Hamlet Summary and Analysis

• The author of this play is William Shakespeare. He was born in 1564 in Stratford, England and wrote this play in the very early 1600s.
• The play takes place in Denmark, mainly at a castle called Elsinore. This castle is home to the royal family of Denmark, including Hamlet.
• Plot: Hamlet sees the ghost of his father Old Hamlet, and the ghost asks him to kill King Claudius. Claudius was Old Hamlet’s brother. Claudius murdered Old Hamlet, got the throne and married Old Hamlet’s widow. Hamlet is now set on revenge. He pretends to go crazy as a part of his plan to kill Claudius. The rest of the royal family thinks that Hamlet went crazy because he is in love with Ophelia. A acting group comes to Elsinore and Hamlet asks them to perform a play. The play is a reenactment of how Hamlet thinks Claudius killed his father. Claudius realizes what is going on and leaves. Claudius is afraid of Hamlet now. Hamlet goes to visit his mom in her bedroom, and he hears someone behind the curtain. Thinking it’s the King, Hamlet stabs the guy to death. It turns out to be Polonius, Ophelia’s father. Hamlet is sent to England in punishment, to be killed but he comes back because his ship was attacked by pirates and he never makes it to England. While Hamlet is gone, Ophelia is distraught by her father’s death and drowns. Laertes, Ophelia’s brother, finds out about his sister’s and father’s death and comes from France to fight Hamlet. They decide to have a fencing match. Both swords are supposed to be blunted, but Laertes’ is not. Laertes’ sword is also laced with a poison, the King’s plan to kill Hamlet. In case that doesn’t work, the King had put poisoned pearls in Hamlet’s drink, so that if Hamlet wins, he will still die after he drinks the drink. The fight starts. Laertes does manage to hit Hamlet, so Hamlet is poisoned and set to die. However, Hamlet uses Laertes’ sword and hits him back, so Laertes will die too. The Queen drinks out of Hamlet’s cup and is poisoned and dies. Hamlet, realizing the King was behind it, hits the King with the sword and forces him to drink the rest of the poison in the cup. After the King, Queen, and Laertes die, Hamlet dies. Horatio, Hamlet’s best friend is the only one that lives to tell the tale. Fortinbras, the prince from Norway and sees all the dead. He takes the throne and decides to give Hamlet a soldier’s funeral.
• The main characters are:

          -Hamlet-Prince of Denmark
          -Ophelia- Hamlet’s lover
          -Old Hamlet- Hamlet’s father and the old King of Denmark
          -Claudius- Hamlet’s uncle, new King of Denmark
          -Gertrude- Hamlet’s mother, present wife to Claudius
          -Horatio- Hamlet’s best friend
          -Rosencrantz and Guildenstern- Old friends of Hamlet that turn to spies
          -Laertes- Ophelia’s brother, kills Hamlet
          -Polonius- Claudius’ right hand man, Ophelia’s father

• Since this is a play, there’s not really a narrative voice or much of an author’s style.
• Main quotes:

          -“To be, or not to be: that is the question:
             Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
             The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
             Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
             And by opposing end them?—To die,—to sleep—” (Act 3, Scene 1, Lines 58-62). This quote is very famous. It is spoken by Hamlet, and he is thinking about the idea of suicide and if it’s more noble to live and suffer or die and not suffer and compares dying to sleep.
          -“Neither a borrower nor a lender be:
             For loan oft loses both itself and friend;
             And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
             This above all,—to thine own self be true;
             And it must follow, as the night the day,
             Thou canst not then be false to any man” (Act 1, Scene 3, Lines 75-80). This is yet another famous quote. It’s Polonius giving Laertes some fatherly advice. The first line of this quote is often used now as a general piece of advice. Polonius is saying that not to get money from a friend or give money from ta friend, because often time s that complicates the relationship. He also says to be true to yourself first, and then you will be true to others. For a man who is cast in a negative light in this play, this is some sound advice.

• Theme: Certainty of thought is what leads to action.
• This theme is supported by the plot because Hamlet takes so long to kill Claudius. He had so many chances to do what the ghost asked, but he keeps prolonging the action. We see that he is uncertain about the ghost, because he questions whether it’s a bad spirit, like from the devil. Then he questions if he can believe the ghost and what it said about how his father died, and tries to figure out of Claudius is guilty by having the players perform that play. We also see that Hamlet is unsure about whether he wants to kill Claudius because he talks about how it’s unfair that his father will end up in heaven, and that he himself will end up in hell because of this revenge.