On the castle battlements of Elsinore in Denmark, two soldiers, Marcellus and Bernardo, have asked Horatio, a friend of the Danish prince Hamlet to stand their watch with them. The men have seen a ghost and think that it may be the spirit of Hamlet’s father, the former king. Prince
Fortinbras of Norway has been threatening to attack
Denmark, and Horatio thinks that the spirit may be an omen of trouble. Horatio decides to tell Hamlet.
Act I

This scene introduces the new Danish king, Claudius, his new wife Gertrude, and Gertrude’s son, Hamlet, the prince of Denmark. Hamlet’s father has been dead for less than two months, and his mother is already remarried to her husband’s brother. Hamlet is depressed and angry at this turn of events.
Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo tell
Hamlet what they have seen.
Act I

Laertes bids farewell to his sister, Ophelia. Hamlet and
Ophelia have been seeing each other romantically, and
Laertes is concerned. He warns Ophelia not to give her love too freely. Their father, Polonius, hurries Laertes along to his departing ship and then tells Ophelia that he does not want her to see Prince Hamlet again. Ophelia promises to obey.
Act I

Hamlet waits on the castle battlements for the ghost to appear. As Claudius’s court drinks merrily within the castle, the ghost of the dead king reappears and beckons Hamlet to follow. Hamlet does so, despite the objections from Horatio and Marcellus.
Act I

Hamlet is alone with the spirit of his father. The ghost reveals the details of his murder at the hands of
Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius. Hamlet vows revenge. The spirit warns
Hamlet not to hurt Gertrude. Horatio and Marcellus enter and find Hamlet a changed man. Hamlet makes the two men swear never to reveal what they have seen.
Act I

Polonius sends Reynaldo to Paris to spy on Laertes. A distraught Ophelia tells her father of a strange encounter with Hamlet. She reveals that she has ceased all contact with Hamlet, as her father had ordered. Polonius decides that Hamlet has lost his mind because of his love for
Ophelia. Polonius rushes to tell the king and queen.
Act II

This is the longest scene in the play, and the action involves five distinct movements: 1) The king has summoned Hamlet’s childhood friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find out why Hamlet has changed so drastically. 2) Danish ambassadors inform Claudius that
Fortinbras, nephew of the king of Norway, will not invade Denmark.
3) Polonius tells the king and queen that Ophelia’s rejection has caused Hamlet’s madness. Polonius suggests that he and the king eavesdrop on Hamlet and Ophelia. 4) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern begin their efforts on behalf of Claudius. 5) Hamlet temporarily forgets his melancholy when a traveling troupe of actors arrives in
Elsinore. Hamlet plans to use a play to prove Claudius’s guilt.

Hamlet muses about life and death in his fourth and most famous soliloquy. Polonius and Claudius eavesdrop on
Hamlet and Ophelia to try to discover if Ophelia’s rejection has caused Hamlet’s madness. The scene between the the lovers is filled with the pain of lost love. Polonius is convinced that Hamlet’s madness has been caused by
“neglected love” and suggests that Gertrude talk to her son.
Claudius suspects that Hamlet’s madness has other origins.

Hamlet puts his plan to reveal Claudius’s guilt into action.
The king and queen attend the players’ performance, and
Claudius flees when the story portrayed reflects his own actions. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern summon Hamlet to
Gertrude’s chamber. Hamlet reveals his new determination to carry out the command expressed by his father’s spirit.

The king employs Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern to accompany Hamlet to
England. When he is alone, Claudius falls to his knees and tries to pray. He admits his sin but realizes that he cannot repent without losing his crown and his wife. Hamlet enters and , believing that the king is praying decides to postpone his revenge.

In Gertrude’s chamber, the queen reprimands her son for being disrespectful while Polonius listens from a hiding place. Hamlet, thinking that the voice he hears belongs to the king, mistakenly kills Polonius. The Hamlet berates his mother angrily for her recent behavior. The spirit reappears and reminds Hamlet not to hurt his mother. Hamlet advises
Gertrude to reform her life. He then drags the body of
Polonius out of the room.

Gertrude tells Claudius that Hamlet has killed Polonius.
The king sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find
Hamlet.

Hamlet is discovered by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and accompanies them to where Claudius waits.

The king declares that Hamlet must leave Denmark for his own safety. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter with
Hamlet. Claudius orders Hamlet to England in the company of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who carry a letter for England’s king.

Before leaving Denmark, Hamlet encounters Fortinbras’s army bound for Poland. Hamlet questions the validity of war and certain death. Still, he thinks, if men can accept the risks involved with battle, he can accept the risks involved with revenge.

Ophelia has gone mad because of the death of her father and the loss of Hamlet’s love. Gertrude and Claudius are deeply affected by the change in Ophelia. Laertes arrives from Paris to revenge the death of his father, only to discover that his sister is lost to him as well.

Horatio receives a letter from Hamlet. In it, Hamlet describes his adventrues at sea and his separation from
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Claudius skillfully brings Laertes into his confidence.
Messengers arrive, bringing unexpected news of Hamlet’s return. Claudius tells Laertes to challenge the prince to a duel. Laertes agrees and suggests that he use a sword dipped in potent poison to ensure Hamlet’s death. Claudius agrees. Gertrude enters with the news that Ophelia has drowned.

This graveyard scene includes dialogue between two men who are preparing a grave for Ophelia, a discussion between one of the gravediggers and Hamlet, and Ophelia’s funeral.
Laertes and Hamlet fight at Ophelia’s gravesite.

Claudius sends Osric to Hamlet with Laertes’s challenge to a duel. Hamlet accepts. Before the court, Laertes and
Hamlet duel. Claudius drops a poisoned pearl into a cup of wine intended for Hamlet. Gertrude drinks the wine and dies. Laertes and Hamlet are both cut by Laertes’s poisontipped weapon and are doomed to die as well. Before
Hamlet dies, he kills Claudius. Fortinbras enters, and
Horatio reveals the events that have occurred.