Plot Summary
A
ghost appears to the night watchmen outside the
royal castle in Elsinore, Denmark. It does
not speak until its third appearance, and then it
only speaks when alone with Hamlet, Prince of
Denmark.
The ghost very much resembles Hamlet’s
recently deceased father, the former King Hamlet –
and he claims to be such – but Hamlet is not sure
whether to trust the apparition or not. The ghost
reveals a harrowing story of murder committed by
Claudius, the King’s brother who promptly assumes
the throne after Hamlet Senior’s death. Swearing
himself to revenge, Hamlet is understandably irate
to learn of his father’s untimely murder, but as
of yet he remains uncertain of the ghost’s
credibility.
He resolves to put on an “antic
disposition” – to act like a madman – in hopes of
confirming Claudius’ guilt or innocence, and then
in order to take necessary action.
Further complicating the situation is
Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, who has remarried
shortly after her husband’s death; Hamlet’s anger
at her haste is only magnified by her (in his
mind) “poor” choice: none other
than his father’s brother, Claudius! That makes
Hamlet both son and nephew to Claudius, the new
King of Denmark, the same party guilty of his
father’s blood. Hamlet
meanwhile becomes romantically involved with
Ophelia, daughter to the King’s advisor named
Polonius.
Both Polonius and his son, Laertes, counsel
Ophelia to resist Hamlet’s advances. She
does.
It
is not long before everyone at court has noticed a
considerable change in Hamlet’s behavior – he is
no longer merely melancholic, but now his words
quite often fail to make sense. The King
and Queen attempt to figure out what ails him by
employing two of his old friends, Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern, as spies. Polonius,
thinking he has discovered the root of Hamlet’s
sorrow, reports to the King and Queen of Hamlet’s
unrequited love for his own daughter,
Ophelia.
Claudius and Gertrude are skeptical, and
after witnessing a cruel exchange between Hamlet
and Ophelia, they are certain Polonius is dead
wrong.
Something else, still unknown, plagues the
young Hamlet. In the
most famous soliloquy of all drama (“To be, or not
to be, that is the question”), Hamlet wonders
whether he is not better off dead; and while he
decides against committing suicide, he wonders
whether he is not better off taking no action at
all.
Eventually he comes to realize it is his
duty to revenge his father, like it or not, and so
he summons up stamina and courage to do the dark
deed.
In the meantime a host of players have
arrived at Elsinore, and they agree to stage a
piece called The Murder of Gonzago
(alternatively called The Mousetrap) at
Hamlet’s behest.
Hamlet is still looking for confirmation of
Claudius’ guilt, for he still hasn’t made a
decision on the ghost’s trustworthiness; he sees
this play-within-the-play as the perfect
opportunity to “catch the conscience of the
King.”
When a scene is played before Claudius that
too strikingly resembles his own murder of Hamlet
Senior, the King flees the performance in
horror.
Hamlet is thereby instantly convinced of
Claudius’ guilt and the ghost’s honesty. His
mother, distraught at what the play has done to
her husband, calls for Hamlet to reprimand
him.
En route to his mother, Hamlet encounters
the King alone, apparently at prayer; Hamlet
decides it is not yet high time to kill the King
because he would have made a final reckoning and
thus go to heaven, not hell. Next
Hamlet and Gertrude talk in her chamber, but
before long they are interrupted by a voice behind
the curtain.
Hoping to strike Claudius dead, Hamlet
stabs blindly with his sword and soon learns he
has instead killed Polonius. He then
continues to converse with his mother, telling her
how shameful and adulterous her marriage to
Claudius is.
As a consequence of Polonius’ murder,
Hamlet is sent away to England by Claudius in the
hope he will recover his wits there. Claudius
also argues it is for Hamlet’s own good, to
protect him against the public outrage over
Polonius’ death, but in fact it is Claudius’ own
attempt at self-defense against a possible
betrayal by Hamlet: Claudius
knows Hamlet knows that Claudius killed his
brother, Hamlet’s father.
Furthermore, Claudius knows he cannot rest
safely until Hamlet is dead, so he ships Hamlet
off with a sealed letter to the King of England
calling for Hamlet’s execution. In the
meantime, Laertes has learned of his father’s
death and returns from his studies in France to
confront the King about it. Claudius
diplomatically redirects Laertes’ rage at Hamlet,
promising that justice (in the form of revenge)
will be done soon enough. Shortly
thereafter the court learns of Ophelia’s
unexpected death by drowning, most likely a
suicide.
Laertes is further incensed. Word then
comes that Hamlet will be arriving back in
Elsinore the following day, a puzzling piece of
news to Claudius because he had assumed Hamlet was
in England awaiting decapitation. Hamlet has
somehow escaped.
Hamlet arrives just in time for Ophelia’s
funeral.
There he scuffles with Laertes, protesting
that he loved Ophelia more than Laertes ever did;
they nearly come to blows before being separated
and sent away. Claudius
calms Laertes, reassuring him that they will soon
be able to implement their plan against
Hamlet.
The previous night they devised a scheme to
secure Hamlet’s death that will involve a fencing
match between Laertes and Hamlet. Laertes
will secretly use a sharp blade instead of a
blunted one – and he will douse the tip with a
poisonous potion – so that he can “accidentally”
scratch Hamlet during the match and thus bring
about his death. The King
concocts a backup plan with a poisonous drink
which, if need be, Hamlet would unknowingly
swallow during a rest in the match.
The next day arrives and the proposed
fencing match is accepted by Hamlet. Everything
proceeds on course until Gertrude, drinking to
Hamlet’s health, inadvertently gulps down the
poison intended for her son. Laertes,
aware all is about to be spoiled, quickly stabs
Hamlet; Hamlet, outraged, manages to get Laertes’
sword and wounds him as well. The Queen,
crying foul play, dies. Laertes
points his finger at Claudius, whom Hamlet then
promptly stabs to death. Hamlet and
Laertes reconcile before their own inevitable
deaths.
Horatio, Hamlet’s close friend, is the only
survivor of this slaughterhouse eight, and so he
must bear testimony of Claudius’ treachery to the
world.
Denmark, now kingless, passes into the
hands of Fortinbras, a valiant soldier from Norway
whom Hamlet greatly admired.
