sooner rather than later, since he's doomed to burn in eternal flames
until he gets it.
● Ghost reveals that he was murdered by Claudius
○ While he was sleeping in his orchard, Claudius snuck over and poured poison
in his ear.
● Hamlet promises to avenge his father's death.
● The ghost warns Hamlet not to do anything to Gertrude
● Hamlet comes back and swears his friends to secrecy. He also warns them that he
might start behaving strangely but he's just acting on instructions given to him by the
ghost of his dead father. Specifically, he says he's going to put on an "antic
disposition," which means he's going to pretend to be crazy, like an "antic" (which is
the role of a theater clown or a grotesque).
● They all swear not to tell, and the ghost's disembodied voice adds that they had
really better be swearing.
ACT TWO, SCENE 1:
● It's several weeks later and Polonius gives Reynaldo money to take to his son,
Laertes, who is studying in France. But, Polonius says, be sure to spy on Laertes
first.
● Reynaldo exits, and in comes Ophelia, rather "affrighted." Apparently, Hamlet burst
into her room while she was "sewing in her closet." She says Hamlet looked terrible,
all pale and wobbly-kneed and disheveled.
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Apparently, Hamlet grabbed Ophelia by the wrist and sighed for about five minutes.
Ophelia and her father are convinced this is exasperation stems from being frustrated
in love
Ophelia assures her father that she hasn't said anything extra mean to Hamlet lately.
She just followed her dad's orders to keep her distance from Hamlet and return his
love letters. Polonius says, "Oops. I thought he was just messing around, but it
sounds like he's really in love with you." He decides the most discreet and tactful
thing to do would be to tell the King all about the situation
ACT TWO, SCENE 2:
● Hamlet's behavior is no news to Claudius. In hopes of finding out what's going on
with Hamlet, Claudius and Gertrude have invited two of Hamlet's school friends to
Denmark. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, whom Claudius can't tell apart, promise to
report back to the King and Queen with any information they can gather.
● Polonius enters, claiming that he has found the source of Hamlet's madness
● Voltimand and Cornelius enter, fresh from their Norwegian expedition. Turns out that
Claudius is a successful diplomat; he has avoided war with Norway after all. Young
Fortinbras has promised his uncle (the current king of Norway) that he'll behave.
Fortinbras further says he won't plot to destroy Denmark in order to take back the
lands his dead father lost in a bet.
● Polonius informs Claudius and Gertrude that Hamlet has been driven mad by love for
Ophelia. To prove his point, he reads some love letters that the Prince wrote about
how sexy she is ("excellent white bosom").
● They plan to set up a meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia, in the location where
Hamlet has taken to pacing insanely, and watch what happens.
● The King and Queen give the plan the go-ahead and, seeing Hamlet coming, they
quickly rush out of the hall.
● Hamlet comes in, deliberately misunderstands Polonius' questions, and says things
that seem to be irrelevant.
● Polonius first asks if Hamlet recognizes him, and Hamlet replies he knows him as a
"fishmonger". When Polonius says he's not a fishmonger, Hamlet essentially says
that's too bad. He wishes Polonius were someone as honest as a man selling fish.
● Hamlet also quips that honest men are rare in this world, something Polonius agrees
with.
● Next, Hamlet moves on to a confusing bit about how the sun isn't particular about
who it shines on. The sun, he says, would breed maggots in a dead dog because
even that flesh is good enough to be "kissed" by the sun. He changes subjects
quickly by asking if Polonius has a daughter. Polonius confirms this, and Hamlet
replies that even though "conception," as in understanding, is a good thing,
"conception," wouldn't be such a good thing for Ophelia. He's making fun of Polonius
in two ways here: for not getting what's really going on, and for being crazy
over-protective of his daughter.
● Polonius, who continues to not get it, can only focus on the fact that Hamlet has
mentioned Ophelia. He takes this as a sign that he's on the right track and that it is
indeed Hamlet's love of Ophelia that is driving him mad.
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Polonius asks what Hamlet is reading, and Hamlet says his book is about how foolish
and disgusting old men are. Hamlet says that while he agrees with the assessment (a
direct insult to Polonius), he doesn't think it's very nice that someone wrote it down.
He adds that after all, Polonius would only be as old as Hamlet...if time went
backwards.
Polonius is starting to see that Hamlet is speaking in double entendres.
Then, Polonius suggests Hamlet should take a walk "out of the fresh air," which
Hamlet obviously uses as an opportunity to say he'd like to walk out of the fresh air
and into his grave.
Polonius decides to proceed with the plan to send Ophelia to talk to Hamlet and spy
on them to see what happens.
Polonius offers to take leave of Hamlet, and Hamlet replies no other loss would make
him happier, except the losing of his life.
As Polonius is leaving, Hamlet dismisses him as a tedious old fool: he's fallen into
Hamlet's trap of making everyone think that he's mad.
When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter, Hamlet figures out pretty quickly that the
king and queen arranged their trip.
Hamlet, says he'll make it easy for them: everything sucks, and neither men nor
women "delight" him.
Rosencrantz has a bit of a giggle when Hamlet declared that men don't delight him,
and Hamlet wants to know what's funny.
Oh, it's just that there are a bunch of actors heading to the castle - By way of
explanation, Rosencrantz indulges in some theater gossip.
Rosencrantz says the actors are likely on the road because of a recent innovation,
a.k.a. children's plays.
○ NOTE: Plays with child actors were all the rage in England at this time, which
forced theater troupes featuring adults to take their shows on the road.
Shakespeare was on the grown up actors' side, and is making a little jab at
the children's plays, especially when Rosencrantz refers to child actors as
"little eyases" or, little hawks.
○ Shakespeare takes the chance to make fun of the folks that support the
children's plays in Elizabethan England by having Hamlet compare child-play
supporters to the men that used to make stupid faces at his Uncle Claudius,
and now pay big money for little pictures of him.
Before talking to the players, Hamlet tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that they are
welcome to hang out, but that Hamlet's "uncle-father and aunt-mother" are deceived.
Guildenstern says something along the lines of, "About what?" Then Hamlet makes
the comment that he's only mad if the wind blows north-north-west, because
otherwise he knows a hawk from a handsaw.
Polonius enters and doesn't understand anything Hamlet says until Hamlet starts
calling him Jephthah, judge of Israel. Jephthah is a character from Judges 11, of the
King James Bible, who inadvertently offers up his only child, a virgin girl, as human
sacrifice in exchange for winning a battle. And when Polonius picks up on that, he
again thinks that Hamlet is still obsessing over Ophelia. Hamlet sure knows how to
push Polonius's buttons.
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He asks for a speech he once heard performed; he thinks it was performed no more
than once, because the vulgar masses couldn't appreciate it, though he and the
critics did.
It's the tale Aeneas told Dido about Priam's murder, all drawn from Virgil's ​Aeneid​. It's
a significant story because Pyrrhus, son of the warrior Achilles, comes to Troy in the
Trojan horse to avenge the death of his father by killing Priam, King of Troy.
The speech details Pyrrhus’s dark, scary, blood-covered rage. Then we get to
Hecuba, Priam's wife, who's pretty upset by the whole thing.
Hamlet asks if they can perform ​The Murder of Gonzago​ for the court tomorrow
night—with the little addition of a speech that Hamlet will write himself. The player
agrees. (Hamlet is the prince, after all.)
Left alone, Hamlet berates himself for not yet having avenged his father's murder. He
basically asks how the actor can weep for a fictional character, while he himself does
nothing about his own father's very real death.
Hamlet calls himself a coward and a promiscuous woman for not having acted on the
ghost's revelation. Beyond his cowardice, he's ashamed that even when Heaven and
Hell would have him take revenge, he can only prance about and whine.
One thing that's holding him back is the fear that the ghost was lying
Hamlet decides to have the actors stage a version of his father's death in front of
Claudius so he can watch Claudius' reaction so that if Claudius flips out, he's guilty
ACT THREE, SCENE 1:
● Later, in a room in the palace, Claudius questions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
about whether they've gotten any closer to figuring out why Hamlet "puts on" this
madness.
● The two friends say that Hamlet admits he's been out of sorts, but he won't tell them
why. If anything, they say, Hamlet's been pretty good at not saying much.
● He was full of nonsensical answers to their questions, but he was pretty excited
about the players—and wants to make sure that the King and Queen come to the
play.
● As planned, Claudius and Polonius set a trap for Hamlet, with Ophelia as the willing
bait. The two men will hide and wait to see what happens when Hamlet encounters
Ophelia, hoping they'll be able to judge from Hamlet's interaction with the girl whether
he's been driven mad by love, or by something else.
● Gertrude hopes it's Ophelia, since her virtues will bring Hamlet back around to his
senses.
● Polonius instructs Ophelia to walk around reading a prayer book, which will seem a
reasonable excuse for her to be alone.
● Claudius says in an aside that Polonius' words are like a whip to his conscience: he's
covered over his wicked deed, but it doesn't make his deed any less ugly.
● Hearing Hamlet approach, everybody clears out so Hamlet can privately deliver "To
be, or not to be."
○ He compares death to a little sleep, which wouldn't be so bad. The only catch
is that we might have bad dreams
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Of course, we'd escape a lot by being dead, like being spurned in love, except
that maybe it's better to put up with the bad things you know about in life than
to run off into death's "undiscovered country."
Hamlet spots Ophelia reading her religious book, and closes his speech by saying he
hopes she'll pray for him.
After a little small talk, Ophelia tries to return the letters and presents Hamlet gave
her when they were hanging out.
Hamlet insists that he never gave her anything, and asks if she's honest
He suggests if Ophelia is honest and beautiful, then she shouldn't let the traits mix,
as beauty corrupts honesty faster than honesty can influence the beautiful. Basically,
he's saying that a pretty woman (like his mom) will attract a lot of guys and is bound
to eventually lose her honor with one of them. A woman who's chaste but not
beautiful, on the other hand, won't attract anyone, so she'll remain chaste. He goes
on to say that even though he loved her once, she shouldn't have believed it,
because he actually didn't love her
Hamlet then tells Ophelia to "get thee to a nunnery," since it unwise for her to love
him (16th century slang for whorehouse)
He points out that even if Ophelia is a regular girl, marriage would still be awful.
Actually, he says, if she has to marry, Ophelia should marry a fool, as wise men know
that women only make men into "monsters."
Hamlet says, women are monstrous anyway, painting their faces and frolicking about
so men think they're cute, when really they're just going to ruin everybody's life.
Women pretend to be dumb, he says, when they're really in it for the sex. And ​that​ is
why he's crazy.
Now that Hamlet has dismissed half the planet as faithless, he suggests that there be
no more marriage, ever. "Those that are married already—all but one—shall live, the
rest shall keep as they are," he says.
Claudius and Polonius creep out of their hiding place, Claudius announces that
Hamlet doesn't sound either lovesick or mad. Instead, it sounds like he's suffering
from great sadness. Something is sitting heavy on his soul. Claudius thinks this
seems like a good time to send Hamlet off to England.
Polonius isn't sure. He still thinks this is about unrequited love, but he has one more
test for Hamlet. Polonius says they should leave Hamlet alone with his mom after the
play, and see if she can convince him to reveal the true source of his grief. If
Gertrude doesn't get any good information out of him, well, then it's off to England for
the silent son.
ACT THREE, SCENE 2:
● “The mousetrap”- trap to catch claudius
● Hamlet tells the actors how he wants them to perform the play - naturally, not too
loud,not many gestures - use their discretion to build up suspense with their actions.
● As everyone gets settled, Hamlet pulls Horatio aside, and says he's among the best
men that Hamlet has had the fortune of knowing. Favour: watch Claudius' reactions
to the play, especially reenactment of the murder) - figure out whether Claudius really
did kill King Hamlet, Horatio agrees
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As Claudius settles in, he asks Hamlet how he's doing. Hamlet says he eats as well
as a chameleon. In saying this, Hamlet is punning on air/heir, since he was (and
remains) heir to the throne. He then says you can't feed capons that way.
After brutalizing Claudius, Hamlet moves on to Polonius and Ophelia.
He starts flirting/harassing Ophelia, asking if he can lie in her lap, and making dirty
puns on the word "nothing," (Elizabethan slang for vagina)
Ophelia tactfully demurs telling Hamlet he seems pretty upbeat.
Hamlet says that there's no way he could be unhappy - his dad's only been dead two
hours, and his mom seems quite happy. Ophelia points out that his "two hours" is
more like four months. He responds that it's amazing how a great man can die and
not be forgotten in two months' time.
The play the actors perform is a variant of "The Murder of Gonzago." In the first
scene, the Queen repeatedly swears to her husband (the King) that she will never
remarry.
The King in the play says he's sure she believes that to be true now, but she might
find that she feels differently once he's dead. The Queen tells him he's wrong. She'll
never remarry. The King tells her to leave him be - he’s going to take a nap.
All of this insistence by the Player Queen about how wrong it would be to remarry if
her husband died is is obviously offensive to Gertrude, but she still keeps her cool.
When Hamlet asks how she likes the play, she says, "The lady doth protest too
much, methinks."
Poison in ear: Claudius rises and cries out for light. Chaos ensues as the play comes
to a sudden halt, the torches are lit, and the king flees the room, followed by the
audience. When the scene quiets, Hamlet is left alone with Horatio.
Hamlet and Horatio agree that the king’s behavior was telling.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive to tell Hamlet that he is wanted in his mother’s
chambers.
Rosencrantz asks again about the cause of Hamlet’s “distemper,” and Hamlet angrily
accuses the pair of trying to play him as if he were a musical pipe.
Polonius enters to escort Hamlet to the queen. Hamlet says he will go to her in a
moment and asks for a moment alone.
He steels himself to speak to his mother, resolving to be brutally honest with her but
not to lose control of himself: “I will speak daggers to her, but use none” (III.ii.366).
ACT THREE, SCENE 3:
● Claudius meets with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Claudius says Hamlet is clearly
crazy, and it's unsafe for him to stick around Denmark - the crazier he gets, the
greater the threat to the throne. He'll be sent to England along with Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern - agree, do anything for the safety of the King. Rosencrantz even goes
on in a sickeningly fawning speech about how the King's needs are more important
than lesser people's needs.
● Claudius has to cut him off, "Go get ready to travel now, so we can contain this fear,"
i.e. his own fear that he'll be found out for murder and that Hamlet will come and get
him.
● After Claudius gets rid of the dynamic duo, Polonius shows up to say he's off to hide
himself and eavesdrop on Hamlet's conversation with Gertrude.
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Polonius also fawns over the King, saying it was wise of Claudius to suggest that
someone listen in on this conversation, as moms tend to be biased when judging
their children.
Claudius admits to murdering his brother, an act which carries with it God's curse He can't even bring himself to pray.
He asks if there isn't rain enough in the heavens to wash his hands clean of his
brother's blood.
He can't ask for forgiveness for the murder, since he still has all of the gains he got
from committing it (the crown, the queen).
Claudius kneels down and prays.
Hamlet enters and raises his sword… and stops - if Claudius dies while praying, the
man will go to Heaven, since he'll have been forgiven for his sins.
Hamlet notes that Claudius killed his father while his sins were still in full bloom. As
King Hamlet had no time to repent, only Heaven knows how King Hamlet's account
looked as he faced judgment.
Hamlet clearly reveres his dad, but he knows the old King didn't have a completely
clean slate. That means that Hamlet's father has to suffer in the afterlife, and it's
partly Claudius' fault.
Hamlet wants to make sure that Claudius suffers the same punishment; therefore, he
cannot kill Claudius when he has just confessed his sins to God.
So Hamlet decides he should kill Claudius another time. He hopes to get him while
he's drunk, or angry, or in the midst of any other such truly deplorable activity.
Hamlet notes that his mother is waiting for him, and says Claudius' attempts at prayer
are only going to prolong the days before Hamlet rains down vengeful death on his
uncle.
After Hamlet exits, Claudius notes that his prayers were useless as he still thought
about his evil deeds without repentance. Claudius is sure Heaven will see through his
lying prayers, and realize he's not fully sorry - Hamlet just missed his opportunity.
ACT THREE, SCENE 4:
● Inside gertrude's room in the palace, Polonius tells Gertrude what to say. She should
tell Hamlet his pranks have gone too far, and that she's been covering for him
● Gertrude reprimands Hamlet for upsetting Claudius with the play, but Hamlet turns
the tables and starts attacking her for marrying her husband's brother. Hamlet is so
worked up that the Queen actually gets a little worried and cries out for help.
● Polonius, still behind the curtain, hears Gertrude cry, "Help, ho!," so he cries out, too:
"What, ho, help!" - this alerts Hamlet to the fact that someone is hiding behind the
curtain.
● Hamlet promptly stabs the curtain-veiled man, declaring he's found a rat. Polonius'
utters his last words: "O, I am slain."
● He says that he mistook the intruding old fool for a man higher up
● While Polonius' dead body cools on the palace floor, Hamlet continues to attack his
mother for her remarriage.
● He points out that his father was a convenient blend of all Greek and Roman
mythology, while Claudius is more like a mildewed ear of grain that infects everything
around it.
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Finally, Gertrude can't take it anymore and says that she knows her soul is blackened
by what she's done.
Hamlet accuses his mom of being slick with the nasty sweat of a greasy bed and
being married to a crown stealer and a murderer.
The ghost shows up - Hamlet and the ghost have a little chat in which the ghost
reminds Hamlet that he's got some revenge to attend to
Gertrude thinks her son is crazy for talking to a ghost
Hamlet begs Gertrude to realize that her remarriage was a sin
He also warns her that if she lets Claudius know she knows that Hamlet isn't truly
mad/just pretending, put herself in great danger… just like the ape that tried to fly like
a bird and wound up breaking its neck (he might kill her)
Hamlet then reminds his mother that he's been slated to leave for England with his
"friends," Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, neither of whom he actually trusts. He says
the little scheme Claudius is setting is fine, as he will basically be blown up by his
own bomb.
Then, lugging Polonius' corpse out, he wishes his mom a good night.
ACT FOUR, SCENE 1:
● Gertrude tells Claudius that her son is insane and has murdered Polonius. (She
keeps quiet, as instructed by her son, about the fact that his madness is an act)
● Gertrude points out that Hamlet is now inspired to cry a little, so maybe the murder of
Polonius has done some good by getting Hamlet in touch with his feelings.
● Claudius tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to try to clean up the mess.
ACT FOUR, SCENE 2:
● Rosencrantz and Guildenstern meet with Hamlet, and try to convince him to give up
Polonius' body, which Hamlet has hidden.
● Hamlet points out that Claudius' little helpers are like a sponge: they're soaking up
Claudius' favors now, but Claudius is sure to wring them dry again as soon as he's
done.
● They ask him again where the body is, and Hamlet answers with a riddle. He says
"the body is with the king, but the king is not with the body" (4.2.27-28). This is a
reference to a law that says the king has the right to enforce the laws, but that the
laws don't just go away when the king dies.
● Hamlet starts to explain himself, but he trails off, leading Guildenstern to interrupt.
This probably exactly what Hamlet wanted, because it lets him deliver the punchline
that the king is nothing. Not a king, not a ruler, maybe not even alive when Hamlet's
through with him. Hamlet runs off
ACT FOUR, SCENE 3:
● Claudius demands that Hamlet tell him where Polonius' corpse is.
● Hamlet responds with morbid jokes, pointing out that Polonius is at "supper" - he's
being eaten by worms for dinner.
● Hamlet describes the cycle of life, where a worm can eat a king, a fish can eat that
worm, and a man can eat that fish, thus eating a king, who inevitably passes through
the digestive system of another man.
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After Hamlet hints that the body is in the stairs leading to the lobby, Claudius sends
the attendants off to find it.
He tells Hamlet that he's being shipped off to England with Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern for his own good, and also as a princely time-out for having caused so
much trouble.
Claudius, left alone, reveals that he has arranged to have Hamlet killed once he
reaches England.
ACT FOUR, SCENE 4:
● Hamlet is on his way to England
● Armies of Prince Fortinbras of Norway, who it seems has decided to wage war with
Poland instead of with Denmark.
● Hamlet assumes Fortinbras must be taking on the whole country, but after talking
with one of his Captains he learns that this is a huge conflict being waged over a tiny,
unimportant piece of territory.
● He swears to follow Fortinbras' example, stop delaying and finally carry out his
revenge.
ACT FOUR, SCENE 5:
● A few weeks later at the palace, we learn from some random gentlemen talking with
the Queen and Horatio that Ophelia is totally nuts.
● She's been wandering around the palace and singing old songs. Though there's
nothing in her songs in particular, the listeners who want to think naughty things are
able to weave the nonsense together into some gossipy messages.
● Ophelia then enters and shares a little song with us about death and flowers. She
sings something about love and ends up generally cursing the faithlessness of men.
● There's even a song in here about how to get a girl into bed by promising you'll marry
her, and then not marrying her because she's no longer a virgin.
● We're basically left wondering whether the cause of Ophelia's madness is her dead
father, or Hamlet, who may or may not have taken her virginity.
● Claudius laments how sad it is that (1) Polonius is dead,(2) Hamlet had to be sent off
to England, (3) Ophelia is crazy, and (4) Laertes has secretly arrived from France
and is being bombarded with gossip about his father's death, which Claudius is sure
is going to get pinned on him
● Claudius and Gertrude hear noises within and learn that Laertes has broken into the
castle with a group of followers who are demanding he be made king.
● Laertes blows into the palace like a thunderstorm demanding to see Claudius.
● Claudius calms the hyped-up college kid and convinces him that he needs to take
care to focus his vengeance on the proper target.
● He's not too happy about Ophelia, either.
● Ophelia then hands out very symbolic flowers. Most importantly, she says she'd like
to give violets, which represent faithfulness, but they all died when her father passed
away.
● Laertes is pretty worked up after seeing Ophelia, and Claudius is delighted to egg on
the furious Laertes to revenge. He tells Laertes to gather his buddies and have them
listen to his explanation of what happened to Polonius. If they think Claudius is guilty,
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he'll gladly give up his crown. And if not, then Claudius will help Laertes bring the
right villain to justice.
ACT FOUR, SCENE 6:
● Inside the palace, Horatio runs into some sailors carrying a letter to him from Hamlet.
Hamlet writes that his ship was attacked by friendly pirates, he was the only person
"taken prisoner" by the pirates.
● Horatio should make sure that some letters get safely to the King and Queen, and
then head out to meet Hamlet.
ACT FOUR, SCENE 7:
● Claudius and Laertes have been bonding. Claudius has not only told Laertes that it
was Hamlet that killed Polonius, but he's also led him to believe that Hamlet was
plotting against Claudius for no good reason. Laertes wonders why Claudius didn't
have Hamlet killed, or at the very least locked up for his crimes.
● Claudius explains he had two basic reasons: (1) it would have killed Gertrude, and
(2) the public adores Hamlet. If Claudius had acted against Hamlet, they would have
turned on him (Claudius).
● Due to the King's inaction, Laertes lost his dad and his sister has gone insane.
Claudius is telling Laertes to cool his jets. He says he loved Polonius, too, and there's
more that Laertes doesn't yet know. Presumably he's planning to tell Laertes that
he's had Hamlet killed once he gets word that it's done. But just then a messenger
comes in with a letter for the king. Hamlet is alive and coming home.
● Claudius recognizes Hamlets handwriting.
● Claudius asks Laertes if he's willing to do as Claudius says, and Laertes says he is, if
it means getting his revenge against Hamlet - has to make it look like an accident so
that his wife won't get upset.
● Claudius is full of flattery and praise for Laertes. He brings up some noble Norman
who allegedly said that Laertes was a fantastic fencer.
● Claudius asks if Laertes loves his father.
● Plan: Hamlet gets home, Laertes will keep to himself, and everyone else around will
be full of praise for his fine sword skills. Claudius figures they can get Hamlet to
agree to have a duel. He's even willing to put a little bet down on the fight, which
might help to convince the Prince to join in.
● Because Hamlet is trusting, he's unlikely to really examine the different swords
available to the men in the fencing match. That means Laertes can choose a sword
that isn't blunted (dull swords were used for these friendly duels), and then plunge it
into Hamlet.
● The guys then go into planning overkill. Just in case Laertes can't kill Hamlet with a
sharp sword, they have a Plan B: a handy-dandy ointment of death obtained from the
local mountebank (a traveling quack doctor). If Laertes dips the tip of his sword in the
ointment and then stabs Hamlet, Hamlet's sure to die.
● Claudius' final contribution to this scheme is a Plan C: He'll poison his own drink and
offer it to Hamlet, who's sure to get hot and thirsty with all the fencing.
● Gertrude comes in to inform Laertes that Ophelia has drowned in a brook.
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She went to the brook with garlands of flowers, intending to hang them on the
boughs of a far out tree as though they were crowns. A branch broke beneath her,
and she tumbled into the brook.
At first, Ophelia's clothes made her float, so she sang old songs and generally
appeared like a singing mermaid, without even thinking to cry for help. But her
clothes became soaked and pulled her down into the brook, still singing.
Gertrude presents Ophelia's death as a kind of accident, but it may also have been a
suicide.
Laertes, hearing of Ophelia's death, calls himself a "woman" for crying over his sister
and leaves to be alone.
Claudius comments to Gertrude that he worked very hard to calm Laertes
ACT FIVE, SCENE 1:
● At the palace graveyard, two gravediggers discuss Ophelia's death.
ACT FIVE, SCENE 2:
● Hamlet tells Horatio what happened while he was out of Denmark: he was on the
ship to England, when he got the idea to check out Claudius' letter in Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern's pack
● Hamlet alters the letter to tell the king that the bearers of the letter (i.e. Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern) should be killed.
● Hamlet even sealed the new letter with his father's own signet
● Claudius has tried to kill him; Claudius killed his father; Claudius "whored" his mother;
and Claudius deliberately stands in the way of Hamlet's access to the crown of
Denmark.
● Oscric, member of the court, enters to ask Hamlet if he is willing to fight a friendly
duel with Laertes based on a bet. King Claudius has bet six fine horses, six fine
French swords, and three beautiful carriages, on the odds that Laertes wouldn't get
more than three hits in over Hamlet in a fencing match.
● Everyone saunters in to watch the duel, including the King (poisoned beverage in
hand) and Queen.
● Claudius offers to put Laertes' hand into Hamlet's, and Hamlet takes the opportunity
to apologize
● Laertes is satisfied by Hamlet's apology - have friendly fight.
● Just before the duel begins, Hamlet declares himself to be the weaker player, but
Claudius declares he doesn't mind.
● As Osric presents the men the swords, Laertes quibbles, dismissing one as being too
heavy. He's clearly picking through the swords (searching for the sharpened,
poisoned sword)
● Hamlet takes a sword after asking only one question about whether the swords are
all the same length
● Claudius also makes a big show, saying cannons will fire and the King will drink to
Hamlet's good hits.
● As Hamlet and Laertes cross swords, Hamlet scores the first few points. Claudius
offers him the poisoned goblet of wine, but Hamlet declines and keeps fighting.
Gertrude toasts Hamlet with the poisoned wine
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Laertes wonders if it's against his conscience to strike Hamlet with poisoned sword.
Laertes ends up striking Hamlet, the two men somehow exchange swords, and
Laertes is wounded with his own poisoned sword.
Laertes declares it fitting that he die by his own sword's treachery.
The Queen cries out, declares that the drink was poisoned.
Hamlet declares treachery is afoot.
Laertes immediately declares, in so many words, "It's all Claudius' fault!”
Hamlet grabs the poisoned sword and stabs Claudius. The people all shout out that
it's treason. Forces Claudius to drink the rest of the wine.
Just before Laertes dies, he asks for Hamlet's forgiveness; Hamlet isn't any more
responsible for his death (and Polonius') than Laertes will be for Hamlet's.
Hamlet realizes he's about to die so he says he doesn't have enough time to tell the
story himself, but Horatio should explain to the world what happened.
Fortinbras and his army return victorious from his battle with Poland
Hamlet opens his final speech with, "O, I die."
Hamlet declares Fortinbras should become the next King of Denmark
"The rest is silence," he says, and dies.
Horatio talks about Hamlet's noble heart
Lots of drumming as Fortinbras enters with the English ambassadors
The English ambassadors say they've just come to report that Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern have been killed, according to orders.
In the meantime, Hamlet should have a fine burial with the rites of war and soldier's
music, since Fortinbras is sure that Hamlet would've been a good king.
And, with a body count of eight (Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern,
Laertes, Gertrude, Claudius, and Hamlet)
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