The Play Hamlet

The Tragedy of Hamlet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. Set in the kingdom of Denmark. The play dramatizes the revenge Prince Hamlet exacts on his uncle Claudius for murdering King Hamlet, Claudius's brother and Prince Hamlet's father, and then succeeding to the throne and also taking as his wife Gertrude, the old king's widow and Prince Hamlet's mother. The play clearly portrays both true madness from eye opening pain to seething anger and explores themes of betrayal, revenge, incest, and moral corruption.

For two nights running, a ghost has been spotted by the guards at Elsinore Castle. The guards and Hamlet's best friend Horatio decide to tell Hamlet that a ghost, the image of his dead father, is haunting the castle battlements.

Claudius announces his marriage to the old King's wife, Gertrude, and asks Prince Hamlet to remain at home rather than return to University. Hamlet is furious by his mother's remarriage but his thoughts are disturbed by Horatio and the guards who come to tell him about the ghost.

Polonius' daughter Ophelia has been spending time with Hamlet. Polonius tells her to not speak to him again. The ghost of Hamlet's father tells him that he was murdered by his brother Claudius while sleeping. He wants Hamlet to take revenge of his death. Hamlet decides to put on madness until he has completed his mission

Polonius sets a spy on Laertes he sends Reynaldo to France to keep an eye on his son’s behaviour. Hamlet has visited Ophelia in her room with his clothes in disorder. He grabbed her wrists and stared at her. Ophelia tells her father, who is certain that he is obsessed with her.

Gertrude asks Hamlet's schools friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to cheer up. And Claudius’s and Polonius hide and watch Hamlet and Ophelia talk. Ophelia tries to return gifts Hamlet has given to her. He tells her she should go to a nunnery. But he doesn’t know that they're being watched.

Claudius has lost patience by Hearing reports from Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and Polonius of Hamlet's behaviour, Claudius thinks he should send Hamlet away. Polonius convinces him to involve Gertrude to see if she can talk sense into her son. Claudius stops the action just before the new king marries the old king's wife. Furthermore Hamlet brags to Horatio that he has exposed Claudius as a murderer. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern come to tell him that his mother is looking for him.

As Claudius kneels in prayer, Hamlet lifts his dagger to avenge his father. He is stopped by the thought that Claudius will go to heaven. Strange to Hamlet, Claudius is finding it impossible to pray. But then Hamlet tells his mother she has married a murderer. He also hears a noise and kills the unseen intruder, Polonius. The ghost of his father appears to him again which made him go even more insane. She tells Claudius how insane Hamlet has gone it has freaked her out, Claudius sends hamlets schools friends Guildenstern and Rosencrantz to look for Hamlet.

They found hamlet and he tells them that they too happily following the king’s order. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern then send hamlet to the king. He revels to the king where Polonius' body is and then Claudius tells Hamlet he is to be sent to England and secretly plans to have him killed on the journey.

Gertrude finds out that Ophelia dies and announces to Claudius and Laertes that Ophelia has taken her life and drowned. The day of Ophelia's funeral Hamlet returns to Elsinore he sees two men digging a grave. As the funeral party approaches it becomes obvious it's Ophelia's grave.

 As the funeral party approaches it becomes obvious it's Ophelia's grave. During the Funeral Hamlet and Laertes fight they are about who loved Ophelia the most. However Laertes is even more determined to kill Hamlet. Hamelt was invited to fight and he won both rounds of the fight. Claudius never thought hamlet could fight so well therefore he offered him the poison drink, but Gertrude drinks the poison drink and dies. Her death encourage Laertes to reveal Claudius plan, which made hamlet turn on him and stabs him with the poison stored and made him drink the poison drink. In the end Laertes, Hamlet and Claudius die, Leaving Horatio to lament his lost.

The theme of the play is blindness and appearance and reality. The characters in the play can’t see the truth, they can’t see through Claudius' pretending conjured expression. In addition to Gertrude she is quite small-minded and she allows her lust overcome her reason which makes Hamlet even more angry at her. The following quote basically sums up Hamlet's opinion of her mum.

"Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell.

I took thee for thy better. Take thy fortune.

Thou find’st to be too busy is some danger.

(to GERTRUDE) Leave wringing of your hands. Peace. Sit you down.

And let me wring your heart. For so I shall If it be made of penetrable stuff,

If dammed custom have not brassed it so

That it is proof and bulwark against sense"

Universal Themes


The play hamlet deals with universal themes such as love, loyalty, betrayal, morality and trust. The play is also time because we still read it today and it is still relevant.
The bulk of the play deals not with Hamlet's ultimately successful vengeance on his father but more about revenge on hamlet. Hamlets decision making on suicide, in the "to be or not to be" speech, are legendary and continue to direct discussions of the value of life and the mystery of death. Furthermore Hamlet disgust with his mother Queen Gertrude her sexuality dominates the play eventually infects Hamlets relationship with his love for Ophelia. There is no untroubled love in Hamlet, every instance to do with lust and betrayal, Hamlet argues that his mother's relationship with her husband is based on lust.
Corruption is another theme i discovered that is in the play because Hamlet's Uncle Claudius, killed his own brother in order to gain the throne as as well as marry his widow. Although it was believed he gained the throne honestly, but he did not because when it was revealed that he was the reason behind Hamlets fathers death. His power had become corrupt as as well, due to the fact he had used his adviser polonius, and later Laetres to with with Prince Hamlet, it also causes more corruption when it is time for the duel at the finale of the play. He knew that the wine was poisoned as he hoped that Hamlet would drink it and die by one of those methods. He planned this all just to kill his own wife child. Hamlet was either going to die being hit with the sword, or by the poisoned wine.

By reading the themes on spark notes i think Hamlet also suffered from corruption because of the way he handled the situation as a whole, He feigned madness, spurned his girlfriend in which that ultimately cause her death due to his own madness. and he manipulated the majority of the people around him. He also starts of the play as a troubled man, grieving his father, and upsetting his mother by his actions. Overall he is generally an sane person with morals. it is at the moment in which he sees his father's ghost that his corruptions starts. His morals and responsibilities go out the window.

Women

Hamlet sees women and women's ways. Hamlet's opinion of women is very dark. the few times that Hamlet's pretend madness actually turn into madness occur when he gets angry at women. Gertrude's marriage to Claudius has convinced Hamlet that women are untrustworthy, also their beauty is covers up there bad ways and sexual desire. The audience are manipulated to believe that woman are living embodiment of appearances corrupt effort to eclipse reality. 

Religion, Honor, and Revenge

 There are plenty scenes in Hamlet when one person tells another how to act  Claudius lectures Hamlet on the proper show of grief,  Polonius advises Lacerates on practical rules for getting by at university in France; Hamlet constantly confronts himself on what he should be doing. as Hamlet actually begins to pursue revenge against Claudius, he realizes  that the codes of conduct themselves don't fit together. Religion actually opposes revenge, which would mean that taking revenge could mess up Hamlet's own soul.

Major Characters: The Older Generation

Claudius: The antagonist of the play and the new king of Denmark. Claudius is the “smiling,

damned villain” of the piece, a devious, lustful, and corrupt politician and master manipulator of

people and circumstances. Despite the darkness in his soul, his seemingly genuine love for

Gertrude and his pangs of conscience over his crimes add a more sympathetic dimension to his

personality.

Gertrude: The Queen of Denmark and Hamlet’s mother. Gertrude’s secret affair with

Claudius, her brother-in-law, culminates in their very public marriage. While Gertrude is a

loving mother to Hamlet, her excessive sensuality and desire for social status motivate her

immoral behavior.

Polonius: Lord Chamberlain of the Danish court and counselor to King Claudius. Polonius is

the suspicious and controlling father of Ophelia and Laertes. He is a self-important, rather

bumbling schemer and Claudius’ chief spy against Hamlet.

The Ghost: The spirit of King Hamlet, the prince’s murdered father. The Ghost calls upon

Hamlet to avenge his murder by killing Claudius, his uncle/step-father/king, but the true origin of

this spirit is never made clear. Hamlet fears it may be have been sent by the devil to manipulate

him into performing an evil act. Shakespeare is said to have played this role in the first

production of Hamlet.

Major Characters: The Younger Generation

Hamlet: The protagonist of the play and prince of Denmark. He is around 30 years old when

the play opens. Hamlet is the natural son of Queen Gertrude and the recently deceased old king

from whom he takes his name. As a result of his mother’s hasty remarriage to Claudius, her

former brother-in-law, Hamlet’s former uncle is now also his step-father and the new king.

Hamlet’s keen wit, intellectual gifts, and natural tendency to question things make him an ideal

candidate for the studies he has pursued at university in Wittenburg, but the events that bring him

back home to Elsinore Castle have left him cynical and embittered.

Horatio: Hamlet’s one true friend and trusted ally. They attended university in Wittenburg

together. He has a calm, skeptical, and dispassionate outlook that helps to balance Hamlet’s

intellectual and emotional excesses. Hamlet entrusts him with the task of telling his story to the

world after his death.

Hamlet Movies 

 

Kenneth Branagh 1996: Hamlet makes the characters a lot more ambiguous. Scenes usually cut (even for stage performances) would make Polonius a lot more sinister than he usually is, just as Claudius, too often the cardboard villain, is more sympathetic. Branagh knows how to entertain, throwing movie stars into the bit parts and making them shine.

Laurence Olivier (1948): Though it was filmed in black white from the 40s, this feels like a very modern film, using trick photography to get into the title character's head. His Hamlet is no doubt where the modern cliché of the depressed Hamlet comes from. He's such a unhappy character.