Hamlet Summary & Analysis

Author: William Shakespeare. Some believe his son, Hamlet, and father's death had some influence on his writing of Hamlet.

Setting: Denmark, the Court of Elsinore, the 13th century.

Characters:

Hamlet - Protagonist, Prince of Denmark, and about thirty. He attended school in Wittenberg. parents are King Hamlet (deceased) and Queen Gertrude, who has now remarried to Hamlet's uncle, Claudius (now king). Hamlet struggles with his self identity several times throughout the play. Hamlet is bothered by Claudius and his mother's relationship, especially with his mother for performing incest. Hamlet also has a conflicting relationship with Ophelia, nothing is very clear about their relationship, it can only be assumed that she was impregnated and this eventually led to her suicide due to family and societal conflicts. Hamlet kills Polonius (accidentally), sentences Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to death (due to lack of trust and suspicion of betrayal), and also kills Laertes and Claudius (they poison him first).

Gertrude - Queen of Denmark, mother to Hamlet, once married to King Hamlet but now married to his brother, Clausius. It is implied that she is guilty of incest.

Claudius - Recent King of Denmark and father to Hamlet (was uncle). He murdered Old Hamlet by poisoning him in the ear and also plans to Kill Hamlet, this plan backfires and Hamlet ends up killing him.

Ophelia - Daughter to Polonius, sister to Laertes, in complicated and mostly hidden relationship with Hamlet. She is on the verge of madness but is pushed over the edge when Polonius dies. She is possibly pregnant and now on bad terms with Hamlet, she commits suicide in the river--strongly looked down upon during this time.

Laertes - Son of Polonius, brother of Ophelia. Polonius has someone watching him while he is in France (majority of the time). Once Polonius is killed he swears to avenge his death and wants to kill Hamlet. He attempts to kill Hamlet with poison on a sword but ends up getting cut by it too and also dies. Foil to Hamlet.

Polonius - Chief counselor to the King (very high position, he consults the king). Father to Laertes and Ophelia. He has lots of determination, pointed in two directions; either for the good of the overall court and involved in the politics, or for the benefit of his family. He is accidently killed by Hamlet when he was mistaken for Claudius or another spy in Gertrude's closet.

Horatio -  Hamlet's friend who he went to school with in Wittenberg. He is a good consultant to Hamlet and often helps him think more realistically. He is essentially the only 'main' survivor in the last scene and then is able to tell on the story.

The Ghost - not agreed on that he is real, but he is the ghost of Old Hamlet and haunts Hamlet. He unravels the murder of himself by Claudius and reappears several times. The Ghost commands Hamlet to avenge his murder, but Hamlet is torn and thinks the Ghost may be a devilish figure.

Author's style:

Point of view - told primarily from Hamlet's view and the dreariness and sadness is thought to have rooted from Shakespeare become a hopeless father after the death of his son.
Tone - lost of hope and self unawareness. None of the characters are able to succeed and face internal issues. Also very dark and dreary.
Imagery - Dialogue portrays many images with emotional attachments.

Plot:

Act I:
     The ghost is seen by Horatio and he is in disbelief, the ghost will not answer him. Claudius is introduced and dicusses his new marriage to Queen Gertrude and the young Fortinbras demands on the kingdom. Hamlet is upset up this marriage but Gertrude and Claudius act as if it's no big deal and tell him to stop feeling bad about his fathers death. Hamlet asks to leave but is forced to stay in Denmark (mainly so they can keep an eye on him). Polonius and Laertes each warn Ophelia not to fall for Hamlet, and Laerte's leaves for France, there Polonius sends someone to watch over him. Hamlet meets the Ghost who tells how he was murdered by Claudius and that Hamlet should avenge his death. Ophelia was visited by Hamlet but now their love is forbidden.
Act II:
    Rosecrantz and Guildenstern are summoned to court to spy on Hamlet. Hamlet chooses to portray how he believes Claudius murdered the old Hamlet by having a play performed reenacting the incident for the court.
Act III:
     Hamlet is lost and not sure of his personality and says the famous, to be or not to be soliloquy. Polonius spies on Hamlet and Ophelia speaking; Hamlet sees Ophelia is nice but quickly puts this thought aside and decides he's still against her. He claims he never loved her. Claudius believes love is not the root of Hamlet's madness and sends him to England but Polonius says to wait until Hamlet speaks to Gertrude. The play Hamlet arranged occurs and Hamlet sees that Claudius is disturbed by it. Claudius is praying and Hamlet almost kills but decides now is not the time because there's a chance he will go to heaven. Polonius spies on Hamlet and his mother in Gertrude's closet, Hamlet suspects a spy (hoping it's Claudius) and kills the 'rat'.
Act IV:
     Claudius finds news of Polonius's death and sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern after Hamlet and the body and sends Hamlet off to England where he plans to have him killed.
Act V:
      Hamlet after being stopped by pirates is on his way back to Elsinore when he comes across  two gravediggers. They dig up Yorick's bones, and Hamlet realizes his true father figure was not the old Hamlet after all. Hamlet makes his "fall of the sparrow speech." Hamlet fights with Laertes and is wounded by a poisoned stab, Hamlet then stabs Laertes back with this sword. Laertes dies and Hamlet then kills Claudius and relinquishes his control to Fortinbras. Gertrude also dies from drinking the poison liquid that Claudius had intended to kill Hamlet with. Horatio is the only true survivor and goes on to be able to tell the story. 

Motifs:

• Ambiguity
• Insularity
• Incest 
• Identity, lost of it
• Providence
• Revenge
• Control, lack of it
• Duality (Natural vs. unnatural, identity vs. public appearence, father vs. son, light vs. dark, pure vs. impure)
• Death & life after
• Surveillance, also ears & hearing
• Synecdoche 
• Fortune/luck
• Trust, lack of it
• Lies
• Groups of 3
• Madness

Symbols:

• Yorick's Skull - When Hamlet holds it he comes to realize that his only father figure was not of royal blood. Also that he should not fear death, but that it is natural.
• Flowers - Once Ophelia goes completely mad in Act IV, each flower she gives to someone has a great significant meaning. Fennel = strength & flattery (Claudius), Columbine = folly/foolishness (Claudius), Daisies = innocence, Violets = faithfulness & modesty (all withered when her father died), Rosemary = remembrance (Laertes for their father), Pansy = thoughts & faithfullness, Rue = cause of abortion & everlasting suffering (Gertrude)

Quotes: 

1. "He knew me not at first; he said I was a fishmonger: he is far gone: and truly in my youth I suffered extremity for love; very near this." This is said by Polonius. This quote is significant because it shows yet another person trying to understand the root of Hamlet's madness. Polonius is convinced it is Hamlet's crazed love for Ophelia that leads to be this mad, and he even says he can relate to this feeling. However we know and learn this is not the true cause but Polonius tries to convince others it is so.
2. "The spirit that I have seen may be the devil: and the devil hath power to assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps out of my weakness and my melancholy, as he is very potent with such spirits, abuses me to damn me: I'll have grounds more relative than this: this play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience king." Hamlet has now decided that having a play performed in front of the court is the best way to tell if Claudius is guilty of murder. However, Hamlet is still not sure whether he should trust the ghost, for he could be just a figment of his imagination, and if so then Hamlet would be the one guilty of murder if he were to kill Claudius for revenge. Hamlet soon excuses this thought and decides to go along to observe Claudius' reaction. 

Theme:

    

    Shakespeare's, Hamlet suggests that you should be cautious of who you allow yourself to be influence by, because a lack of identity leads to immoral decisions. 

   Hamlet faces many conflicts with self identity throughout Hamlet. To start off with, Hamlet was born into the royal family and therefore has high expectations and a role he must fill. Hamlet also struggles with the conflict of deciding who he should be influence by. Due to being on the royal court he is somewhat expected to listen to Claudius, however he is not in favor of Claudius due to his suspicions that he murdered his father and that his mother performed incest. Hamlet also struggles whether to believe and follow providence of the ghost of his father. This struggle reappears several times, however we see Hamlet ultimately decides to listen to the ghost and seeks revenge. He quickly learns he must further question this force though after he accidentally murders Polonius. Hamlet is not the only figure we see struggle with self control, Ophelia is also mostly influenced by Polonius and Laertes decisions, although later on we see she grows sick of this and seeks her own control by committing suicide.