Blog #20: Summary of "Hamlet"

Hamlet: Summary

Author: William Shakespeare

Setting: Mostly set in and around the castle of Elsinore in Denmark. Some scenes include the queen's bedroom, the common area, outside the castle (grave, dock). Although it seems very obscure as to where most of the scenes are occurring.

Plot: After the mysterious death of Old King Hamlet, his son Hamlet comes back to Denmark to mourn the death of his father and see the marriage of his mother to his uncle. In the first scene the guards are set to prove to Horatio that there is a ghost haunting the castle. Once Horatio arrives, the ghost appears but does not speak or make any contact. Horatio and the guards then decide to tell Hamlet to come see the ghost since they believe that it could be his father. Once Hamlet returns to Denmark it clear that his is still mourning the death of his father and disgusted at the idea of his mom marrying his uncle. At the same time Laertes is preparing to leave Denmark for France and instructs Ophelia (who is romantically involved with Hamlet) to be careful with him and not to trust him. Polonius gives Laertes some (good?) fatherly advice and sends Laertes on his way. Polonius then goes back to Ophelia and begins to plot how to get Ophelia and Hamlet married. Later on, Hamlet goes out to see the ghost. Once there the ghost instructs him to follow and they talk. The ghost (who is old King Hamlet) tells Hamlet that it was Cladius that poisoned him and that Hamlet must take revenge on him. Once the ghost leaves Hamlet decides that he is going to fake madness and that Horatio should not tell anyone of his plan. Not sure whether or not to believe the ghost Hamlet takes advantages of some traveling actors and plots to have them recreate the incident with the King and Queen watching to see their reaction to the actions. With Hamlet increased madness becoming a concern, Cladius plots on how and why this is the case. Polonius believes it is due to his love for Ophelia, the Queen because of his lost father, and many more ideas. Cladius brings back Rosencratz and Guildenstern to get to the bottom of his madness. When this doesn't work Ophelia is used to see if she is the root of his madness. Coming to now conclusion as to why Hamlet is mad, all of the characters head to the play and witness the murder of Old Hamlet acted out. Cladius, in rage, storms out and Hamlet has determined that he is guilty. The rest of the play focuses on Hamlet fighting within himself about how/if he should kill Cladius and Cladius plotting to take out Hamlet. In a conversation with his mom Hamlet mistakes Polonius for Cladius and kills him. This seemingly causes Ophelia to go crazy since she has lost her father, Hamlet, and her brother is away. Hearing this Laertes comes back and is set to seek revenge on who ever killed his father. This set the scene for the last act of the play. After Ophelia drowns (suicide?), Laertes is ready to make Hamlet pay for his actions. He and Cladius hatch a plan to kill him in a fencing match. Once Hamlet agrees to fight, Laertes and Hamlet meet in the castle to duel. With the sword unbuttoned and laced with poison and poison wine as a back-up the stage is set for Hamlet to die. After winning the first 2 rounds, Hamlet is clipped with Laertes poisoned sword, which he then drops. Hamlet hits Laertes with the poisoned sword, condemning them both to death. Gertrude drinks the poison wine and dies. As she is dying Laertes tells the truth and Hamlet kills the King. Once Laertes dies, Hamlet dies shortly after in the arms of Horatio. Fortinbras comes just in time to claim the throne.

Significant Characters:

-Hamlet- Main character of the play, fakes madness in order to seek revenge, questions whether or not life is worth it, possibly loves Ophelia, idolizes father, indecisive, has several different personalities, struggles with the loss of his father, finds Elsinore to be poison, can be compared to Jesus Christ.

-Horatio- moral compass of the play, Hamlet's right hand man, pure, untouched my Elsinore's poison, wants the best for everyone, wants to kill himself with Hamlet, audiences believes it is Horatio says it.

-Ophelia- In love with Hamlet, possibly pregnant, unsure whether see is pure and innocent or deceiving and cunning, commits suicide after loss of father, goes crazy or maybe fakes the madness, used as a ploy for Polonius wanting the throne.

-Laertes- Leaves at the beginning of the play, comes back after father is killed and sister goes crazy, wants revenge with Cladius, comes to regret his decision, seems like a relatively level-headed person (in comparison).

-Cladius- Kills his brother in order to get the throne and his wife, enjoys the pleasures of being king that gets ruined when Hamlet comes back, wants to get rid of Hamlet but doesn't know how, infatuated with Gertrude, comparison to a serpent (devil reference).

-Gertrude- Wife of Old Hamlet and Cladius, Hamlet's mom, idealistic, doesn't see the wrong in Elsinore, possible kills herself at the end, possibly regrets her actions toward the end of this play, maybe tries to right the wrong with her son.

-Old Hamlet- Killed by Cladius, comes back as a ghost to have Hamlet get revenge, loved by his people, envied by his brother, idealized by his son.

-Polonius- Wants the throne, exploits his daughter to get what he wants, killed in the middle of one of his plans, his death is a spark in the plan for the final scene.

Narrative Voice: None, this is a play

Author's Style: Heavy use of figurative language, details, diction, and syntax. Syntax was used to show the difference in tone between speakers. More formal is shown through iambic pentameter and heroic couplets, while less formal is shown through long and lengthy prose. Long and lengthy prose are sections that usually contain majority details and set up most of the background story. Other techniques include similes, metaphors, enjambment, end-stopped lines, diacope, parallelism, and symbolism. Since this a play, no specific point of view is created. The tone is created through the syntax along with the diction used to create the scene for the reader. Symbolism and motifs are also very important to Shakespeare's style. Each are used to create a sense of ambiguity and leaves room for multiple interpretations of the text. One motif commonly found is the question of if we are all just puppets in God's play or if we actually have the ability to control our destiny. 

Quotes:

-Quote 1- "To be or not to be, that is the question" This quote essentially sums up the theme of this play. Hear Hamlet is questioning whether or not living is actually worth is. This line shows Hamlet's true feelings and shapes his actions throughout the rest of the play. Before now Hamlet had timidly figuring out what to do but after this Hamlet realizes that he needs to make a move and prove that he can make his life worth it and control his own fate. After battling internally, the audience is finally shown how Hamlet is truly feeling.
-Quote 2- "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" This quote at the beginning of the play sets the stage and scenary for the play. Knowing that something is wrong with Denmark, the audience is left to find out what exactly is wrong and how exactly it can be fixed. In the end we learn that everyone must die in order for Denmark to be free. This quote foreshadows that evil that is Denmark and the actions that the characters take to "fix" it.

Themes: One theme found in this play is the idea that our fate may either predetermined and that we are all just players in God's game or that we have control over what happens in our lives.

Support of Theme: Support of this theme is found in many different ways. Especially through the character of Hamlet. He frequently himself questions whether or not he should do anything because of God's plan. In Hamlet's "to be or not to be" speech Hamlet questions the point of our being if we don't have any say in what we do. This idea is further elaborated right before the end fight scene. The fight itself is a symbol of the theme in that although Hamlet did not plan to kill Cladius at the time his fate was sealed and both were killed. This end scene shows how the first part of the theme is right, that fate can't be controlled and how the fate of Elsinore did not lie in the hands of any single character to change their fate.