Hamlet Summary and Analysis

AUTHOR 

Hamlet was written by an William Shakespeare: an English poet and playwright from the 16^th Century often regarded as the greatest writer in the English language. His plays are famous for ending in tragedy.  There are often subliminal relationships among men or women as Shakespeare was rumored to be bisexual himself. 

SETTING

Elsinore: court of Denmark in the 11th -12th century area during the late medieval period. The setting is described as dark, bleak, not very family friendly.  The setting reflects the idea that Elsinore is a place of lies, gossip and deception.   

PLOT 

The story begins with Horatio and several castle guards seeing the ghost of Old Hamlet, the late King of Denmark. King Claudius had previously killed his brother known as Hamlet, and married his wife, Gertrude. Horatio tells Hamlet of the ghost that he has seen which leads Hamlet to seek out his father’s ghost in the the night. Old Hamlet's ghost tells him about how he was murdered by Claudius and instructs him to get revenge. This is the beginning of Hamlet’s madness and makes him obsessed with killing Claudius. Hamlet decides to “fake” madness and makes his good friend Horatio sware to tell no one of his plan. Ophelia, Hamlet’s lover, is stuck between Hamlet who is going crazy and her father Polonius who recently discovered their romance together. As Ophelia's brother Laertes goes back to school in France, Polonius tells the Queen and King all about the romance by reading Ophelia’s letters to Hamlet out loud to the court. The King and Queen have also asked Hamlet’s childhood friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet as the King is worried Hamlet is plotting to overthrow him.  Many of the characters are suspicious of Hamlet's madness at this point.             

Hamlet then decides to put on a play that blatantly represents his father’s murder and the marriage of his Uncle and mother.  Hamlet seems to be putting this play on to make sure that Claudius was the murderer.  While the play is going on Claudius gets very upset and leaves.  The made Hamlet positive that he killed his father.  Hamlet is then told that Gertrude wishes to speak to him. On his trip to his mother’s bedroom Hamlet sees Claudius praying.  He knows that this would be a great time to kill him but decides that he can’t kill him Claudius now because then he would be sent to heaven. During Hamlet's talk with his mother he notices something moving behind the curtain and thinks it is Claudius spying. He took this opportunity to stab at the curtain in an attempt to kill Claudius but it turned out he stabbed Polonius instead.  Soon after this incident his father’s Ghost appears. For some reason Gertrude can't see her old husbands ghost so she thinks Hamlet has gone mad.

The King desperately wants to get rid of Hamlet because he thinks he is going to overthrow him but he knows that everyone in Denmark loves him so he  sends him to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Back in Elsanor, Laertes returns and Ophelia commits suicide after going mad because of Hamlet.  Laertes is very mad at Hamlet so he decides he will get revenge.  Hamlet Returns unharmed from England without Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (who he killed), and soClaudius conspires with Laertes to kill him in a round of fencing. Before the battle, Hamlet apologizes to Laertes and Laertes accepts his apology.  Claudius concocted a poisoned glass of wine that he plans on serving to Hamlet if Laertes does not successfully kill him with the poisoned lance.  Hamlet does really well in the competition so the Queen decides to drink in his honor.  She unfortunately grabbed the cup of wine with poison in it and died.  Hamlet is then cut by Laertes' envenomed sword and then rips it from him and cuts him in return. Before dying, Laertes confesses the plan to Hamlet and tells him that Claudius is to blame.  Hamlet then kills Claudius in a fit of rage. Knowing that Hamlet is dying, Horatio wants to kill himself but Hamlet doesn’t allow it as he wants Horatio to tell his story.  Hamlet’s final request is for Fortinbras to take over the throne.  Because Fortinbras respected Hamlet very much he held a grand burial for him.

CHARACTERS

Hamlet: The main character and protagonist.  He is a prince of Denmark and heir to the throne. Hamlet recently returned from college and is very scholarly.  He seems to be far more intelligent than the other characters.  Through his intellect he is often able to manipulate the other characters in the play with his language. He often “tests” the other characters to determine their loyalty.  He feels betrayed by Claudius and seeks to avenge his father.

Claudius: The King of Denmark, and Hamlet’s uncle.  He is the antagonist of the play.  He is the villain and represents the corruption in Denmark.  He killed his brother to gain control of the throne. He is conniving, calculating, ambitious, and selfish.  

Ophelia: Polonius’ daughter and Laertes’ sister.  She a beautiful young woman that Hamlet has fell in love with.  She is sweet and innocent.

Laertes: Ophelia’s brother and Polonius’ son, and a foil to Hamlet.  He is passionate and quick to action.  When Ophelia and Polonius both die (as a result of Hamlet) he is vulnerable and the King convinces him to do his dirty work.  Laertes shows he is a good person during the final battle scene as he forgives Hamlet, tells him the truth, and feels very guilty for the act he committed.

Horatio: Hamlet’s closest friend who studied with him at the University in Wittenberg.  He is loyal and helpful to Hamlet throughout the play.  Some critics even argue that his relationship with Hamlet is more than that of friends.

Polonius: An advisor to Claudius, and the father of Ophelia and Laertes.  He comes off as pompous, conniving, and snake-like. He tries to groom his children to continue his legacy.   He spies on many characters throughout the play such as Laertes, who he spies on to make sure he stays on the right path.  He also spies on Hamlet in the bedroom scene with Gertrude. He wanted to make sure that his daughter Ophelia married Hamlet so that she would inherit the Queenship later.  He is a very disloyal character who goes behind the backs of others to get what he wants, power.  This ultimately leads to his demise.

Gertrude: The Queen of Denmark, and Hamlet’s mother.  She married her deceased husband’s brother (Claudius), considered incest at the time. She a weak woman who seems to depend on the affection/status that men bring her. She seems to be representative of the way women during this time period were treated -- like a commodity. She does not seem to seek the truth behind old Hamlet’s death however she seems to love young Hamlet deeply.

Fortinbras: The prince of Norway, and foil to Hamlet.  His father (also called Fortinbras) was killed by Hamlet’s father.  Fortinbras seeks not to avenge his father, but to defend his father’s honor through an attack on Denmark.  He has a wise uncle whom he listened to and this ended up saving his life.  He is the only non-corrupt leader who can take over the Danish throne.

STYLE 

There is no narrator in this play, however Shakespeare uses the dialogue of the characters to give messages to the audience and emphasize meaning. Hamlet is the biggest example of this. His dialogue often includes double entendres that tell the audience about the other characters, what is going on in his own mind, and foreshadow future events. 

THEME

A major theme of this play is that no individual should seek revenge.  Fate should be left up to God and not taken into one’s own hands. This is apparent because all of the characters that seek revenge end up being killed by one another.   The only honest leader, Fortinbras, does not seek revenge for his father and as a result he ends up successful.

QUOTES 

1.)   "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark". (Act 1, scene IV) 

This line is spoken by Marcellus as he debates with Horatio whether or not to follow the ghost.  The line shows that the ghost is a bad omen and foreshadows what is to come in Denmark.  The line seems to express that there is corruption in the government (murder and incest among the royal family).  The ghost is a symbol of the  "rotten" and corrupt ways of the state and King Claudius.

2.)    “I am justly kill’d with mine own treachery”. (Act V, scene II)  

This is an important quote by Laertes because it expresses a theme of the play. The word “justly”  implies that Laertes is aware that this was the fate that he deserved for conspiring against Hamlet with Claudius.  He lied and betrayed Hamlet, and as a result  was killed by the weapon that he had envenomed.

Open Prompt #3 (Revisited)

Prompt: 2008, Form B. In some works of literature, childhood and adolescence are portrayed as times graced by innocence and a sense of wonder; in other works, they are depicted as times of tribulation and terror. Focusing on a single novel or play, explain how its representation of childhood or adolescence shapes the meaning of the work as a whole. 
     
     William Golding’s Lord of the Flies portrays the childhood years very differently from the way that they are commonly perceived.  Golding clearly holds a view that the childhood years are marked by tribulation and terror. In his novel, Golding shows that children are not inherently good and innocent, but instead quite the contrary.  William appears to believe that the human race is inherently evil, and without the constraints of society's expectations, this inner-evil will bubble to the surface and show its face.  
     
     In Lord of the Flies a group of British school students are involved in a plane crash, leaving the kids stranded on an island to fend for themselves.  The children’s actions and decisions mirror the adult world despite the difference in maturity and age.  The kid's immediately try to set up rules and regulations to mirror the rules that the government and their parents place on them.  They show the desire for order through this however as they are stranded and isolated from society for longer and longer, the children decide to show their true colors and rebel.  The main character, Ralph attempts to maintain order but human nature interferes.  The kids separate themselves into two tribes: one led by Ralph, and the other by Jack.  Eventually animalistic tribal warfare erupts and many characters are killed.  There is a great forrest fire on the island which represents the eruption of complete chaos erupts.  This again mirrors the adult society as this story takes place in the midst of World War II.  The children were fleeing the war, however their human nature drove them back to war.

     The parallels between the children stranded on the island and the adults in the rest of the world give a frightening insight on the nature of humans.  Golding was clearly trying to show that humans are inherently evil.  The terror that resulted on the island shows that children, if not properly socialized by society will revert to their roots.  The difference between the children and the adults is that the adults have been socialized by society to behave a certain way.  The children are representative of the result of those left in isolation of society and not properly socialized to behave the way that society expects.  The children begin the way that society expects of them: with rules and order.  However the children soon turn against the societal norm and chaos erupts.  The only children that were truly innocent in the novel were killed (the young boy and Piggy).  This represents the animalistic and savage ways of society, and shows that adolescence  is a time when children are stripped of their innocence.  

       The Lord of the Flies is a great example of a story in which the representation of childhoood and adolescence shape the meaning of the work as a whole.  Golding clearly did not intend to make the story about children alone.  The children are representative of the adult world as well.  Golding attempted to show the evil ways of human nature, and savagery of society without the constraints of laws and order through the way the children acted when they were isolated from society.   

Response to Course Materials #5

     Once again it is time for a Response to Course Materials blog.  Since the last response to course materials we have mostly been analyzing Hamlet.  Hamlet is the lengthiest play we have read so far and by far the hardest to understand. 

     

     We have watched two different film versions of Hamlet, each of which interpreted and portrayed the play very differently.  The movies had two main similarities, the text used, and Patrick Stewart as Claudius.  I thought it was awesome Patrick Stewart was in both of them because it really helped me contrast the way the character Claudius was represented in both movies without needing to contribute the differences to the change of actors.  I found the BBC version to be much more boring and struggled to stay awake for much of it.  The Branagh version to me was a million times more interesting but I thought both films did a great job.  I thought the BBC version sexed up the relationships between the characters a little bit more.  For example Ophelia and Laertes made out when they greeted each-other and Hamlet practically humped Gertrude during the bedside scene.  The Branagh version was much more visually appealing.  For example during the bedroom scene they show the ghost that Hamlet is seeing and speaking to.  This makes him seem a little less crazy than he came off in the BBC version.  I thought it was really cool to see the differences in interpretations across these two films.  Ms. Holmes said we are going to watch a more modern take on Hamlet in a few days and I am very excited to see how they mix the old-sounding Shakespearean language with modern society.  

     

     Annotating on the other hand I found a little less fun.  I spent well over 12 hours annotating the play and I found it much more difficult to annotate than the previous books.  In the previous plays we read the text was much easier to read whereas Hamlet is written in a very elevated style that makes it difficult to interpret and pick out literary elements that Shakespeare uses.  Shakespeare uses many double entendres and to fully understand the play it is necessary to know a little background (which Ms. Holmes was kind enough to provide).  I still struggle with understanding the language that Shakespeare uses because it is so different from that in today’s literature.  I do however think working with it for so long really has really helped me. 

     

     The imagery activities that we have done in class have been very helpful. It will help us to be able to identify it when other authors do it. This will be quite helpful for the AP test. It’s important that we do activities like this in class because we haven’t seen a lot of imagery in the readings we have done so far because they have all been plays.