Author:
William Shakespeare
Setting:
15th(?) century Denmark, in and around the castle Elsinore
Plot: (don't worry, this one's shorter than my one on DoS)
In the beginning of the play, Old Hamlet is dead and his wife has remarried his brother. These events have made Hamlet extremely depressed. One night, he sees his dad's ghost and discovers that Old Hamlet's death was actually a murder committed by Claudius (the brother). Hamlet vows to get revenge by killing Claudius, and spends most of the next four acts debating whether he actually should follow through with it or not. By the end of the play, almost everyone in the castle is dead and Fortinbras (royalty from Norway) takes the throne, cleansing Denmark of its corruption.
Significant Characters:
Hamlet- Obviously, as the title character, Hamlet is important. Hamlet is the prince of Denmark, charged with seeking revenge for his father's murder.
Claudius- Claudius is Old Hamlet's brother, Hamlet's uncle. He murdered Old Hamlet then married his wife and took the throne for himself. Very selfish.
Ophelia- Ophelia is Hamlet's secret (kinda) lover. She eventually goes crazy and kills herself, presumably pregnant with Hamlet's child.
Polonius- Polonius is Ophelia's dad and next-to-next-in line for the throne. He's essentially Claudius' right hand man. Hamlet kills him on accident.
Laertes- Laertes is Ophelia's brother. He's a kind of foil to Hamlet in that he also seeks revenge for his father's death, but he doesn't debate it for an entire play. He ends up killing Hamlet with a poisoned sword.
Horatio- Horatio is Hamlet's best friend and the only one he really trusts and cares about. He's also the only one who lives through the bloody end.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern- These two are Hamlet's ex-best friends. They spy on him for the king and end up getting killed in place of Hamlet.
Style:
The play, as a play, has no narrator and no omniscient characters. It doesn't really follow one specific character, but focuses on Hamlet and Claudius the most. The tone Shakespeare uses, usually dark and contemplative, helps the reader feel Hamlet's emotions about the events of his father's death and mother's marriage, and the revenge he's promised to seek. One major motif throughout the play is that of incest. Obviously, this applies to Gertrude and Claudius. It can also be applied to Laertes and Ophelia, though their relationship can also just be seen as strong family ties with no sexual undertones involved. The figurative language I noticed most often were similes, metaphors, allusions, etc. to the Bible: Old Hamlet was supposed killed by a snake (serpent in the garden), was actually killed by his brother (Cain and Able), and Hamlet eventually cleanses Denmark (Christ figure). The only real symbol in the play was Yorik's skull, which symbolizes the certainty of death and the physical consequences of it.
Quotes:
"None, my lord, but that the world's grown honest."
"Then is doomsday near: but your news is not true." (II.ii.237-238)
~This quote is one of the best examples of Hamlet's lack of faith in humanity. Hamlet constantly tests those around him to see if they're honest with him, and their usually not. These lines foreshadow the many failed tests that happen in the next couple of scenes.
"So would I ha' done, by yonder sun, / An thou hadst not come to my bed." (IV.v.65-66)
~These lines are part of Ophelia's singing during her display of craziness. This particular song gives reason to believe Ophelia wasn't as innocent as those around her seem to believe and that she was actually pregnant out of wedlock.
"If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart / Absent thee from felicity awhile, / And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain / To tell my story." (V.ii.346-349)
~One of Hamlet's last lines, this really seems to wrap the story up. After all that's happened and the lessons Hamlet has learned about revenge, Hamlet doesn't want to die in vain. He tells Horatio not to kill himself, but to tell his story as a warning, and as a way to clear his (Hamlet's) reputation.
Theme:
Seeking revenge won't yield any rewards.
~Possibly the only thing Hamlet truly learns throughout the play is that revenge doesn't get you anything. His seeking revenge on Claudius lead to him accidentally killing Polonius, which lead to Laertes seeking revenge. Laertes' plan to kill Hamlet backfires and ends up killing him as well. Eventually, everyone who had any part of anyone's revenge is dead. However, Fortinbras stopped his quest for revenge and is rewarded at the end of the play by gaining Denmark for his kingdom.
Now this time, I think you shortened up the plot summary a bit too far. The purpose was to give you something to refresh your memory come time for the AP exam. Perhaps we watched enough Hamlet movies to have the plot permanently burned into our heads, but it's still a good idea to have some reminder of each of the important events.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised at the shortage of objects in the play, particularly the symbolic ones. You could potentially glean something from the letters Hamlet wrote and from the foils and cup at the end, but I agree, the skull was the one object that had the sole purpose of being a symbol.
Your first quote was particularly interesting to me. My first thought when I read it in the initial reading was, "Man, this guy is even dumber than Polonius!" I don't know about everyone else, but I have to take Hamlet's side on this issue. The world is a place full of deception and certainly hasn't gotten any more honest in the last thousand years.
About your theme, personally, I don't think Hamlet actually learned his lesson about revenge, but the theme you chose stays true either way.
Noah Symanzik
I would agree with Noah on that one. You don't have to go into as much detail as your last one but this is a little short. I am not sure Hamlet did learn his lesson about revenge at the very end, but honestly I think that everyone who survived did. Especially Horatio. Although I don't think he needed to learn this lesson.
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