HAMLET
( by William Shakespeare )
The skeleton plot of the play is fairly simple.
Prince Hamlet is very sad. His father, the king of Denmark, is dead. Gertrude, his mother, has married
Claudius, his father’s brother. Claudius has become the new king but Hamlet does not like his uncle. One
night, at Elsinore Castle in Denmark, some guards see a ghost. The next night the ghost appears again so
they decide to tell Hamlet about this.
Prince Hamlet learns from his father’s ghost that the present King of Denmark, his brother Claudius, had
murdered him after seducing his wife Gertrude.
Hamlet does not know what to do . Perhaps the ghost is telling lies; however he decides that , if the ghost’s
story is true, he will kill his uncle.
Ophelia lives at the castle. She has a brother, Laertes, who is studying in Paris. Ophelia is in love with
Hamlet. To obey the ghost’s order to revenge his death, Hamlet pretends to be mad and even refuses the love
of Ophelia, who eventually becomes insane and drowns herself. After killing Ophelia’s father, Polonius, who
is spying on them from behind a curtain, Hamlet arranges the performance of a play representing his uncle’s
crime. Hamlet watches Claudius’s face carefully and the play confirms Claudius’s guilt, but Hamlet puts off
his revenge to the end, when a fencing match is organized by the king between Hamlet and Ophelia’s brother
Laertes who wants his revenge. He and Claudius decide how to kill Hamlet so they put poison on the tip of
Laertes’s sword and, if this plan fails, Claudius will give Hamlet a poisoned drink. Hamlet accepts the
challenge. He does not know about the poisoned sword. During the duel, Hamlet kills Laertes, but is in his
turn mortally wounded. Meanwhile Gertrude drinks from the poisoned cup prepared for Hamlet, and dies.
Soon afterwards Hamlet too, after stabbing the king and making him drink off the rest of the poisoned cup,
dies in the arms of his only friend, Horatio. Now Hamlet is dead; Polonius, Ophelia, Laertes, Gertrude and
Claudius are dead, too. It is time for a new beginning in Denmark.
QUESTIONS
1. Who tells Hamlet about his father’s murder?
2. Who had killed his father?
3. Who is Hamlet’s uncle?
4. Who is Hamlet’s mother?
5. Who is Hamlet in love with?
6. Who was Polonius?
7. Who kills him?
8. How does Ophelia die?
9. Why does Hamlet arrange the performance of his father’s death?
10. Who is Ophelia’s brother?
11. Why does he hate Hamlet?
12. How do Hamlet and Laertes die?
13. Who prepares a poisoned cup for Hamlet?
14. Who drinks from it?
15. Who is Horatio?
16. OVER TO YOU: Imagine you are a detective at Elsinore Castle. This is what you know:
- Polonius was killed in the Queen’s bedroom
- His body is missing
Who do you want to interview?
What questions do you want to ask?
Do you trust everybody? Will they tell the truth? Act out your interview with the characters.