Summary and Analysis of Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Author

William Shakespeare

Setting

The setting of Hamlet is in Elsinore, Denmark, and is centered around the royal court. Late middle ages.

Characters

Hamlet: Prince of Denmark

Claudius: King of Denmark, and Hamlet's Uncle

Gertrude: the Queen; Hamlet's mother, and recently remarried

The ghost: the late King, Hamlet's father

Polonius: an elderly Councilor of State

Laertes: son of Polonius

Ophelia: daughter of Polonius

Horatio: Hamlet's friend

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: courtiers, and formerly fellow students of Hamlet

Fortinbras: Prince of Norway

Plot

Act One

1. Horatio joins the castle guards to watch for the ghost
2. Laertes requests to leave Denmark; Hamlet requests to leave and is rejected. Horatio tells Hamlet of his father's ghost.
3. Laertes warns Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet. Polonius gives advice to Laertes for his travels and instructs Ophelia to avoid contact with Hamlet.
4. Hamlet and Horatio wait with the guards to see the ghost, Hamlet follows the ghost alone.
5. Ghost tells Hamlet to seek revenge on the King of Denmark. Hamlet tells Horatio and guards and forces them to swear to keep it a secret.

Act Two

1. Polonius sends Reynaldo to spy on Laertes. Ophelia tells Polonius of Hamlet coming into her private chamber in a crazed state. They go to the King to retell the incident.
2. King and Queen ask R & G to spy on Hamlet. News comes of Fortinbras: he plans to use Denmark as passageway to Norway for his army.  Hamlet tells Polonius that his daughter is a prostitute (salty banter). Hamlet knows that R & G are spies. Players come to Elsinore.

Act Three

1. Polonius and King hide and listen to Hamlet and Ophelia's salty conversation to see if he is crazy.
2. Hamlet's play reenacting his father's death. Hamlet calls R & G out for spying.
3. On his way to see his mother, Hamlet almost kills Claudius while praying- but doesn't.
4. Polonius hides behind Queen's curtains. Hamlet accuses her of incest and sin; kills Polonius; forces her to side with him against Claudius.

Act Four

1. Queen tells King of Hamlet's crime.
2. Hamlet is questioned by R & G to where the body is hidden.
3. King sends Hamlet to England
4. On his way to England, Hamlet encounters Fortinbras's army. Self-reflection here.
5. Ophelia goes crazy. Laertes tries to kill Claudius >> conspire together against Hamlet.
6. Deusex machiana: Hamlet returns to Elsinore by way of pirates
7. Laertes and the King plan to kill Hamlet by way of fencing match. Ophelia drowns.

Act Five

1. Hamlet returns to find Ophelia's funeral; Brawl with Laertes leads to declaration of fencing match
2. Hamlet has intimate moment with Horatio; more self-realization. Laertes and Hamlet duel. Queen dies, Laertes and Hamlet wound each other with poisoned sword. Hamlet stabs/poisons/kills the King, Laertes dies. Hamlet dies in Horatio's arms. Fortinbras claims Denmark shortly after. Hamlet is carried off stage in Christ-figure.

*Plot is organized by Act-Scene*

Quotes

"This above all: to thine own self be true" (58) -Polonius

In this scene, Polonius is advising Laertes on how to behave socially throughout his endeavor in Europe. This statement first comes across as, be true to yourself (be yourself), however, what Polonius means is do what you have to do to get ahead and stay ahead. This conversation between the two also shows that Polonius want Laertes to pursue the same career path as him, and that he views his son as an extension of himself.

"To be, or not to be, that is the question" (142) -Hamlet

This is in one of Hamlet's soliloquies and really embodies the contemplation of Hamlet throughout the play. Here, he is specifically contemplating suicide; contemplation of the option between suffering in the favor of god, or freeing one's self from obligation of providence and the real world. Later in the play Hamlet says that Ophelia is brave to commit suicide, moreover, cast aside fears of damnation to take fate into her own hands.

"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath borne me on his back a thousand times." (270) -Hamlet

Yorick is an ill-legitimate surrogate father for Hamlet when he is little.  Hamlet's biological father, the late King of Denmark, was most likely not around much throughout his childhood. Holding Yorick's skull, Hamlet is confronted with the concept death in the graveyard, he no longer hides behind complex speech and is able to intimately talk with Horatio.

Theme

When individuals are given power, subsequently separating themselves from the masses of society and are led to believe they can change their own fate, chaos, madness, and unnatural events ensue. Throughout the play, individual characters come into contact with power. In having this power, they come to the conclusion that they are different than everyone else. They can defy the laws of providence without consequence to achieve their own personal desires or escape from the maddening stress of their personal lives. They fail to remain grounded in their values, and corruption and greed consume them.

When Polonius is dead and Hamlet is vacant from her life, Ophelia is left with nothing. At this point she is weak and delusional and concludes that she has nothing to live for. It is well known that suicide eminently leads to damnation- no exceptions. The father-daughter relationship of guidance and obedience was greatly emphasized during this era, the same ideology linked to one's relationship with God and the order of Providence. In being released from her relationships with the male figures in her life (Polonius and Hamlet), she was also released from her religious obligation, making the option of suicide available. She separates herself from god and societal beliefs, takes her life into her own hands, and makes the situation worse for everyone in the aftermath.

How this applies to today's society could be exemplified through the relationship of a corporate executive to the common population. As the executive rises in power, he is separated from the masses of society and begins to assume his own special privilege and loose his moral values. When there is no church, father figure, or societal morale to stop him from exploiting his workers for higher profits, what is going to stop him. In turn, people lose their jobs and live in poverty as crime runs rampant in the city beneath him.