SUMMARY
In the cold dawn atop Elsinore’s ramparts, sentinels spot the ghost of Denmark’s former king. Horatio, skeptical at first, summons Prince Hamlet to confirm the specter’s identity. When the ghost appears again, it beckons Hamlet to follow and reveal its message. Alone at last, Hamlet listens as the specter accuses his brother Claudius of foul play. The ghost claims Claudius poured poison into his ear, killing him to seize both crown and queen.
Shaken to his core, Hamlet swears to remember and avenge his father’s death. He returns inside the castle, concealing his turmoil beneath a sudden cloak of madness. Claudius and Gertrude watch with growing concern as Hamlet’s odd behavior intensifies. Polonius, the king’s advisor, attributes it to unrequited love for Ophelia, Polonius’s own daughter. Meanwhile, Hamlet privately wrestles with doubt, wondering if the ghost spoke truth or tricked him.
Polonius dispatches Reynaldo to spy on his son Laertes in Paris, illustrating the court’s web of surveillance. Ophelia dutifully hands Hamlet back his letters and tokens of affection, heaving with heartbreak. Her obedience fuels Polonius’s conclusion: Hamlet’s madness springs from love’s rejection. Yet Hamlet’s erratic wit and veiled threats hint at darker motives. He rails at his mother in a private conversation, accusing her of hasty remarriage and moral weakness.
To test Claudius’s guilt, Hamlet stages a traveling troupe’s performance. He tweaks the script so it mirrors the ghost’s account of regicide. Hidden behind the tapestry, he and Horatio watch Claudius’s reaction. When the actor pours a vial to stage-poison a king, Claudius springs up and flees the hall. Hamlet breathes relief. The mirror confirms the murderer’s conscience.
Seizing his moment, Hamlet confronts Gertrude in her chamber. He lashes out at her complicity, striking the errant Polonius hiding behind a curtain. A sudden dagger thrust silences the old counselor forever. Horror grips Hamlet when he recognizes his victim. He drags the body from the room, leaving Gertrude shaken and Claudius plotting swift revenge.
Claudius dispatches Hamlet to England under the guise of diplomacy. Unbeknownst to Hamlet, he carries sealed orders for the king of England to execute him immediately. Hamlet sails off, pondering life’s brevity as he reads the letter. He nearly laments his mother’s moral haste more than his own fate. Fate, however, has other plans.
En route, Hamlet uncovers the deadly message and cleverly rewrites the orders. He arranges for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, his old schoolmates, to meet their doom instead. Then, he steers the ship back to Denmark under cover of night. England will never learn of Hamlet’s return.
Back in Elsinore, grief and madness reign. Ophelia, denied closure with Hamlet, slips into insanity. She wanders the castle grounds, singing snatches of old ballads and handing out flowers that hint at betrayal and death. Laertes storms home, incensed at his father’s murder and sister’s suffering. Claudius sees an opportunity: he will use Laertes’s fury to ensnare Hamlet.
At Ophelia’s funeral, Laertes leaps into her grave, crying her name. Hamlet arrives unannounced, shocked by the depth of her despair. The two almost duel in the muddy pit. Friends pull them apart. The moment, raw and unguarded, lays bare Laertes’s rage and Hamlet’s remorse. Ophelia’s body sinks into the earth.
In the great hall, Claudius and Laertes finalize a deadly scheme. They will stage a friendly fencing match between Hamlet and Laertes. One tip of Laertes’s foil will bear a sharpened point, and Claudius will offer Hamlet a poisoned cup should honor fail. Every detail promises Hamlet’s undoing.
The match begins with polite exchanges and applause from the court. Hamlet bests Laertes in the first bout, prompting Claudius to offer a drink. Hamlet hesitates, then drinks. Gertrude suddenly collapses, struck by poison meant for her son. Horror spreads through the hall.
Laertes wounds Hamlet with the poisoned blade in the next exchange. Their swords tangle, and Hamlet seizes Laertes’s weapon to return the blow. They each taste their own doom as the poison does its work. Laertes, gasping with regret, confesses the plot. He forgives Hamlet before slipping into death.
Hamlet, mortally wounded, confronts Claudius one last time. In a final act of vengeance, he stabs the king and forces him to drink the poisoned wine. Claudius screams and collapses. With his last breath, Hamlet names Fortinbras of Norway as Denmark’s rightful heir. He implores Horatio to tell the true story, then sinks to the floor.
Fortinbras arrives to a grim tableau. He pauses at the corpses of his noble rival and the fallen royal family. Horatio kneels beside the dying prince, swearing he will preserve Hamlet’s memory. Fortinbras claims the crown with solemn dignity and orders a military funeral. The curtain falls on Denmark’s tragic lament.
So ends the tale of Hamlet, prince of thought and vengeance. Betrayal stalks every corridor, and innocence perishes in the name of duty. Yet from the chaos emerges a plea for truth’s triumph over corruption. Horatio’s promise ensures that tardy reckoning may still honor Hamlet’s name in ages to come.
DETAILED SUMMARY
Plot Summary
1. The Ghost’s Vigil
Late at night on the battlements of Elsinore Castle, guards witness the spectral figure of King Hamlet, dead these past months. His ominous presence unsettles all who see him. Horatio, a scholar and friend to Prince Hamlet, resolves to inform the prince of this uncanny sight.
Prince Hamlet wrestles with grief at his father’s death and disgust at his mother’s swift remarriage to his uncle Claudius. The news of a ghost claiming to bear urgent news disturbs him further. He vows to confront this apparition.
When the ghost appears to Hamlet alone, it reveals that Claudius murdered him by pouring poison in his ear. The specter demands that Hamlet avenge this foul and unnatural crime. Torn between duty and doubt, Hamlet swears to remember and obey.
Alone, Hamlet broods over the burden placed upon him. He laments that his mind is a “weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable” thing. He resolves to feign madness as he seeks proof of Claudius’s guilt and prepares for retribution.
2. Feigned Folly
To conceal his quest for truth, Hamlet adopts an “antic disposition.” He behaves erratically before Ophelia, Polonius, and Claudius, dropping cryptic hints of his wrath. Courtiers whisper that the prince has gone mad with grief.
Polonius, the king’s verbose counselor, concludes that unrequited love for Ophelia drives Hamlet’s odd behavior. Polonius reports to Claudius and Gertrude, who decide to spy on Hamlet. Ophelia, torn between duty and love, obeys her father’s command to avoid Hamlet.
Hamlet’s witty wordplay confounds the court. He disparages Polonius as a “fishmonger” and laments Ophelia’s obedience. Yet moments of clarity reveal his deep anguish and intelligence. Claudius fears the prince’s unstable mind could threaten his own power.
Meanwhile, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, old friends of Hamlet, arrive at court. Claudius and Gertrude enlist them to discover the cause of Hamlet’s madness. Hamlet greets them warmly but soon deduces their mission. He challenges their loyalty and accuses them of being spies.
3. The Mousetrap
To catch the king’s conscience, Hamlet commissions a traveling troupe to perform The Murder of Gonzago. He instructs them to add lines mirroring his father’s poisoning. Claudius watches intently as actors depict the pouring of poison into a sleeping monarch’s ear.
During the play’s pivotal scene, Claudius rises, distraught, and abruptly ends the performance. Hamlet exults inwardly, convinced of his uncle’s guilt. He interprets the king’s reaction as proof that the ghost spoke truth.
Claudius, alarmed by Hamlet’s dangerous insights, calls for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He privately sends Hamlet to England, ostensibly for his health but actually to rid himself of the prince.
Before departing, Hamlet confronts his mother in her private chamber. He reproaches her for her hasty remarriage and for betraying his father. In Polonius’s mistaken defense, Hamlet stabs and kills the counselor lurking behind the arras.
4. Madness and Melancholy
Ophelia, devastated by her father’s death and Hamlet’s cruelty, slips into unconscious grief. She wanders the castle grounds singing snatches of sorrowful songs. Her final madness contrasts sharply with Hamlet’s cunning madness.
Laertes returns from France enraged by Polonius’s murder. Claudius manipulates his fury, convincing Laertes to duel Hamlet with a poisoned blade. They agree that if Hamlet wins, Laertes will subtly apply poison to the tip of his sword.
Claudius readies a poisoned cup as a backup. Meanwhile, Gertrude remains oblivious to the king’s plots but grows increasingly uneasy about the palace’s unrest.
Ophelia’s madness culminates in her death by drowning. Townsfolk debate whether she gently slipped under water or plunged herself in willful madness. Her tragic end exemplifies the tragic cost of Claudius’s crimes.
5. The Duel and the Denouement
Hamlet returns unexpectedly from England after discovering Claudius’s plot to have him executed there. He foils Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s mission by redirecting their letters ordering his death, condemning them instead.
At Elsinore, Laertes challenges Hamlet to the arranged duel. The court gathers. During the match, Hamlet excels but notices Laertes’s blade is sharper than expected. Gertrude drinks from the poisoned cup meant for Hamlet and collapses.
In the mêlée, Hamlet and Laertes wound each other with the poisoned sword. Laertes, dying, confesses Claudius’s plot. Hamlet stabs Claudius with the poisoned blade and forces him to drink from the cup. The king dies writhing.
Hamlet, mortally wounded, names Fortinbras of Norway as his successor. He urges Horatio to tell his story truthfully. As he breathes his last, Fortinbras arrives to claim the crown. The young soldier orders a military funeral for Hamlet, closing the tragic tale.
Characters
1. Prince Hamlet (Protagonist)
“To be, or not to be: that is the question.”
Hamlet, the melancholic prince of Denmark, bears a profound sense of duty and moral integrity. He wrestles with grief at his father’s death and disgust at his mother’s swift remarriage. His intellect fuels both his wit and his paralysis, as he vacillates between action and reflection.
To conceal his quest for truth, Hamlet feigns madness. His behavior confounds the court and isolates him from those he loves. Beneath the guise of lunacy, he probes Claudius’s guilt through the Mousetrap play. Ultimately, Hamlet’s commitment to justice drives him into a fatal confrontation.
Quote: “To be, or not to be: that is the question.”
2. King Claudius (Antagonist)
“O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven.”
Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle and new king, seizes the crown through fratricide. He projects a veneer of statesmanship yet harbors guilt and paranoia. He balances politicking with domestic duties, all while fearing Hamlet’s suspicions.
Claudius employs spies and plots poison-laced violence to secure his reign. His confession scene reveals that he cannot pray sincerely, trapped by his ambition. He dies by the very poisons he prepared for Hamlet.
Quote: “O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven.”
3. Queen Gertrude (Supporting character)
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, moves swiftly from mourning to remarriage. She craves harmony but unwittingly abets Claudius’s scheme. Her love for Hamlet collides with her loyalty to her new husband.
Gertrude’s fatal error arrives when she toasts Hamlet with the poisoned cup. She dies unaware of her husband’s treachery. Her tragic end underscores the collateral damage of Claudius’s ambition.
Quote: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
4. Ophelia (Key supporting character)
“I shall obey, my lord.”
Ophelia, Polonius’s daughter and Hamlet’s love interest, embodies innocence destroyed by courtly intrigue. She obeys her father’s commands, distancing herself from Hamlet and deepening his anguish.
Ophelia’s descent into madness follows her father’s murder and Hamlet’s cruelty. Her songs and flowers speak of lost love and despair. Her death by drowning remains ambiguous—accident or suicide.
Quote: “I shall obey, my lord.”
5. Polonius (Key supporting character)
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”
Polonius, the king’s long-winded counselor, mistakes Hamlet’s feigned madness for lovesickness. He spies on Hamlet and arranges Ophelia’s rejection. His pride provokes his downfall.
Hiding behind arras to eavesdrop on Gertrude, Polonius meets his end by Hamlet’s rash sword. His death catalyzes Laertes’s vengeance and escalates the play’s tragic momentum.
Quote: “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”
Themes Analysis
1. Revenge and Justice
At its core, Hamlet wrestles with vengeance and moral integrity. The ghost demands retribution, but Hamlet hesitates, pondering the righteousness of taking a life. His famous soliloquies probe the human cost of revenge.
Claudius achieves his goals through murder yet cannot escape guilt. His confession reveals that earthly power yields no true peace. The play questions whether justice demands blood vengeance or divine judgment.
Ultimately, Hamlet dies in the act of punishing evil, yet the cycle of violence spares no one. Shakespeare leaves us uncertain: is any revenge worth such ruin?
2. Madness—Real and Feigned
Hamlet’s “antic disposition” blurs the line between sanity and madness. He crafts madness as a mask, yet his grief and anger tip him toward genuine instability. His erratic speeches reveal deep turmoil.
Ophelia’s madness emerges from genuine grief. Her songs and garlands speak raw emotion. In contrast to Hamlet’s calculated folly, her descent shows how grief shatters innocence without recourse.
Madness drives action and inaction alike. It masks schemes but also unmasks truth. Shakespeare contrasts calculated mental play with genuine breakdown to explore the fragile human mind.
3. Mortality and the Afterlife
From the ghost’s appearance to Yorick’s skull, Hamlet faces death at every turn. He ponders “what dreams may come” after death, weighing fear of the unknown against life’s suffering.
The graveyard scene—Hamlet holding Yorick’s skull—forces a brutal reckoning with mortality. Death’s inevitability humbles princes and fools alike. Shakespeare challenges viewers to accept death’s silence.
This theme permeates every act, as characters live under the shadow of past and impending deaths. The play asks whether human actions endure beyond the grave.
Key Plot Devices
1. The Ghost of King Hamlet
The ghost catalyzes the entire drama, revealing the truth of regicide. Its demand for vengeance haunts Hamlet, driving him to feign madness. Yet the ghost remains an ambiguous figure—is it a spirit of vengeance or a devil tempting Hamlet?
This device forces characters into moral reckonings. Claudius’s guilt surfaces. Hamlet’s paralysis and introspection spring from the ghost’s command. The specter embodies duty’s supernatural weight, shaping every act.
2. The Play-within-a-Play
Hamlet’s staging of The Murder of Gonzago serves as both test and confession. By mirroring the king’s crime, it catches Claudius in a moment of self-revelation. His abrupt departure confirms Hamlet’s suspicions.
This device also thematizes theatre’s power to reflect and expose reality. It blurs life and art, showing that drama can unmask truth more effectively than direct accusation. Shakespeare thus comments on performance as a form of probing consciousness.
3. Poison
Poison operates as both literal murder weapon and metaphor for moral corruption. Claudius’s unseen poison in the ear kills King Hamlet; the act speaks to stealth and deceit. Later, Laertes’s poisoned sword and the cup ensure that sin returns to its source.
Ending in mutual poisonings, this device shows that treachery consumes its authors. Poison’s slow, hidden workings parallel the gradual unveiling of guilt. Ultimately, it underscores the tragic costs of ambition and revenge.