HamletHamletBy Wm. ShakespeareBy Wm. Shakespeare

CharactersClaudius--King of Denmark, brother to the old king, evil, usurped the throne

Hamlet--Son to the former, and nephew to the present, king of Denmark; believes a ghost and spends the novel trying to get revenge (Act I, scene v, 93-110)

Gertrude--Queen of Denmark, mother of Hamlet; dies by Claudius’ hands

Polonius--suck up; 2nd in command to Claudius; has 2 children: Ophelia and Laertes; is killed by Hamlet (thinks he is Claudius)

Ophelia--Daughter to Polonius; loves Hamlet; commits suicide/dies

Horatio--friend to Hamlet (only one of the 1st 6 ppl who survives the end tragedy)

Laertes--son to Polonius; foil to Hamlet; actually tries to revenge his father

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern--”friends” of Hamlet; were going to take him to England; Hamlet switched out the letters=they got killed instead.

Fortinbras--the Prince of Norway; Hamlet considers him admirable for his courage, pride, and strength; he takes over Denmark following everyone but Horatio’s death

Plot Overview

Act I: Scene i

Horatio joins Francisco & Barnardo on the wall

Ghost appears=looks like the old Hamlet, past king of Denmark

Horatio tries to talk to the ghost

He will tell what he saw to Hamlet

Plot Overview cont.Act I: Scene ii

Claudius--announces that all is well & that the succession was successful for Denmark

Sending an envoy to Norway to have him deal w/ Fortinbras

Laertes--asks permission to leave for France & it is granted

Tells Hamlet to quit mourning: he agrees to not return to college at Wittenburg

Hamlet alone--soliloquy--hates his mother’s hasty marriage to his uncle; learns about the ghost

Plot Overview cont.

Act I, Scene iii:

Ophelia, Laertes, and Polonius: both men give Ophelia advice to not accept Hamlet’s love

Polonius, hypocritically, gives Laertes advice

Act I, Scene iv:

Hamlet, Horatio, Marcellus go to see the ghost

Ghost appears & beckons to Hamlet

Ghost is wearing armor=danger for Denmark

Plot Overview cont.Act I, Scene v:

Ghost ids himself as Hamlet’s father & says that “the serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown” (57)

Hamlet vows to revenge his father

Tells his friends he will act crazy in order to find out the truth & to enact the revenge

Plot Overview cont.Act II, Scene i:

Polonius sends a spy to see what Laertes is doing (advises the spy to spread rumors to find out the truth about Laertes)

Ophelia tells Polonius about Hamlet coming into her rooms half dressed & acting crazy

Ophelia then tells Claudius

Plot Overview cont.Act II, Scene ii:

King & Queen ask Rosencrantz & Guildenstern to talk w/ Hamlet

Claudius agrees to test Polonius’ theory about why Hamlet was mad by eavesdropping on their conversations

Hamlet questioned by lots of ppl including R & G who he accuses of being spies

Actors come & Hamlet asks them to perform a play--he will use this to judge if Claudius is guilty or not

Plot Overview cont.Act III, Scene i:

R & G failed to find out why Hamlet was mad

Ophelia talks w/ Hamlet while Claudius & Polonius are hiding: the “Get thee to a nunnery scene”

Claudius--plans to send Hamlet to England

Polonius asks for Gertrude to talk to Hamlet 1st w/ him eavesdropping

Plot Overview cont.Act III, scene ii:

The play scene

Players reenact Claudius murder scene

Claudius gets upset

Hamlet--goes to speak w/ his mother

Act III, scene iii:

Claudius--R & G will take Hamlet to England

Alone--Claudius wonders if he will ever get forgiveness; Hamlet enters but does not kill him b/c he will not send C to heaven w/ his sins absolved

After Hamlet leaves (dramatic irony), Claudius reveals he cannot pray

Plot Overview cont.Act III, scene iv:

Hamlet & the Queen talk

Polonius makes a noise; gets stabbed by Hamlet

As he leaves he drags out Polonius body expressing his suspicion about his trip to England

Plot Overview cont.Act IV, scene i:

Gertrude tells Claudius that Hamlet killed Polonius

Act IV, scene ii:

Hamlet will not tell R & G so he goes w/ them to Claudius

Act IV, scene iii:

Hamlet reveals where he hid Polonius’ body

Claudius tells him to leave for England for Hamlet’s safety

Alone Claudius tells about his plot to have the King of England kill Hamlet

Plot Overview cont.Act IV, scene iv:

Hamlet encounters Fortinbras’ army on the way to the ship--marching to Poland for a worthless piece of land

Hamlet compares himself & his eagerness to fight for honor over nothing

Act IV, scene iv:

Ophelia has gone mad

Laertes comes him seeking revenge; sees his sister

Claudius insists that he is innocent of Polonius’ death

Plot Overview cont.Act IV, scene vi:

Horatio gets a letter from Hamlet that he is being held by pirates

Act IV, scene vii:

Claudius & Laertes--C did not kill Hamlet b/c Ham is popular

Find out Ham is back in Denmark

Claudius--proposes that Laertes challenge Hamlet to a fight & secretly poison the tip

Gertrude tells them that Ophelia drowned

Plot Overview cont.Act V, scene i:

Hamlet & Horatio watch Ophelia’s burial & fights w/ Laertes over who loved him more

Act V, scene ii:

Hamlet--tells Horatio how he forged letters & got R & G killed

Laertes & Hamlet fight

Queen drinks the cup that C poured for Ham & she is poisoned

Laertes wounds Hamlet; Hamlet wounds Laertes; Laertes reveals that the sword & wine were poisoned

Hamlet forgives Laertes & vice versa

Hamlet prevents Horatio from dying & names Fortinbras his heir & he dies

Fortinbras--enters w/ his army from Poland & orders a proper funeral for Hamlet

Main Ideas

Ideas that characterized the time of Hamlet (i.e. when Shakespeare wrote it)

Humans have potential for development

A time for heroes--ideal Elizabethan man

Women had a lower social status than men

“the great chain of being”--the order of things

People felt that rulers were God’s agents--to kill a king was a horrible crime (think BAD Claudius)

Main Ideas cont.

Formal v. informal address

Thee & thy=informal

Example: Act I, scene ii, 41-45

You & me=formal

Example: Act I, scene ii, 86-90; 110-117

Main Ideas cont.Motifs

The Garden--Serpent

Act I, scene v--Hamlet’s father died from a serpent sting

Allusion--to Garden of Eden

Echoed by Ophelia as she is going mad & hanging the flowers

Gravedigger--Act V, scene i--likens his graveyard to a garden (of dead ppl)

Main Ideas cont.

Motifs cont.

Hamlets desire for death

Act I, scene ii, 129-132

Act III, scene i, 57-68

Act V, scene i, 99-114

Act V, scene ii, 206-219

Main Ideas cont.Motifs cont.

Images of Disease & Decay

Act I, scene ii, 135-137

Act I, scene iv, 92

Act I, scene v, 62-74

Act III, scene ii, 320-326

Act III, scene iv, 64-66

Act IV, scene i, 21-23

Act IV, scene iii, 9-11

Act IV, scene V, 81-83

Main Ideas cont.

Meta-fiction--kind of fiction that comments on the very devices of fiction it employs

ironic & self-reflective

Meta-drama--drama tha calls attention to itself as a play or has occasion to comment on its own actions & devices

Act II, scene ii,

Main Ideas cont.Foil

• Laertes v. Hamlet

• Laertes--instant need for revenge; gathers a small group of followers (so Hamlet could have gotten more b/c he is popular); focuses his energy on action

• Hamlet--eventually goes crazy; focuses his energy on thought (often about death or dying)

• Hamlet v. Fortinbras

• Fortinbras--honor & courage to get what he wants

• Hamlet--through deceit, deception, lack of action

Main Ideas cont.• Themes: (these are just 3 themes...look for more)

• Indecisiveness can lead to one’s downfall.

• Act III, scene iii, lines 74-87

• In order to correct a kingdom’s disorder, the people of power will need to other be changed or destroyed.

• Following along w/ the idea of the great order of being

• In death, all people are equal.

• Act V, scene i, lines 89-114; 186-219

Main Ideas cont.• Nunnery Scene=nunnery as a convent v.

nunnery as a brothel (all women are prostitutes & corrupt men)

• Allusion to Nero

• Nero’s mother married Claudius

• Claudius adopted Nero

• Nero killed his own mother after she poisoned Claudius

Main Ideas cont.• Play w/in the play=meta-drama; allows Hamlet

to see Claudius’ guilt

• Indecisive=Hamlet still does not act

• Dramatic irony=Claudius knows that Hamlet could easily kill him b/c the ppl love him

• paradox of salvation that Claudius feels trapped in

• Cannot repent of his sin (murdering the old king) w/o giving up what he as gained as a result of that sin (the crown and his wife)

Main Ideas cont.• Prose scenes=sense of humor/word play b/t characters & w/in characters’

conversations

• Ending of the play--tragedy (still will have some comedy in it--remember a tragedy is a comedy w/o the happy ending)

• something was rotten in the state of Denmark (meaning the upper class/king)

• Act I, scene v, 193-194

• Denmark=a society in transition

• Act I, scene v, 193-194

• ghost in purgatory (Catholic) while Hamlet goes to Wittenburg (Protestant)

• Corrupt society--Claudius’ marriage to Gertrude & his assuming the throne (I, ii, 1-17)

• Everyone & everything from the old order mst be destroyed & replaced

• Fortinbras will do this

Main Ideas cont.• Fortinbras delivering the last lines

• Validates Hamlet’s prediction that Fortinbras will take the throne

• Hamlet spoke in favor of him

• Shows his legitimate claim to the throne & how he will assume it once Hamlet is properly buried