Hamlet

Plot Events:

-Hamlet encounters the ghost of his father, who informs him that he was murdered by Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius, and asks Hamlet to avenge his death. -Hamlet begins to think of ways to avenge his father and acts very strange and depressed. Gertrude and Claudius spy on him to determine if he is acting strange because he is in love with Ophelia. -Hamlet is very harsh towards Ophelia and Claudius and Gertrude worry about his sanity. -Hamlet has a play staged to appear very similar to his father’s murder to make Claudius feel guilty. -Hamlet sees Claudius praying alone but hesitates to kill him because he fears he will go to heaven if he dies while praying. -Hamlet confronts his mother in her room and stabs Polonius, who he thinks is Claudius, hiding behind a curtain. -Claudius fears Hamlet has lost his mind and is dangerous so he orders that he be sent to England and secretly executed. However, Hamlet switches these orders with ones asking that his shipmates be put to death. -Ophelia goes crazy and drowns herself out of grief for her father's death at the hands of the lover who spurns her feelings (Hamlet). Her brother, Laertes, wants revenge on Hamlet and Claudius helps him get it by rigging a fencing match between Laertes and Hamlet by poisoning Laertes blade. He also puts poison in a goblet and asks Hamlet to drink it. -Hamlet scores the first hit in the match and refuses to drink from the goblet. Gertrude drinks and she dies of the poison. -Laertes then cuts and poisons Hamlet who takes his sword and in turn cuts and poisons Laertes, who then tells Hamlet of the plot and dies. Hamlet stabs Claudius and makes him drink the rest of the poison and then they both die.

Characters: Hamlet- Prince of Denmark, protagonist; 30 years old; son of Queen Gertrude and the late King Hamlet; nephew of present king, Claudius; melanchology, bitter, and cynical; full of hatred for his uncle and mother's romantic interest in each other; reflective and thoughtful; studied at the University of Wittenberg; indecisive and hesitant- his indecisiveness propels the plot; prone to rash and impulsive acts Claudius- King of Denmark; the play's antagonist; the villain of the play; a calculating, ambitious politician, driven by his sexual appetites towards Queen Gertrude Gertrude- Queen of Denmark, Hamlet's mother, recently married to Claudius Pololnius- father of Laertes and Ophelia Horatio- close friend and only loyal friend to Hamlet throughout the novel; after Hamlet's death- Horatio remains alive to tell Hamlet's tale Ophelia- Hamlet's love interest; gives in to Polonius's schemes to spy on Hamlet; she eventually lapses into madness and death- drowns in the river Laertes- Polonius's son and Ophelia's brother; foil to Hamlet

Setting: Elsinore Castle in Denmark, 800s

Key Symbols:

Skull in the Graveyard
The skull marks the physical manifestation of death. After seeing the skull hamlet concludes that everyone meets the same end and returns to the ground as dust.

Flowers Given by Ophelia
When Ophelia loses her mind, she hands a flower to everyone around her and explains the symbolic meaning of each one. Rosemary (remembrance) to an invisible Hamlet; rue (regret) to Gertrude. She also says "There's a daisy (forsaken love)." and continues on to say "I would give you some violets (faithfulness), but they all whithered all when my father died."

Key Images:

Key Themes:
 * There are many uncertainties and things in life that we cannot explain – use of the supernatural.
 * Moral decisions and mental judgment delay action and causes one to rethink situations many times.
 * Taking a lot of time to make decisions or waiting can be detrimental; morality controls us
 * If Hamlet had killed Claudius when he was mourning Hamlets father in the burial chamber, Hamlet, Gertrude, and Leartes would have lived and not been poisoned
 * But Hamlet could not kill him because then Claudius would have gone to heaven not hell
 * The negative effects of remarriage: Like Hamlet, many children who witness the remarriage of one or more of their parents after the death of another, especially when the new marriage is in close relation with the lost parent and takes place relatively soon after the loss of the other parent, show feelings of resentment towards the new parent. Often they do not respect the new parent as an authority figure and begin to feel anger towards their surviving parent who remarried, as is the case with Hamlet. This theme relates to the greater topic of familial relations in //Hamlet//, which touches on other things such as the conflicts between one's parents and lovers (Ophelia and Hamlet vs. Polonius), a son's duty to protect his father's reputation (Hamlet and the ghost of his Father), and a son's duty to protect his mother (Hamlet and Gertrude).

Key Structural Elements: