“Hamlet” – By Shakespeare

About The Author:

Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford, England. He was joined an acting company (Lord Chamberlain’s Men) When the theaters repined in 1594. Shakespeare writes in blank verse using iambic pentameter to distinguish his more educated characters from the more common people. He uses sophisticated and original vocabulary. He writes a lot of soliloquies to convey the thoughts of the characters to the audience. During his life, Shakespeare wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets! Apart from writing his numerous plays and sonnets, Shakespeare was also an actor who performed many of his own plays. He uses subplots to add to his themes, further the main plot and keep the reader involved.

“Hamlet”:

Hamlet takes place mainly in Elsinore, Denmark. They are placed in Denmark but, because of Shakespeare’s confusing subplot, there are many different settings. Wherever the setting is, it sets the mood as being eerie mysterious, tragic, dramatic, and scary.

Characters:

1)    Hamlet: Represents the ideal renaissance man, he is very dramatic, educated, mischievous, determined.

2)    Claudius: Represents corruption, sin and murder. He is deceitful, selfish, and evil.

3)    Gertrude: Impure because of her affair with Claudius, but innocent in King Hamlet’s death, and  she is very caring, compassionate.

4)    Ophelia: She dies first – starts the tragedy and is possibly a reason for Hamlet’s madness.

5)    Polonius: Represents manipulation and corruption within the Kingdom, and control freak and snaky, etc…

Madness of Hamlet:

Hamlet pretends to be crazy to investigate his father’s murder. But while he pretends to be mad, the world around him goes mad:

-       His uncle killed his brother

-       His mother married the killer of his husband

Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark, who has recently lost his father, the King. Hamlet's uncle, Claudius, has married Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, and taken the throne. One night, Hamlet is persuaded by some guards to go to see his father's ghost. The ghost reveals to Hamlet that Claudius murdered him, and asks Hamlet to avenge his death. Hamlet swears to do this, informing his friend , Horatio, and the guards of his plan.

Hamlet is in love with Ophelia, but she ignores him because her father (Polonius) and her brother (Laertes) suggested her to do so. After the declaration of the ghost, Hamlet's attitude changes and everyone believes that he is mad. Polonius and Claudius both believe that this madness comes from Hamlet's love for Ophelia.

An acting troupe comes into town, and Hamlet orders them to perform a play in which the brother of the king kills the king. Hamlet arranges the performance to be acted out in the same way that Claudius killed Hamlet's father. Horatio and Hamlet watch closely: Claudius is unable to watch and stops the play.

Claudius asks Gertrude to speak with Hamlet, then sends Polonius to spy on the conversation. Hamlet hears Polonius and blindly stabs through a tapestry, killing him. Everyone is now convinced of Hamlet's complete madness, and he is sent to England. Ophelia goes mad because of her father's death, and in her madness, kills herself.

Laertes is angry with Hamlet for both Polonius ' and Ophelia's deaths. In his anger, Laertes conspires with Claudius to kill Hamlet, who is on his way back from England. Laertes challenges Hamlet to a duel, where Laertes has a poisoned sword. In case Laertes fails, Claudius has prepared a poisoned cup. 

Gertrude accidentally drinks from the poisoned cup and dies. Laertes wounds Hamlet, then they accidentally switch swords and Hamlet injures Laertes. Mortally wounded, Laertes reveals Claudius' plan. Hamlet then stabs Claudius and makes him drink from the poisoned cup. As Hamlet is dying, he tells the truth of everything to Horatio.