Hamlet
Summaries and Characters
Preview
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“So shall you hear of carnal, bloody,
and unnatural acts, of accidental
judgments, casual slaughters, of deaths
put on my cunning and forced cause, and
in this upshot, purposes mistook fall’n
on the inventors heads. All this can I
truly deliver.” Horatio, Act V scene ii
Major Characters
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Hamlet- The Prince of Denmark, son of the
late King Hamlet
Claudius- The King of Denmark, antagonist
and uncle to Hamlet, married Hamlet’s
mother after Hamlet’s father died
Gertrude- Hamlet’s mother, Queen,
Polonius- Lord in the court, father of
Laertes and Ophelia
Horatio- Hamlet’s best friend, loyal and
supportive
Ophelia- Hamlet’s love interest
Laertes- Polonius’ son, passionate and
impulsive
Minor Characters
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Fortinbras- Prince of Norway, wants to
attack Denmark for revenge because
Hamlet’s father killed his father in
battle before the events of the play begin
The Ghost- looks and speaks like the dead
King Hamlet Sr
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern- Hamlet’s
friends from school
Marcellus and Bernardo- Guards who first
see the ghost with Horatio
Act I Scene i: The Ramparts
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Bernardo and Marcellus are on guard duty
and summon Horatio, Hamlet’s friend, to
witness something strange
They see The Ghost appear and believe that
it is Hamlet’s dead father because of his
helmet and frown
They try to talk to it, but it stays
silent
They think that it will talk to Hamlet so
they plan to tell him about it
Act I Scene ii: The Wedding
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King Claudius talks about how he mourns
his brother’s death but that there is joy
because he has married his brother’s
widow, Gertrude
Claudius also says that Fortinbras wants
to attack Denmark to avenge his slain
father, killed by the late King Hamlet,
Hamlet’s father
Laertes wants to go to France, his father
Polonius and Claudius give their
permission
Act I Scene ii: The Wedding
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Hamlet is still mourning his father, even
though his mother urges him to find peace
and stop wearing black
Claudius and Gertrude want Hamlet to stay
home
Hamlet wishes suicide wasn’t a sin because
he wants to die
Horatio, Bernardo and Marcellus come in
and tell him about The Ghost and they plan
to watch for it at night
Act I Scene iii: Polonius’ House
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Laertes talks with Ophelia in Polonius’
house, urging her to not fall in love with
Hamlet because of his station and his
emotional feelings
Polonius tells Laertes to be a good person
in France, and wishes him off
Polonius asks Ophelia what Laertes told
her before he left, she says it was about
Hamlet and Polonius tell her to stay away
from him and that Hamlet does not love
her- she obeys
Act I Scene iv: The Ramparts
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Hamlet, Horatio and Marcellus wait for The
Ghost while Claudius celebrates with
trumpets and gunfire, Hamlet mocks him and
says he is making Denmark look bad
The Ghost appears and calls out to Hamlet,
asking Hamlet to follow him
Hamlet is unsure whether The Ghost is his
father or a demon, but doesn’t care if he
lives or dies anyway so he follows it
His friends worry that it is a bad omen
for Denmark but follow at a distance to
protect Hamlet
Act I Scene v: With The Ghost
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The Ghost tells Hamlet that he was
murdered, that Claudius had poured poison
in his ear
Hamlet feels like his feelings about
Claudius are vindicated
The Ghost tells Hamlet to avenge his death
and kill Claudius but leave his mother
alone with her conscience and disappears
as dawn comes
Hamlet is very moved and promises to obey
The Ghost
Hamlet doesn’t tell his friends about his
plan, but has them promise to not reveal
what they have seen and that he might act
like a madman to achieve a goal- they all
swear on Hamlet’s sword
Act II Scene i: Polonius’ House
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Polonius dispatches a man named Reynaldo
to spy on his son Laertes in France
Ophelia comes in, visibly upset and says
that Hamlet grabbed her and sighed, but
didn’t say anything
Polonius thinks that Hamlet is mad with
love sickness because Ophelia has
distanced herself from him
He says he will go to Claudius to tell him
about Hamlet’s crazy behavior and his love
sickness
Act II Scene ii: The Castle
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Claudius and Gertrude have called upon
Hamlet’s school friends, Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern, to spy on Hamlet to find out
why he is acting so strangely
Polonius comes in and says that Fortinbras
will no longer attack Denmark on order
from the King of Norway and instead will
attack the Poles- he wants safe passage
through Denmark and Claudius agrees, glad
to have avoided war
Polonius says that he thinks Hamlet is mad
with love for Ophelia and he has a plan to
see if its true
Act II Scene ii: The Castle
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Polonius says that he will hide behind an
arras (curtain) and have Ophelia confront
Hamlet and listen to what they say to
decide if Hamlet is truly mad with love
Polonius sees Hamlet coming and starts
talking to him, Hamlet responds crazily
and irrationally
Polonius tells Hamlet he is obviously mad
but that he realizes Hamlet’s crazy
responses are actually insults
Polonius goes to set up the meeting with
Hamlet and Ophelia
Act II Scene ii: The Castle
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Rosencrantz and Guildenstern see Hamlet
and come over to visit with him- Hamlet
asks why they have come and realized that
his “aunt-mother” and “uncle-father” have
put them up to it
Hamlet says that he is depressed and
melancholy, but he is only mad some of the
time and is perfectly sane at other times
They introduce him to a group of actors
who have come and Hamlet comes up with a
plan
Hamlet decides to set a trap for Claudiushe will have the actors act out a play
that is very similar to the murder of his
father, if the king acts guilty, Hamlet
will know the truth and then can kill him
Act III Scene i: The Castle
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Rosencrantz and Guildenstern meet with
Claudius and Gertrude and tell them that
they don’t know what makes Hamlet so crazy
and depressed- but he was very excited for
a play tonight and they all decide to go
Claudius and Polonius tell the rest to go
out because they are preparing to spy on
Ophelia’s confrontation with Hamlet
They hear Hamlet coming so they both hide
Hamlet comes in talking about suicidewhether or not to commit the act and end
the pain of living and experiencing things
Ophelia approaches and tells Hamlet that
she has come to return the things he gave
her, the love tokens
Act III Scene i: The Castle
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Hamlet says, bitterly, that he never
gave her anything- that he loved her
once and never loved her at all
He says that beauty and love
shouldn’t be trusted, that she should
go to be a nun
He also says that women are dishonest
because they paint their faces and
make men act like monsters
Act III Scene i: The Castle
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He storms out and Ophelia says she
feels sorry for the “noble mind”
that has gone completely crazy
Polonius says he will set up a
meeting between Hamlet and Gertrude
to see what is making Hamlet crazy
and eavesdrop on them
Claudius says if it doesn’t work he
will send Hamlet to England because
he is a threat
Act III Scene ii: The Play
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Hamlet is instructing the actors
how to deliver the lines he wrote
for them when Horatio appears
Hamlet tells Horatio he is a good
man, and tells him the secret that
Claudius killed his father- he
asks Horatio to watch Claudius for
signs of guilt during the play
Hamlet sees Claudius and slips
into his madness routine, spouting
some crazy lines and sends some
erotic puns Ophelia’s way
Act III Scene ii: The Play
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The play starts and when the events
unfold, Claudius gets up and shouts for
lights when the nephew in the play
kills his murderous uncle
Hamlet and Horatio agree that Claudius
is guilty and Hamlet starts to act even
madder- spouting little poems and
strange responses
Gertrude calls Hamlet to her chamber
and Hamlet says he will “speak daggers
to her, but use none.”
Act III Scene iii: The Castle
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Polonius comes in and hides to listen to
Gertrude and Hamlet’s conversation
Claudius tells Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern to take Hamlet to England
because he is afraid for his life
After everyone leaves, Claudius starts to
pray and confesses that he did, in fact,
kill his brother but doesn’t want to give
up the crown or the queen
Hamlet enters and is ready to kill him,
but realizes he can’t kill Claudius in the
middle of asking for forgiveness- he will
wait until Claudius is in the middle of
sinning again
Claudius says that he wasn’t able to pray
sincerely
Act III Scene iv: With Gertrude
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Polonius tells Gertrude to be harsh with
Hamlet and hides behind a curtain to hear
their conversation
Gertrude tells Hamlet that she has
offended his stepfather with the play and
Hamlet tells her that she has offended his
real father by marrying his murderer
Hamlet gets violent with Gertrude and
Polonius cries out for help from behind
the curtain
Thinking it was Claudius, Hamlet stabs
through the curtain and kills Polonius
Act III Scene iv: With Gertrude
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Hamlet holds a dying Polonius and says he
was an intruding fool
He shows Gertrude a picture of his father
and his uncle and demands to know why she
took part in this horrible arrangement
The Queen says she is looking at herself
and doesn’t like what she sees
The Ghost appears and talks to Hamlet but
Gertrude cannot see it so she thinks
Hamlet is super crazy
The Ghost reminds Hamlet of his goal, to
kill Claudius
The Queen still can’t see it and Hamlet
assures her that he has been faking
madness all along to catch Claudius and
asks her to keep his secret, she agrees
Act IV Scene i: The Castle
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Gertrude runs to Claudius and tells him
that Hamlet is mad as the sea during a
storm and that he has killed Polonius
Claudius says that they have to ship
Hamlet to England and wrap up this scandal
so they don’t lose power
Claudius sends Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern to find Hamlet
Act IV Scene ii: The Castle
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Rosencrantz and Guildenstern find Hamlet
and ask where Polonius’ body is and Hamlet
brushes them off
He says that they are only loyal to
Claudius and that he does not trust them
Hamlet agrees to go with them to see
Claudius
Act IV Scene iii: The Castle
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Rosencrantz and Guildenstern bring Hamlet
to Claudius
Claudius tells Hamlet that he must be sent
to England and Hamlet agrees
Claudius sends a sealed envelope with
orders in it for England to kill Hamlet
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern take the
envelope and escort Hamlet to the ship for
England
Act IV Scene iv: Denmark
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On the way to the ship for England, Hamlet
runs into Fortinbras, who is coming to ask
the King of Denmark for passage through
his lands on the way to fight the Poles
Fortinbras tells Hamlet that the war is
just for a small patch of land and Hamlet
is shocked that people are willing to get
bloody and violent over seemingly nothing
He vows to have bloody and violent
thoughts after realizing how his inaction
has led him to not achieving his revenge
Act IV Scene v: The Castle
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Gertrude and Horatio talk about Ophelia
and Ophelia enters, acting crazy with
flowers on her head, singing strange songs
Horatio says that Ophelia is sad over her
father’s death, which itself was a very
suspicious event that has people talking
Laertes has returned from France and
storms the castle, furious about his
father’s death
Laertes sees a mad Ophelia and gets even
angrier and wants revenge
Claudius says that Laertes must punish the
right person, Hamlet, and he and Gertrude
had nothing to do with Polonius’ death
Act IV Scene vi: Hamlet Returns
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Horatio receives a message from Hamlet
saying that Hamlet is back in Denmark
because his ship was attacked by pirates
Horatio meets Hamlet in the castle grounds
to hear news of Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern
Act IV Scene vii: The Castle
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Claudius meets with Laertes and explains
that he buried Polonius in secret to
protect Hamlet because the people and the
queen love him
Claudius tells Laertes that he deserves to
get revenge on Hamlet and get rid of the
risk of having him around as well
Claudius tells Laertes that they need to
come up with a way that will allow him to
kill Hamlet fairly- a duel to show off his
sword skills would be a good cover
ACT IV Scene vii: The Castle
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Laertes says he will poison the tip of
his sword
Claudius says that, for insurance, they
will have a cup of poison for Hamlet to
drink if he wins the “duel”
Gertrude enters and tells Laertes that
his sister, Ophelia, has drowned
Ophelia’s Death
Ophelia’s Death
Ophelia’s Death
Act V Scene i: The Graveyard
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Two grave-diggers are preparing Ophelia’s
grave
Hamlet watches and wonders about all of
the skulls being unearthed for the new
grave
Hamlet talks to the gravediggers and asks
about a particular skull and the man says
that it was young Prince Hamlet’s jester,
Yorick
Hamlet talks to Horatio about knowing
Yorick and that all men must become dust
at some point
Act V Scene i: The Graveyard
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The funeral procession comes in and
Hamlet realizes Ophelia is the one
being buried, he jumps out and tells
Laertes that he loves her more than
Laertes ever could
Claudius reminds Laertes to wait for
their revenge plan
Act V Scene ii: The Duel
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Hamlet tells Horatio that he replaced
Claudius’ envelope of orders to kill him
with an envelope with orders to kill
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who betrayed
him
Hamlet also says he feels connected to
Laertes and wants to get back in his good
favor
Act V Scene ii: The Duel
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A courtier names Osric comes in and
tells Hamlet of duel in a
contradictory and strange manner
Hamlet heads to the duel and sees
Laertes, he tells Laertes he is
sorry that his “madness” killed
Polonius and asks for love and
forgiveness
Laertes offers love but not
forgiveness yet
Act V Scene ii: The Duel
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They get their fencing swords (foils) and
Claudius tells Hamlet if he wins, he will
give him a cup with wine and a valuable
gem (actually the poison)
Hamlet gets a hit but doesn’t drink from
the cup- instead Gertrude does
Laertes gets a hit on Hamlet with his
poison-tipped blade and Hamlet comes back
to him with Laertes’ own sword
The Queen dies, crying for Hamlet
Laertes tells Hamlet the whole thing was
Claudius’ idea and Hamlet runs him through
with the poison sword and makes him drink
the rest of the poison
Act V Scene ii: The Duel Continued
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Hamlet calls to Horatio and tells him he
is dying
Fortinbras comes through looking for
English ambassadors to fight
Hamlet and Laertes forgive each other
Hamlet tells Horatio to live on and tell
their story and to make Fortinbras King of
Denmark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0CqUTmwKiM
SparkNotes Summary video