Hamlet

      William Shakespeare: Famous English  playwright, actor, and poet responsible for numerous plays, sonnets, and poems. His most  recognized plays perhaps are Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and Macbeth. Shakespeare's works are translated in hundreds of languages and to this day are embraced and interpreted by a number of cultures.

Characters:

Hamlet: The play's protagonist and also the Prince of Denmark. Hamlet is about 30 years old and is the son of Old Hamlet(dead) and Queen Gertrude. He struggles with  depression, and has a bitter attitude toward life. His hatred for  King Claudius stems from the mystery of his father's death-later discovered to be a murder by the King's hand-and the betraying marriage of  his mother Gertrude to Claudius. Throughout the play young Hamlet displays moments of thoughtfulness, but these  moments are quickly followed by varying emotions where Hamlet wars with himself and the  powers around him that succeed to initiate his impulsive and indecisive sides.

Claudius: A power hungry politician who murders his brother Old Hamlet in order to seat himself on the throne of Denmark and to at long last feed his desire to marry Old Hamlet's beautiful wife Gertrude. As the play's antagonist, Claudius works as the puppet handler in the play to see his demands completed. Although a strong king, Claudius expertly hides his true from those close to him but in the end, his plotting and scheming get the better of him.

Gertrude: The Queen of Denmark, who blindly seeks love and affection from Claudius and is unaware of his true nature. In fact one might say that her weak nature prevents her from being overly concerned with the truth. But in a more positive light , Gertrude truly loves her son and in the end when all the ugly truth has been bared, she chooses her Hamlet.

Polonius: The Lord Chamberlain of Claudius’s court and the father of Ophelia and Laertes. He is conniving and has complete authority over his children, which does not stop him from being an opinionated old man who must know everything. 

Horatio: Hamlet's closest friend and confident. Horatio is loyal and is the one survivor her remains after the bloody battle to retell Hamlet's story.

Ophelia: Hamlet's scorned lover. She is a young beauty thought to be innocent,but her obedience to her father and brother lead her to spying on Hamlet, which then leads to his rejection of her love and the love he claims he never felt for her. Her innocence is shattered and further disintegrates after the death of her father, which then leads to her own death by drowning.

Laertes: Hamlet's foil and the son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia. Laertes spends most of his time in France but rushes home in a mad fit after hearing about the death of his father. Laertes teams up with Claudius and together they plot to rid Denmark of Hamlet.

Fortinbras: Possibly another foil for Hamlet. Fortinbras is the Prince of Norway and wishes to avenge his father's honor(killed by Old Hamlet) and to claim the lands of Denmark from young Hamlet.

The Ghost: Claims to be the spirit of Hamlet's dead father. He confesses with great sadness that the murderer is Claudius and urges Hamlet to man up and avenge his death. But is the spirit heaven or hell bound? This is a question that Hamlet struggles to answer as he does not A.Want to be deceived by the devil and B. Leave a murderer roaming free.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: Hamlet's "friends" from Wittenberg, who are summoned by King Claudius and Queen Gertrude to spy on Hamlet and learn the reasons for his odd behaviors.

Setting: Denmark but more closely within the castle of Elsinore around the 13th century.

Key Events/Plot Summary(from the collaborative review plus motifs)

• Act 1
• Scene 1
• Horatio is told that the Ghost of the old king of Denmark, Hamlet, has been seen
• Horatio sees the Ghost and attempts to talk to it, but it does not answer Horatio.
• King Hamlet led a conquest against old Fortinbras

• Scene 2
• Claudius is introduced and makes a speech about his marriage and how young Fortinbras demands the lands taken by King Hamlet. Claudius sends ambassadors to stop an attack.
• Laertes is given leave to go to France, with permission of Polonius.
• Hamlet is introduced and is mourning his father, Claudius and Gertrude tell him to get over his father’s death.
• Hamlet is not given permission to leave and go back to Wittenberg.
• Hamlet is forced to stay in Denmark. He is upset about his mother’s marriage to his uncle. (Took place “within a month”)
• Horatio and friends tell Hamlet about the Ghost and he agrees to join them.
• Scene 3/4/5
• Laertes (leaving for France) warns Ophelia not to fall for Hamlet and not to trust him.
• Polonius says the same thing and orders her not to see Hamlet.
• Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus are visited by the Ghost.
• The Ghost wants to only speak to Hamlet.
• The Ghost tells Hamlet that he was murdered by Claudius. The Ghost tells Hamlet to avenge his murder.
• Hamlet makes his friends swear to secrecy.
• Act 2
• Scene 1
• Polonius does not trust Laertes in France and sends someone there.
• Ophelia was visited by Hamlet, who seemed crazy.
• Polonius thinks that Hamlet is crazy because Ophelia will not see him.
• Scene 2
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent to spy on Hamlet by Gertrude and Claudius.
• Polonius tells Claudius that Hamlet is crazy with love for Ophelia. They go to spy on Hamlet.
• Hamlet knows that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are spying for Claudius.
• Hamlet decides to prove his uncle’s guilt by staging a play, The Murder of Gonzago.
• Act 3
• Scene 1-To Be or Not To Be
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern cannot find why Hamlet is mad.
• Polonius makes Ophelia to find out about Hamlet’s madness and goes to spy with Claudius.
• Hamlet sees Ophelia and is nice, but then he changes his attitude.
• Hamlet says he never loved her.
• After Hamlet leaves Claudius does not think that love is the cause of his madness. He decides to send Hamlet to England.
• Polonius says not to and wait until Gertrude talks to him.
• Scene 2
• The play occurs. Hamlet and Horatio watch for a reaction from Claudius.
• The Player King is killed by having poison poured in his ear.
• Claudius gets upset and leaves.
• Hamlet is asked to go see Gertrude.
• Scene 3
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are ordered to take Hamlet to England.
• Polonius plans to spy on Hamlet and Gertrude.
• Claudius starts to pray and Hamlet wants to kill him there, but cannot because then Claudius would go to Heaven.
• Scene 4
• Polonius hides behind a tapestry in Gertrude’s room.
• Hamlet enters and scares Gertrude, who calls for help. Polonius then calls for help.
• Hamlet, thinking that Polonius is Claudius, stabs the tapestry.
• Hamlet is then upset at Gertrude for marrying Claudius, when the Ghost appears and he is the only one to see. Gertrude thinks he is mad.
• The Ghost reminds Hamlet to avenge King Hamlet’s death.
• Act 4
• Gertrude tells Claudius that Polonius is dead. Claudius sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find Hamlet, and the body.
• Hamlet does not say where he put the body.
• Claudius orders Hamlet to leave immediately for England. Claudius tells the audience he plans to have Hamlet killed in England.
• Hamlet sees Fortinbras and his army.

• Act 5
• Scene 1
• Two clowns (gravediggers) dig up poor Yorick’s bones to make room for Ophelia.
• Scene 2
• Hamlet has his “fall of the sparrow” speech.
• He then duels with Laertes, is mortally wounded, kills Claudius, then relinquishes his control to Fortinbras

Other Important Areas

The play functions through the dialogue of the characters through prose. Point of View is told more through the emotions the play's protagonist- Hamlet, that is when Hamlet is riled up over some issue or when he is dealing with a fit of despair. Hamlet has two different sides, his sane and mad sides. Whenever he is around Horatio, Hamlet is quite honest and comfortable allowing his diction to lose some of it's pomposity and become more fluid/ easily comprehensible(colloquial) for readers. When Hamlet is graced with the company of other members of the court, his word choice flows in a maddeningly formal way and this is further helped with syntax techniques such as sentence length, parallelism, and punctuation, which all help him prove his madness as his talk often contains meaninglessness or insults. Informal diction is also added in the play with the grave diggers to add a bit of comedy to a tragic situation. The tone of the play shifts depending on the emotions of Hamlet. It is at times disparaging, hopeful, incensed, friendly, tearful, pained, and humorous(low-comedy with the grave diggers). Imagery throughout this text is abundant, more so when the passing of a character needs to be described(Old Hamlet-play and Ophelia). But, most of the lines in Hamlet are descriptive and pleasing to the imagination.

Symbols:

Yorick's skull-Hamlet's realization that in death we are the same. No status.No rich existence in death. 

Our skin decomposes and earthly positions no longer matter. With the skull Hamlet is able to lose his  

ignorance and see death in it's reality.

Flowers-Distribution of flowers to different characters by Ophelia and they symbolize her sadness.  
rosemary-remembrance, pansies-thoughts,fennel-flattery,columbine-unfaithfulness, daisy-  
innocence,violets-faithfulness.

Poison-The state of corruption in Denmark brought on by Claudius allowing for the secluded, self-  
focused, and suspicious world of Elsinore.

The Ghost-Either heaven or hell sent symbolizes revenge

Memorable Quotes:

" Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."(1.4 67)
 
Speaks of the corrupted state of Denmark as a whole. This self-serving and sick state influences the actions of Hamlet and identifies how unhealthy circumstances around us can influence our ways of thinking to the point where the corrupted pieces start to be identified.

To be or not to be- that is the question
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And, by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep-
No more-and by a sleep to say we end. (3.1 64-69)

Addresses Hamlet's contemplation of suicide in a painful world. As humans we experience different levels of grief and react individually of each other, but as a whole we abide by moral codes and the rightness of suicide stumps us even when we too are in the same depressive boat. To be brave, living yet suffering for a period or to be free, dead, and considered weak. The truth is hard to come by.

Motifs(from the collaborative review):

• Ambiguity
• Insularity

• Incest
• Identity
• Providence
• Revenge
• Control
• Religion
• Duality (Natural vs. Unnatural, identity vs. public appearance, father & son, light vs. day, pure vs. impure)
• Death
• Surveillance
• Misogyny
• Ears & hearing
• Synecdoche
• Fortune/luck
• Lack of trust
• Mystery of death- afterlife
• Nation as a poisoned body
• Putting on persons- inner vs. outer self
• Lies
• Groups of 3
• Madness

Theme:

 Shakespeare’s Hamlet cautions that self doubt paired with moral corruption can lead to the subversion of providence.

With the help of setting, plot, characters, and symbolism:

 

The area in which the play is targeted is Denmark.Denmark, defiled Denmark. Strange occurrences of the spiritual world and plenty of suspicion in this region lead to Hamlet's self doubt and eventual determination that he is the all powerful slayer. The individuals around him, more specifically King Claudius and the Ghost , play a big hand in planting the seeds of rage and self-doubt.For instance, King Claudius with his use of poison. The poison of his mouth and of his actions against Old Hamlet that lead to a dishonest court. And the Ghost as the symbol of revenge with his accusations against Claudius that call on Hamlet to murder. Because of these issues, Hamlet must battle internally to discover the truth and the sign from God that gives him the okay to eliminate Claudius without overstepping himself. As the plot progresses, it is evident within the plot that Hamlet continues to struggle with self-doubt because although he speaks of action, he fails in his hesitation to fulfill the Ghost's request. Once the first kill is accomplished though, Hamlet's act of madness has him sent away and then all too soon Hamlet has Rosencrantz and Guildenstern killed(their betrayal points back to Claudius), which was far from the original plan to kill one man. And in conclusion, Hamlet has subverted providence for a brief period of time.