1600-ish
The plot of
Shakespeare’s
version is based
largely on the
plot of the
Scandinavian
legend of
Amleth, son of
the king of
Jutland (now
Denmark).
• The action takes place around Elsinore Castle
in (what is now) Kronborg, Denmark
• Hamlet’s father, King Hamlet
dies under suspicious
circumstances and Hamlet’s uncle
quickly marries the Queen.
• Hamlet’s father’s ghost visits Hamlet and tells him to
avenge his death at the hands of Claudius, the uncle.
• Hamlet wants to please his father but does not want to
commit a murder if the ghost is a figment of his
imagination, so he procrastinates and thinks and thinks
and thinks, acting insane the whole time in order to
buy some more time to think.
•
•
•
•
The nature (and mystery) of life and death
What it means to be sane and insane
The workings of fate upon an individual
The difficulty of achieving certainty before you
act
• The slipperiness of language and meaning
• Diseased relationships: family and societal
dysfunction resulting in spying and deceit
The Pivotal Play Scene
• Has the effect of bringing the audience into the play
as they watch characters watching a play
• Reveals to King Claudius that Hamlet is aware of the
details of his father’s murder
• Reveals to Queen Gertrude Hamlet’s true feelings
about her quick marriage to Claudius
• All of the action that takes place afterward is a direct
result of what is revealed in this scene
(the King’s order that Hamlet be sent to England,
Polonius’s death, Hamlets rebuke of his mother,
Laertes’s quest for revenge, Ophelia’s madness, etc.)
Mirror Images (Foils)
• King Hamlet (good) and Claudius (bad)
– King Hamlet is manly, regal, and honest
– Claudius is sneaky, drunken, and conniving
• Gertrude (bad) and Ophelia (good)
– Gertrude is unfaithful, lustful, and a symbol for
human corruption
– Ophelia is innocence, purity, and a symbol for the
wholesomeness of nature
Mirror Images (Foils)
• Horatio (good) and Polonius (bad)
– Horatio is humble, honest, and wise
– Polonius is vain, deceitful, and a babbler
• Horatio (good) and Rosencrantz/Guildenstern
(bad)
– Horatio is loyal, honest, and virtuous
– R & G are disloyal, sneaky, and fake
Mirror Images (Foils)
• Hamlet and Laertes (both good and bad)
– Both seek revenge for wrongs against their families
– Hamlet is more thoughtful while Laertes acts without
thinking
– Both meet their doom
– Both are generally sympathetic characters though very
flawed
– Both are similar to the young Fortinbras, but Fortinbras
gets to live at the end because he exercised self-control in
not attacking Denmark as he had originally planned
The Sickness that Spreads from
Unnatural Deeds
• The murder leads to:
– Relationship dysfunction
– The end of wholesome, young love / the growth
of unnatural love
– Spying and secrets
– The death of nearly everybody
– Insanity
– Remorse and sadness
– The fall of an entire kingdom
Themes: Appearances vs.
Reality
– Hamlet pretends to be crazy while a good deal of
the rest of the characters play-act in front of
Hamlet to try to figure him out
– Hamlet sees through most of what is going on,
particularly with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern,
whose pretend friendship he despises
– Hamlet unmasks King Claudius by the use of playactors, which is ironic because they have all been
masking their deeds by play-acting themselves
around Hamlet
Selfish Actions Have
Consequences
• The murder leads to a cover-up, which leads
to lying and spying
• The “disease” of the cover-up spreads as more
and more characters engage in sneaky
activities
• The contagion of the dishonesty and deceit
leads to the break up of the family and the
deaths of most of the main characters
Language vs. Action
• Hamlet is young and inexperienced. He
therefore has to talk himself into killing his
uncle, though the effect of his talk and
thoughts is to make him less inclined to go
through with it.
• Words and thoughts dull the passions and
lead to questions and uncertainties that delay
action.
Loss of Hope Ruins the Joy of
Life
• Hamlet wants to die because of what was occurred
to his father
• The shock of the death is compounded both by how
his father dies and what he is asked to do to avenge
it.
• Hamlet has an appreciation for the beauty of nature
and the greatness of mankind’s potential, but he is
completely disappointed by both and finds no joy in
either, under the circumstances.
Hamlet: Good Prince or Monster?
• Feels a great deal of loyalty to his father, the murdered King
• Has an affectionate, thoughtful nature that doesn’t turn to
violence easily
• Condemns dishonesty and improper family relationships
• Is loyal to true friends like Horatio
• Kills Polonius without knowing who is behind the curtain
• Condemns King Claudius’s soul to Hell by waiting to kill him at
a time when he is sinning
• Is the cause of the death of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
• Is cruel to Ophelia after the ghost’s visit
• Selfishly quarrels with Laertes on top of Ophelia’s casket
Those Tainted by the Contagion are
Killed
• Gruesome deaths:
King Claudius dies for his murder
Hamlet and Laertes die for their lack of selfcontrol
Gertrude dies for her lust and infidelity
Polonius dies for his foolishness and deceit
• Poetic deaths:
Ophelia’s death is described as tragic but beautiful to
show that innocence and naturalness cannot survive in
such a corrupted state as Denmark