Intro to Hamlet
Info on the Play
• Full title: The Tragicall Historie of
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
• Genre: tragedy
• Written: between 1600-1602
• Setting: late medieval period (13001500s), Denmark
• Shakespeare used versions of a
floating legend of Prince Hamlet to
complete the play.
About the Setting: Denmark
• Scandinavian country in northern
Europe
• Ruling system is a constitutional
monarchy
• Language is Danish (close to
Norwegian and Swedish)
Medieval Denmark
• Before the time period of the play, Danes
were considered Vikings (Anglo-Saxons)
• During the late medieval period (1300slate 1500s), country was ruled by powerful
kings and the nobility
• Controlled the Baltic Sea
• Religion was originally Catholic (presently
Lutheran)
Kronborg Castle
Major Characters
Prince Hamlet
• Son of Old King Hamlet and Gertrude
• Visited by fathers ghost who asks him
to seek revenge for his murder
• Driven by revenge, hatred
• Is extremely philosophical and moody
• Learns to be disgusted by women
• May have had an Oedipal Complex
Old King Hamlet’s Ghost
• Visits the castle Elsinore around midnight,
seeking Hamlet
• Wants Hamlet to get revenge for his death
Claudius
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Brother of Old King Hamlet
Uncle/stepfather of Hamlet
Husband to Gertrude
Killed Old King Hamlet
Gertrude
• Wife of Old King Hamlet; now wife of his
brother, Claudius
• Was seduced into marrying Claudius by
lust and gifts
• Defined by her need for affection
• Extremely dependent on men
Polonius
• The Lord Chamberlain (responsible for all
court functions)
• Forces Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet
• Father of Ophelia and Laertes
Ophelia
• Daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes
• Is completely dominated by the men
• Goes insane
Laertes
• Son of Polonius
• Brother of Ophelia, whom he seems to
have an incestuous lust for
• Wants to kill Hamlet for what happens to
his sister
Horatio
• Hamlet’s best friend
• First to tell Hamlet about the ghost of his
father
Themes
• Uncertainty
The play shows how life is built upon
uncertainties
Some questions that arise:
Can we believe in ghosts; Can we for
certain know the details of a crime that has
no witnesses; Can we know whether our
actions will have the results we want them
to have
Themes
Reasonable, Effective Action
The question that comes up is whether or
not actions can really be reasonable, since
emotions are almost always involved.
 Revenge
Is revenge justified? Is it really ok to kill in
revenge?

Themes
• Death
Hamlet is obsessed with death after his
father dies; he becomes driven to kill
Claudius; he ponders suicide; the death of
several characters in the play
Themes
• Incest and Incestuous Desire
-Claudius and Gertrude
-Hamlet’s fixation on Gertrude’s sex life
and w/ her in general
-Laertes fear of Ophelia’s relationship
with Hamlet and the loss of her virginity
Themes
• Misogyny (“hatred of women”)
-Hamlet turns misogynistic after his
mother “jumps into bed” with Claudius
-Hamlet tells Ophelia to become a nun
so that she does not become corrupted
by sex
-Views women as weak and easily
persuaded
Symbols
• The only physical object used as a
symbol is Yorick’s skull
• Represents the inevitability of death
and decay of the body
• Also shows that no matter who we are,
we all end up the same: as dust