Hamlet Litchart

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Hamlet
• When Written: Between 1599 - 1601
INTR
INTRODUCTION
ODUCTION • Where Written: England
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE • When Published: 1603 (First Quarto), 1604 (Second
Quarto).
Shakespeare's father was a glove-maker, and Shakespeare
received no more than a grammar school education. He • Literary Period: The Renaissance (1500 - 1660)
married Anne Hathaway in 1582, but left his family behind • Genre: Tragic drama; Revenge tragedy
around 1590 and moved to London, where he became an actor • Setting: Denmark during the late middle ages (circa 1200),
and playwright. He was an immediate success: Shakespeare though characters in the play occasionally reference things
soon became the most popular playwright of the day as well as or events from the Elizabethan Age (circa 1500).
a part-owner of the Globe Theater. His theater troupe was • Climax: The climax of Hamlet is a subject of debate. Some say
adopted by King James as the King's Men in 1603. Shakespeare it occurs when Hamlet kills Claudius, others when Hamlet
retired as a rich and prominent man to Stratford-upon-Avon in hesitates to kill Claudius while Claudius is praying, others
1613, and died three years later. when Hamlet kills Polonius, and still others when Hamlet
vows to focus on revenge at the end of Act 4.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
EXTRA CREDIT
Hamlet is in many ways a product of the Reformation, in which
Protestants broke away from the until-then dominant Catholic Shakespeare or Not? There are some who believe Shakespeare
Church, as well as the skeptical humanism of late Renaissance wasn't educated enough to write the plays attributed to him.
Northern Europe, which held that there were limits on human The most common anti-Shakespeare theory is that Edward de
knowledge. Hamlet's constant anxiety about the difference Vere, the Earl of Oxford, wrote the plays and used Shakespeare
between appearance and reality, as well as his concerns about as a front man because aristocrats were not supposed to write
and difficulties with religion (the sinfulness of suicide, the plays. Yet the evidence supporting Shakespeare's authorship
unfairness that killing a murderer while the murderer is praying far outweighs any evidence against. So until further notice,
would result in sending the murder to heaven) can be seen as Shakespeare is still the most influential writer in the English
directly emerging from the breaks in religion and thought language.
brought on by the Reformation and Renaissance humanist
thought.
PL
PLO
OT SUMMARY
RELATED LITERARY WORKS A ghost resembling the recently deceased King of Denmark
Hamlet falls into the tradition of revenge tragedy, in which the stalks the ramparts of Elsinore, the royal castle. Terrified
central character's quest for revenge usually results in general guardsmen convince a skeptical nobleman, Horatio, to watch
tragedy. This tradition existed from Roman times (the Roman with them. When he sees the ghost, he decides they should tell
playwright Seneca was well known for writing revenge Hamlet, the dead King's son. Hamlet is also the nephew of the
tragedies). The most famous revenge tragedy of Shakespeare's present King, Claudius, who not only assumed his dead
day before Hamlet was Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy and brother's crown but also married his widow, Gertrude.
some believe that Kyd wrote an earlier play of Hamlet, now Claudius seems an able King, easily handling the threat of the
lost, which scholars call the Ur-Hamlet. The story of Hamlet is Norwegian Prince Fortinbras. But Hamlet is furious about
based on a Danish revenge story first recorded by Saxo Gertrude's marriage to Claudius. Hamlet meets the ghost,
Grammaticus in the 1100s. In these stories, a Danish prince which claims to be the spirit of his father, murdered by
fakes madness in order to take revenge on his uncle, who had Claudius. Hamlet quickly accepts the ghost's command to seek
killed the prince's father and married his mother. But revenge.
Shakespeare modified this rather straightforward story and Yet Hamlet is uncertain if what the ghost said is true. He delays
filled it with dread and uncertainty—Hamlet doesn't just feign his revenge and begins to act half-mad, contemplate suicide,
madness; he seems at times to actually be crazy. and becomes furious at all women. The Lord Chamberlain,
Polonius, concludes that Hamlet's behavior comes from
KEY FACTS lovesickness for Ophelia, Polonius's daughter. Claudius and
Gertrude summon two of Hamlet's old friends, Rosencrantz
• Full Title: The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark and Guildenstern, to find out what's wrong with him. As
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Polonius develops a plot to spy on a meeting between Hamlet
and Ophelia, Hamlet develops a plot of his own: to have a CHARA
CHARACTERS
CTERS
recently arrived troupe of actors put on a play that resembles
Claudius's alleged murder of Old Hamlet, and watch Claudius's
MAJOR CHARACTERS
reaction. Hamlet — The prince of Denmark, son of Gertrude, nephew of
Claudius, and heir to the throne. Hamlet is a deep thinker,
Polonius and Claudius spy on the meeting between Ophelia
focusing on impossible to answer questions about religion,
and Hamlet, during which Hamlet flies into a rage against
death, truth, reality, and the motivations of others. He even
women and marriage. Claudius concludes Hamlet neither loves
obsessively contemplates the fact that he obsessively
Ophelia nor is mad. Seeing Hamlet as a threat, he decides to
contemplates. He loves Ophelia and his mother, but his
send him away. At the play that night, Claudius runs from the
mother's marriage to Claudius makes him mistrust and even
room during the scene of the murder, proving his guilt. Hamlet
hate all women. He detests all forms of deception, yet plots and
gets his chance for revenge when, on the way to see Gertrude,
pretends to be insane. At times he even seems to be insane.
he comes upon Claudius, alone and praying. But Hamlet holds
Despite his obsessive thinking, he can act impulsively, as when
off—if Claudius is praying as he dies then his soul might go to
he kills Polonius. Hamlet is an enigma, a man so complex even
heaven. In Gertrude's room, Hamlet berates his mother for
he doesn't completely know himself. In other words, he seems
marrying Claudius so aggressively that she thinks he might kill
like a real person—which has made Hamlet the most well
her. Polonius, who is spying on the meeting from behind a
known character in English literature.
tapestry, calls for help. Hamlet thinks Polonius is Claudius, and
kills him. Claudius — Hamlet's uncle, and Gertrude's second husband.
Claiming that he wants to protect Hamlet from punishment for Power-hungry and lustful, Claudius murders his brother in
killing Polonius, Claudius sends Hamlet to England with order to take the throne of Denmark and marry his wife.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. But Claudius sends with the Claudius is a great talker and schemer. He easily charms the
three men a letter asking the King of England to execute royal court into accepting his hasty marriage to his brother's
Hamlet. Meanwhile, Polonius' son, Laertes, returns to Denmark widow, and comes up with plot after plot to protect his ill-
from France to get revenge for his father's death. Claudius gained power. He is the consummate politician, yet his hold on
convinces Laertes the death is Hamlet's fault. When a pirate power is always slightly tenuous. At various times he does show
attack allows Hamlet to escape back to Denmark, Claudius guilt for killing his brother, and his love of Gertrude seems
comes up with a new plot in which a supposedly friendly duel genuine.
between Hamlet and Laertes will actually be a trap, because Gertrude — Hamlet's mother. After Hamlet's father dies,
Laertes's blade will be poisoned. As a backup, Claudius will also Gertrude quickly marries Hamlet's uncle, Claudius. Though she
poison some wine that he'll give to Hamlet if he wins. is a good woman and loving mother, she is weak-willed and
Meanwhile, grief drives Ophelia insane, and she drowns in what unable to control her personal passions. Whether because of
seems to be a suicide. Hamlet arrives just as the funeral is lust, love, or a desire to maintain her status as queen, she
taking place. He claims to love Ophelia and scuffles with marries Claudius, though this is clearly a breach of proper
Laertes. Back at the castle, Hamlet tells Horatio he switched morals. Though some critics have argued that Gertrude might
the letter sent to England: now Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been involved in Claudius's plot to kill Old Hamlet,
will be executed. He also says he is ready to die, and agrees to evidence in the text suggests that she is unaware of and
participate in the fencing match. uninvolved in the plot.
During the match, Gertrude drinks to Hamlet's success from Polonius — The Lord Chamberlain of Denmark, and the father
the poisoned glass of wine before Claudius can stop her. of Laertes and Ophelia, whom he loves deeply and wishes to
Laertes then wounds Hamlet with the poisoned blade, but in protect, even to the point of spying on them. Polonius is
the scuffle they exchange swords and Hamlet wounds Laertes. pompous and long-winded, and has a propensity to scheme, but
Gertrude falls, saying the wine was poisoned, and dies. Laertes without Hamlet's or Claudius's skill. He is very aware of his
reveals Claudius's treachery. Hamlet kills Claudius, and position and role, and is always careful to try to be on the good
exchanges forgiveness with Laertes. Laertes dies. As Hamlet side of power.
dies, he hears the drums of Fortinbras's army marching Ophelia — Polonius's daughter, Laertes's sister, and Hamlet's
through Denmark after a battle with the Polish, and says love. As a woman, Ophelia must obey the men around her and is
Fortinbras should be the next King of Denmark. Fortinbras forced by her father first to stop speaking to Hamlet and then
enters with the Ambassadors from England, who announce to help spy on him. Ophelia's loyalty to her father and resulting
that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. Horatio tells estrangement from Hamlet ultimately causes her to lose her
Hamlet's story as Hamlet's body is taken offstage with the mind. Though Laertes and Fortinbras are the characters usually
honors due a soldier. seen as Hamlet's "doubles," Ophelia functions as a kind of

female double of Hamlet—mirroring Hamlet's half-madness Yorick — A jester at Elsinore in Hamlet's youth.
with her own full-blown insanity, and takes his obsession with Captain — An officer in Fortinbras's army.
suicide a step further and actually commits it.
The Ghost — The spirit that claims to be Hamlet's dead father,
forced to endure the fires of Purgatory because he was THEMES
murdered by Claudius in his sleep without being able to ask
forgiveness for his sins. The Ghost orders Hamlet to get In LitCharts literature guides, each theme gets its own color-
revenge against Claudius, but spare Gertrude. Evidence in the coded icon. These icons make it easy to track where the themes
play suggests that the Ghost really is the spirit of Hamlet's occur most prominently throughout the work. If you don't have
father, though Hamlet himself wonders at times if the Ghost a color printer, you can still use the icons to track themes in
might be a demon in disguise. black and white.
Rosencr
Rosencrantz
antz and Guildenstern — Friends of Hamlet's from
Wittenberg who help Claudius and Gertrude try and figure out
ACTION AND INACTION
the source of Hamlet's melancholy. Hamlet sees that the two Hamlet fits in a literary tradition called the revenge
are, essentially, spying on him, and turns on them. Rosencrantz play, in which a man must take revenge against
and Guildenstern aren't the smartest fellows, but they do seem those who have in some way wronged him. Yet
to mean well, and the announcement of their deaths at the end Hamlet turns the revenge play on its head in an ingenious way:
of the play helps to drive home the absurd and bloody lengths Hamlet, the man seeking revenge, can't actually bring himself
to which vengeance can extend once it is unleashed. to take revenge. For reason after reason, some clear to the
audience, some not, he delays. Hamlet's delay has been a
MINOR CHARACTERS subject of debate from the day the play was first performed,
and he is often held up as an example of the classic "indecisive"
Laertes — Polonius's son and Ophelia's brother. Laertes is person, who thinks to much and acts too little. But Hamlet is
hotheaded and passionate, and loves his family deeply. As a more complicated and interesting than such simplistic analysis
man prone to action rather than thought who also seeks to would indicate. Because while it's true that Hamlet fails to act
revenge the death of his father, he serves as a "double" to while many other people do act, it's not as if the actions of the
Hamlet, providing numerous points of comparison. other characters in the play work out. Claudius's plots backfire,
Hor
Horatio
atio — A university friend of Hamlet's at Wittenberg, Gertrude marries her husband's murderer and dies for it,
Horatio becomes Hamlet's confidant in his effort to take Laertes is manipulated and killed by his own treachery, and on,
revenge against Claudius. Hamlet values Horatio's self- and on, and on. In the end, Hamlet does not provide a
restraint: Horatio is the character in Hamlet least moved by conclusion about the merits of action versus inaction. Instead,
passion. the play makes the deeply cynical suggestion that there is only
Fortinbr
ortinbras
as — A prince of Norway, whose father, Old Fortinbras, one result of both action and inaction—death.
died in battle with Old Hamlet and lost lands to Denmark.
Fortinbras seeks to revenge his father's death and retake the APPEARANCE VS. REALITY
lost lands. As another son seeking revenge for his father, In Act 1, scene 2 of Hamlet, Gertrude asks why
Fortinbras offers another "double" of Hamlet.
Hamlet is still in mourning two months after his
Osric — A foppish nobleman who flatters everyone more father died: "Why seems it so particular with thee?"
powerful than him and speaks in very flowery language. Hamlet responds: "Seems, madam? Nay, it is, I know not
First Pla
Playyer — The leader of the troupe of actors who come to 'seems.'" (1.2.75-76). The difference between "seems"
Elsinore. (appearance) and "is" (reality) is crucial in Hamlet. Every
character is constantly trying to figure out what the other
Gr
Graavediggers — Two commoners employed to dig the graves in
characters think, as opposed to what those characters are
the local churchyard.
pretending to think. The characters try to figure each other out
Marcellus — A guardsman of Elsinore. by using deception of their own, such as spying and plotting.
Barnardo — A guardsman of Elsinore. But Hamlet takes it a step further. He not only investigates
Francisco — A guardsman of Elsinore. other people, he also peers into his own soul and asks
Voltemand — A Danish ambassador to Norway. philosophical and religious questions about life and death.
Hamlet's obsession with what's real has three main effects: 1)
Cornelius — A Danish ambassador to Norway. he becomes so caught up in the search for reality that he
Re
Reynaldo
ynaldo — A servant of Polonius. ceases to be able to act; 2) in order to prove what's real and

what isn't Hamlet himself must hide his "reality" behind an POISON, CORRUPTION, DEATH
"appearance" of madness; 3) the more closely Hamlet looks, the
In medieval times people believed that the health of
less real and coherent everything seems to be. Many analyses of
a nation was connected to the legitimacy of its king.
Hamlet focus only on the first effect, Hamlet's indecisiveness. In Hamlet, Denmark is often described as poisoned,
But the second two effects are just as important. The second diseased, or corrupt under Claudius's leadership. As visible in
shows that the relationship between appearance and reality is the nervous soldiers on the ramparts in the first scene and the
indistinct. The third suggests that the world is founded on commoners outside the castle who Claudius fears might rise up
fundamental inconsistencies that most people overlook, and in rebellion, even those who don't know that Claudius
that it is this failure to recognize inconsistencies that allows murdered Old Hamlet sense the corruption of Denmark and
them to act. Hamlet's fatal flaw isn't that he's wrong to see are disturbed. It is as if the poison Claudius poured into Old
uncertainty in everything, but that he's right. Hamlet's ear has spread through Denmark itself.
Hamlet also speaks in terms of rot and corruption, describing
WOMEN the world as an "unweeded garden" and constantly referring to
There are two important issues regarding women decomposing bodies. But Hamlet does not limit himself to
in Hamlet: how Hamlet sees women and women's Denmark; he talks about all of life in these disgusting images. In
social position. Hamlet's view of women is fact, Hamlet only seems comfortable with things that are dead:
decidedly dark. In fact, the few times that Hamlet's pretend he reveres his father, claims to love Ophelia once she's dead,
madness seems to veer into actual madness occur when he and handles Yorick's skull with tender care. No, what disgusts
gets furious at women. Gertrude's marriage to Claudius has him is life: his mother's sexuality, women wearing makeup to
convinced Hamlet that women are untrustworthy, that their hide their age, worms feeding on a corpse, people lying to get
beauty is a cover for deceit and sexual desire. For Hamlet, their way. By the end of the play, Hamlet argues that death is
women are living embodiments of appearance's corrupt effort the one true reality, and he seems to view all of life as
to eclipse reality. "appearance" doing everything it can—from seeking power, to
As for women's social position, its defining characteristic is lying, to committing murder, to engaging in passionate and
powerlessness. Gertrude's quick marriage to Claudius, though illegitimate sex—to hide from that reality.
immoral, is also her only way to maintain her status. Ophelia
has even fewer options. While Hamlet waits to seek revenge for
his father's death, Ophelia, as a woman, can't act—all she can do SYMBOLS
is wait for Laertes to return and take his revenge. Ophelia's
Symbols appear in blue text throughout the Summary and
predicament is symbolic of women's position in general in Analysis sections of this LitChart.
Hamlet: they are completely dependent on men.
RELIGION, HONOR, AND REVENGE YORICK'S SKULL

Every society is defined by its codes of conduct—its Hamlet is not a very symbolic play. In fact, the only
rules about how to act and behave. There are many object that one can easily pick out as a symbol in
scenes in Hamlet when one person tells another the play is the skull of Yorick, a former court jester, which
how to act: Claudius lectures Hamlet on the proper show of Hamlet finds with Horatio in the graveyard near Elsinore in Act
grief; Polonius advises Laertes on practical rules for getting by 5, scene 1. As Hamlet picks up the skull and both talks to the
at university in France; Hamlet constantly lectures himself on deceased Yorick and to Horatio about the skull, it becomes
what he should be doing. In Hamlet, the codes of conduct are clear that the skull represents the inevitability of death. But
largely defined by religion and an aristocratic code that what is perhaps most interesting about the skull as a symbol is
demands honor and revenge if honor has been soiled. that, while in most plays, a symbol means one thing to the
audience and another to the characters in the novel or play, in
But as Hamlet actually begins to pursue revenge against
Hamlet it is Hamlet himself who recognizes and explains the
Claudius, he discovers that the codes of conduct themselves
symbolism of Yorick's skull. Even this symbol serves to
don't fit together. Religion actually opposes revenge, which
emphasize Hamlet's power as a character: he is as
would mean that taking revenge could endanger Hamlet's own
sophisticated as his audience.
soul. In other words, Hamlet discovers that the codes of
conduct on which society is founded are contradictory. In such
a world, Hamlet suggests, the reasons for revenge become
muddy, and the idea of justice confused.

QUO
QUOTES
TES Explanation and Analysis
Note: all page numbers for the quotes below refer to the Simon Hamlet is left alone at this point and enters into his first
& Schuster edition of Hamlet published in 1992. soliloquy. He discourses on the spite he feels for the other
characters and ponders the merits of suicide.
Act 1, scene 2 Quotes Though the question of suicide is most famously explored in
Seems, madam! Nay, it is; I know not "seems." Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” speech, it appears already at
this early moment in the play. Shakespeare, then, does not
present Hamlet’s depressive rumination as so much the
Related Characters: Hamlet (speaker), Gertrude result of specific plot elements, but rather as an inherent
component of his personality. In this case, the language
Related Themes: remains more metaphorical and less assertive than it will be
later.
Page Number: 1.2.79
What Hamlet desires is not to actively destroy his flesh but
Explanation and Analysis rather to let it passively become liquid through some
Hamlet says this line to his mother Gertrude when she process: It does not matter to him how this is
inquires why he “seems” to be so dismayed. He corrects her done—melting, thawing, or inexplicable transformation—are
word choice and points out that his sadness is an accurate all acceptable routes. He simply bids the natural world to
reflection of his emotional state after his father’s allow this to occur in some way. (Associating suicide with
death—rather than an external performance of mourning. water imagery also foreshadows Ophelia’s drowning later in
the play.) The use of the interjection “O,” the conditional
The difference between the truth of interior emotions (“is”)
construction with “would,” and the repetition of “too too” all
and exterior presentations in a social context (“seems”) is a
give the line a mournful and apathetic tone. Thus the
critical theme throughout Hamlet. Many of the characters
passage positions the limits of human life as an important
hide their true intentions in order to plot against others, and
thematic conceit, while giving us a starting point of relative
Hamlet’s actions, in particular, are the subject of much
passivity toward the idea—which will come to contrast with
skepticism. As he becomes increasingly irrational and
Hamlet’s more assertive musings.
distraught, both the other characters and the audience of
Shakespeare’s work are tasked to determine whether these
behaviors are appearances or realities.
Hamlet has encapsulated this central concern of the play, Frailty, thy name is woman!
here, within the correction of a single verb. The passage
points out that while other characters may be more likely to Related Characters: Hamlet (speaker), Gertrude
attribute actions to displays of emotion, Hamlet holds a
commitment to actual sentiment. Of course, we also must Related Themes:
be skeptical of such a line: Perhaps Hamlet’s insistence on
the “is” actually reveals just how carefully he coordinates his Page Number: 1.2.150
speeches. But regardless of whether we trust him, it is clear
Explanation and Analysis
that he and Shakespeare have put high stakes on linguistic
precision and the coherence between belief and act. In his soliloquy, Hamlet expresses disgust for Gertrude’s
actions in the wake of King Hamlet’s death. The protagonist
complains of her lustful nature and her moral weakness.
O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, Shakespeare develops in this phrase a clever rhetorical
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew. strategy—one that has endured and been used in texts that
range from James Joyce's Ulysses to a Supreme Court
dissension to a Pokémon episode. The literal meaning of the
Related Characters: Hamlet (speaker) sentence is that woman are frail, but by inverting the order
of the sentence, he forefronts the accusative quality. Then
Related Themes: by making the subject the “name” of the quality, he implies
that frailty is epitomized and embodied by the female
Page Number: 1.2.33-34
character. According to this logic, it is not just that some

women are frail, but rather that they are synonymous with Related Characters: Polonius (speaker), Laertes
frailty.
Despite the rhetorical power of the statement, it is also a Related Themes:
gross generalization—something of which Shakespeare
would have certainly been aware. Hamlet rapidly switches
from examining the specific case of Gertrude to making a Explanation and Analysis
general comment on her entire sex, which points to his
As Laertes departs for France, his father Polonius gives an
tendency for rash action and totalizing language. We see,
extensive speech on how he should comport himself abroad.
then, the playwright giving linguistic power to his
Here, he discusses how Laertes should represent his
characters, even as he also displays their shortcomings in
interior beliefs to others.
rationality and sensibility.
These lines are actually some of the most commonly
misinterpreted from all of Shakespeare’s work. Looked at in
isolation, they seem to recommend that Laertes act with
Thrift, thrift, Horatio! The funeral bak'd meats integrity toward others and represent himself perfectly in
Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables. accord with his interiority. Polonius contends that if he is
faithful to his “ownself” internally, then his outward nature
Related Characters: Hamlet (speaker), Claudius, Gertrude, “to any man” will be equally honest and correct. Yet earlier
Horatio in the same speech Polonius tells Laertes, “Look thou
character. Give thy thoughts no tongue”—which advises
Related Themes: extensive self-control, in which a “character” is monitored
and “thoughts” are left un-vocalized when it suits the
Page Number: 1.2.87-88 thinker. Polonius, then, is speaking these later lines with a
deep sense of irony: one should be true only in so far as one
is in control of one’s thoughts and actions.
Hamlet continues to rant about Claudius and Gertrude’s
It is essential to be on the lookout throughout Hamlet for
marriage. Here, he complains to Horatio about how rapidly
these types of ironies, particularly when characters are
their wedding took place after his father’s death.
reflecting on questions of performance and integrity. Quite
To do so, Hamlet uses a grotesque image of the same food often a few lines in isolation will seem earnest, but when
being served at the funeral and the marriage. What were given more context will actually present the speaker as lying
“bak’d meats” (baked meats) at his father’s death are or jesting. Thus by professing that there is an internal self to
allowed to chill and then be repurposed for Hamlet's whom Laertes could be true, Polonius only complicates the
father's widow and brother. This is, of course, not a literal stakes of identity—and shows even more so how the self is
description of what occurred with the meals at each the result of performance and ever-changing construction.
ceremony, but rather a rhetorical way for Hamlet to stress
the speed and discourtesy of his mother’s actions. That
Hamlet chooses the exclamation “thrift, thrift” brings a Act 1, scene 4 Quotes
darkly economic dimension into the text. The term indicates
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
that Gertrude and Claudius reused the meats in order to
save expenses—which would be an offensive choice in the
wake of her husband’s death. Thus it is not just speed that Related Characters: Marcellus (speaker)
falls under critique here, but rather the casual and
desensitized way they have acted. The passage stresses Related Themes:
both the importance of social norms in Hamlet’s world, but
also how flagrantly they have been violated in the specific Page Number: 1.4.100
events of the play.
Marcellus says this line after watching Hamlet run after the
Act 1, scene 3 Quotes Ghost of his father. He observes, darkly, the negative state
of both Hamlet’s mind and the corresponding political
This above all — to thine own self be true; situation of Denmark.
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

Though the line is said in response to Hamlet’s emotional Though Claudius is externally “smiling” and thus presenting
outburst and irrational behavior, it does not place blame on a positive, friendly image, he is internally still a “villain.” The
him directly. Rather, it presents his action to be the result of term “damned” also adds important information: Claudius is
an environmental factor: it is the general “state of Denmark” ethically accountable for his actions and fated to a negative
that holds the “rotten” quality. Yet at the same time fate as a result of them. This term implies, then, that Hamlet
Mercellus leaves the source entirely ambiguous with the believes in a system of moral justice, be it religious or
subject “Something.” That something could be a person like secular, and furthermore stresses that this justice will be
Claudius, or perhaps Hamlet’s madness, or perhaps the imposed based on interior identities, not on the external
Ghost itself, who is driving Hamlet to ruinous action. performance of how one comforts with smiles.
Thus Shakespeare’s work leaves undisclosed the precise
source of the tragedy: if a more conventional tale would give
us specific heroes and villains who are deemed either good There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
or "rotten," the triumph of Hamlet is to leave uncertain who Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
exactly is “rotten.” The line also notably brings a political
element to bear on the actions, drawing attention to how
Related Characters: Hamlet (speaker), Horatio
Hamlet and his father both have a direct effect on the
“state.” Though this is a less-often analyzed strain of the
Related Themes:
play, it is important to recall the geopolitical developments
that form the backdrop of the text. Here, we see Page Number: 1.5.187-188
foreshadowed the decay of Denmark and the way it will be
vulnerable to foreign encroachment. Explanation and Analysis
After speaking to the Ghost, Hamlet expresses a skepticism
with Horatio’s observation that the ghost is “strange.”
Act 1, scene 5 Quotes Hamlet points out here that Horatio’s way of viewing the
O, villain, villain, smiling, damned villain! world has excluded certain phenomena and experiences and
thus has caused him to limit his idea of reality.
Related Characters: Hamlet (speaker), Claudius To assert this claim, Hamlet notes that Horatio is limited in
his perceptions of what exists. This limitation exists in both
Related Themes: “heaven and earth,” implying that Horatio is blind to not only
things in a different realm (“heaven”) but also to what he
Page Number: 1.5.113 could presumably see on “earth,” such as the Ghost. Hamlet
implies that a given way of viewing the world prevents us
Explanation and Analysis from perceiving even those things all around us. He uses the
As Hamlet converses with the Ghost, he curses both term “philosophy” rather loosely then—not as a set of
Gertrude and Claudius. Here, he exclaims on how Claudius metaphysical concepts on, say, the existence of free will or
is deceptive and presents an aura of goodwill despite his evil God, but rather something more like a personal philosophy
intent. that dictates what is considered “strange” in the world.
It’s worthwhile to track some of Hamlet’s repeated speech The phrase “dreamt of,” after all, positions “philosophy” not
formations: once more he uses the interjection “O” to stress as a rational body of thought, but rather something pseudo-
the emotional intensity of the phrase, and his triple scientific or even mystical. Hamlet could very well have said
invocation of “villain” is also characteristic of how he will “Than exist in your philosophy,” but instead he chooses to
often repeat words many times to build emphasis. Here, present belief systems as akin to one’s dreams. Thus Hamlet
“villain” is first said twice to doubly-inscribe the role to can justify both his own somewhat erratic behavior by
Claudius, after which it is qualified with the mixed rendering it equally valid as a dreamt-of philosophy, and
descriptor “smiling, damned.” Thus the reader only sees the more broadly call into question any reader’s assumptions of
specific qualities of Claudius behavior after we have been the arbitrary separation of normal and strange.
told repeatedly that they are evil.
Those specific qualities return us to the question of how
one separates interior identity from exterior presentation.

Act 2, scene 2 Quotes

Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit, Related Themes:
And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,
I will be brief. Page Number: 2.2.68-70

Related Characters: Polonius (speaker) Here Hamlet speaks to his old friends Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern. They have tried to express that Denmark is
Related Themes: not as bad as Hamlet presents it to be, and in response he
notes that the merit in things lies less in their actual
existence and more in how they are subjectively
Explanation and Analysis experienced.
After completing his diplomatic relations with Claudius and In the broadest sense, Hamlet is offering a brilliant
Gertrude, Polonius begins to speak about Hamlet’s metaphysical claim about the nature of reality: he is denying
madness. He introduces the speech with this construction that external events are ever “good or bad,” but rather
that cherishes and promises concise language. become so based on how one is “thinking.” It is not clear, in
this case, whether Hamlet believes one can actively will via
The phrase “brevity is the soul of wit” is another example of
“thinking” for something to become positive or negative—or
how Shakespeare will invert sentence structures for
if he fatalistically believes that whatever one’s mental state
emphatic and rhetorical effect. Most simply this means, “it is
is will determine if something is “good or bad.” Most likely,
important to be brief in order to be witty”—but Polonius
the second option is the case here, as Rosencrantz and
instead makes “brevity” a central, constitutive aspect of
Guildenstern have tried to shift his “thinking,” but Hamlet
“wit,” as opposed to a common feature. Just as Hamlet called
presents his interpretation of reality as pre-determined.
women the name of frailty, here Polonius has rendered
This sort of nihilistic explanation may seem commonplace
brevity to be wit’s soul. “Tediousness,” on the other hand, is
now, but it was certainly not widespread in Shakespeare’s
associated with the external parts of the body—the material
time—and it is part of the reason for Hamlet’s lasting legacy
that is superficial and extraneous. Polonius uses this phrase
as an early account of modern human psychology.
to justify and introduce his “brief” speech.
Furthermore, this comment stresses that while Hamlet may
As with many of Polonius’ statements, however, these lines seem to be descending increasingly into madness, that
are deeply ironic. Polonius is always a verbose character, process has also given him a certain type of insight into the
and this speech is particularly rambling: he discourses reality of the world.
extensive about the nature of Hamlet’s madness without
making any particularly useful or incisive contributions.
These lines themselves serve to elongate the
position—adding “an outward flourish” in the very act of I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of
denouncing such a gesture. We should note, furthermore, infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams.
that Polonius is not interested in “truth” per say, but rather
just “wit”—which itself a type of “outward flourish.” On the Related Characters: Hamlet (speaker)
simplest level, this irony further undermines Polonius’s
character, presenting him ever more as an unaware fool. But Related Themes:
it also offers a broader comment on how people’s promises
and intentions often differ from their actions: One may Page Number: 2.2.273-275
claim brevity to be the soul of wit while failing to be either
brief or witty.
Hamlet continues to reflect on whether his happiness is
primarily based on his disposition or events occurring in the
external environment. Here, he points out that joy would
There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it come easily to him except for the psychic baggage of
so. negative dreams.
What exactly Hamlet means by “bad dreams” is, however,
Related Characters: Hamlet (speaker) far from clear. Hamlet is often fixated on his and others’

dreams, for they exist on the borderline of reality. They thus the most beautiful thing in the world and deemed the
seem to introduce foreign or irrational concepts into daily “paragon” or best of all animals. The turn comes when
life—here ones that prevent one from living peacefully. Hamlet says that despite all these remarkable
Were Hamlet not to have these invasive thoughts, he characteristics, humans are just “this quintessence of dust”:
implies, he would live ignorantly but at peace. “Bounded in a Their essential quality is neither noble nor beautiful, but just
nutshell” functions as a metaphor for a closed and secluded basic material of the earth.
world with no stream of information—and without being Yet even before the chilling last line, the phrases glimmer
tempted by anything exterior, Hamlet would be able to with a negative bent. Hamlet shouts with a seemingly
redefine his reality as “a king of infinite space.” His mind ecstatic air, but the obsessive repetition of exclamation
could set its own limits and be content and empowered marks grows hollow by the eighth repetition—putting the
even with an objectively negative situation. Dreams, emphasis more on the phrase’s desperation than any sense
however, allow one access beyond one’s own reality—so of real excitement. Likening men to angels or a god may just
they become a metaphor for escaping the nutshell and then seem laudatory, but it is also implausible, and so it comes off
becoming dissatisfied with its cramped surroundings. as parodic or shrill. Hamlet thus pokes fun at the way that
Another, slightly narrower, interpretation could see his humanity has built up a conceited vision of itself, and points
communication with the Ghost as a sort of dream, for the out that they are all fundamentally dust: they have come
specter appears only at night and does not speak with any from nothing and, being mortal, will eventually return to
other characters. In that case, Hamlet implies that the that state.
Ghost is his “bad dream”: for he introduces the ethical
imperative to avenge his father by killing Claudius. In both
cases, Hamlet seems nostalgic for a state of lesser What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,
awareness in which he could still be that ignorant “king of That he should weep for her?
infinite space.”
Related Characters: Hamlet (speaker), First Player

What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how Related Themes:
infinite in faculty! in form, in moving, how express and
admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like Page Number: 2.2.586-587
a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet,
to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Explanation and Analysis
Here Hamlet responds to having watched one of the actors
Related Characters: Hamlet (speaker) perform a speech from the Trojan War, in which Hecuba
grieves for her husband Priam. He struggles with his own
Related Themes: emotional apathy at his father’s death, considering how
intensely the player could exhibit emotion for a fictional
Page Number: 2.2.327-332 grief.
Hamlet’s anxiety here occurs on several levels. First, he is
confronting the fact that he has not yet avenged his father.
Hamlet continues to soliloquize to Rosencrantz and He is distraught that someone who is merely performing
Guildenstern about human nature. He first lauds mankind’s grief would seem capable of serious action, whereas he
many incredible characteristics in accomplishments before himself deliberates and talks endlessly without having
tempering his praise by pointing out human mortality. acted. There is thus a disjunction between the “him” of the
At first, Hamlet seems to have strikingly changed his tone actor and the historical figure of Hecuba that has caused
from his previous condemnations of human nature. Man’s him to weep—in a way that makes Hamlet feel he should be
reason is “noble” or honorable and just, while the “infinite” more capable of weeping.
nature of his “faculty” means it can extend beyond mundane But the passage also returns us to the questions of
occurrences. He then appreciates the external appearance performance that have occupied Hamlet throughout the
and behaviors of humanity, likening them first to an “angel” text. After all, he does not presumably believe that the
and then “a god.” Indeed, at the time humans are considered player actually identifies fully with Hecuba—and thus his


concern over the weeping has more to do with the fact that
humans are able to craft their emotions so effectively. This To be, or not to be, —that is the question:—
ability calls into the question anyone’s emotional Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
responses—even his own—for they seem less predicated on The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
actual feelings, if Hamlet’s request that the player take on a Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
role allows him to do so with ease. Hamlet will, of course, And by opposing end them?
make use of this exact quality in the next act, when he puts
on a mock play to test Claudius’s response, so he is far from Related Characters: Hamlet (speaker)
dispensing with the performative aspect of emotions.
Rather, Shakespeare shows us a character struggling to Related Themes:
make sense of the disconnect between interior and
exterior—here with the artifice of theater itself. Page Number: 3.1.64-68

While Polonius and Claudius hide and eavesdrop, Hamlet
The play's the thing,
breaks into this most famous soliloquy, perhaps the best-
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.
known speech in the English language. Hamlet returns to
the question of suicide, wondering if it would be preferable
Related Characters: Hamlet (speaker) to end his life or not.
Though Hamlet’s language has grown more direct from its
Related Themes:
earlier references to "dew," it still speaks to his passivity in
the face of desperation. He phrases the question of death in
the abstract with the infinitive verb forms “to be, or not to
Explanation and Analysis be”—and makes it “the question” of humanity, as opposed to
As Act Two ends, Hamlet’s settles on a plan to determine a personal matter. These choices imply that the decision
whether Claudius is guilty: he proposes to stage an altered whether or not to exist is a constant struggle for each
version of The Murder of Gonzago, which will have much in person, a struggle that Hamlet tries to mediate through the
common with the story the Ghost recounted of his murder. metric of what is “nobler in the mind.” This phrase implies
Thus by watching Claudius’s response, Hamlet hopes to that death is evaluated based on perceived correctness or
ascertain his guilt. social value, as opposed to, say, a universal ethical system.
That Hamlet sees theater as the way to best access human For the two options themselves, Hamlet chooses evocative
truth is somewhat ironic. The art form would seem to images: “To be” is put in relatively more passive terms as a
epitomize performance and deceit, for it shows just how continuous process of “suffering” an onslaught of external
easily people can take on alternate identities and emotions. attacks from “outrageous fortune”—that is to say, the
Yet this is the exact quality of theater that Hamlet seeks to constant influx of events that cannot be shifted in one’s
exploit, for staging the play in a certain way will allow it to destiny. Suicide, on the other hand, is presented as an active
function as a trap for “the conscience.” Artificiality, he fight that wages war on “a sea of troubles” and, indeed, is
implies, can serve as a route to honesty if properly successful in the endeavor. The phrase “by opposing end
exploited. them” seems noble or glorious, but what it literally means is
to vanquish one’s “outrageous fortune” by ending one’s life.
The comment also has meta-textual implications for the Thus Hamlet presents his lack of suicide not as the result of
play, for if Hamlet is using The Murder of Gonzago to his insufficient desperation, but rather his apathy from wishing
advantage, he is himself on trial within Shakespeare’s to take on such a fight. Life becomes, for him, a constant
tragedy. Yet things are not so clear cut in Shakespeare’s decision of whether he will finally arrive at sufficient
work: in a sense, the characters remain caught in his artifice, motivation to shift course and end his and/or Claudius’s life.
displaying their “conscience” for the viewer. But at the same
time their mixed motives and allegiances resist our
interpretive abilities—we remain uncertain whether Hamlet
is mad or whether Claudius is fully guilty—thus questioning Get thee to a nunnery: why wouldst thou be a breeder of
the limits of an artwork to reveal the truth of a conscience. sinners? I am myself indifferent honest; but yet I could
accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not
borne me.

Related Characters: Hamlet (speaker), Ophelia

Related Themes:
Related Themes:
Page Number: 3.1.131-134 Explanation and Analysis
Explanation and Analysis Hamlet responds angrily to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
After Ophelia tries to return a set of gifts Hamlet has given here, believing correctly that they are agents from his
her, he renounces their relationship. He first disparages mother. He rejects their support as manipulative and
Ophelia for her lack of honesty, and then implicates himself asserts his own autonomy.
as the cause of moral wrongdoing. To criticize his friends’ actions, Hamlet uses a series of
This passage is another striking example of how Hamlet’s images of instruments, each of which position Rosencrantz
apparent insanity covers up complex reflections on human and Guildenstern as seeking to “play upon” Hamlet. “My
nature and society. His general claim is that Ophelia should stops” refers to the holes in a recorder or flute, also called a
not continue to propagate the species, for all men are “fret,” while “pluck” calls up a stringed instrument such as a
sinners even if they are generally honest and well- lute (which also has "frets"). By mixing a variety of different
intentioned. Yet instead of expressing this statement instruments, Hamlet points out that Rosencrantz and
directly, Hamlet couches it in the lunatic demand that Guildenstern’s tactics are lacking in specificity. It does not
Ophelia enter a “nunnery”: a place where should would be matter which metaphor they select, or which type of
celibate and therefore unable to “be a breeder of sinners,” instrument they imagine Hamlet to be. They may “fret”
or give birth to more children. him—a pun on playing an instrument, but also provoking
frustration or angst—but he refuses to produce the
Though this passage might be interpreted in passing as
corresponding music.
chastising Ophelia for her sins, Hamlet’s claim is actually
based on his own transgressions. He notes, in a somewhat Hamlet demonstrates with these images his understanding
roundabout manner, that others could consider his actions of the game being played by his friends: he resists
reprehensible despite his “indifferent honest” behavior: manipulation by pointing out that their effects are
“indifferent” in that he remains relatively passive, and foolhardy. And his references to art are striking, considering
“honest” in that any sins are supposedly driven by a strong the way that theater has been used to make sense of human
moral compass. Yet, Hamlet reasons, if even his disposition duplicity and manipulation. Shakespeare thus present the
makes him worthy of accusation, then presumably other arts as a way for the characters to conceptualize human
similar men are sinners, and Ophelia should not risk giving interaction—to theorize, grasp, and fight against the way we
birth to one of them. Shakespeare, here, shows how try to control each other.
Hamlet’s nihilistic images of the world are a fascinating
mixture of compelling and irrational. The logic makes sense
and carries deep philosophical weight, while being Act 3, scene 3 Quotes
simultaneously insensitive and outrageous. The two, My words fly up, my thoughts remain below;
Shakespeare shows us, can quite easily coexist. Words without thoughts never to heaven go.
Related Characters: Claudius (speaker)

Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of me. Related Themes:
You would play upon me; you would seem to know my stops;
you would pluck out the heart of my mystery ... 'Sblood, do you Page Number: 3.2.102-103
think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what
instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play
upon me. Hamlet enters into Claudius’s chambers, intending to kill
him, but decides against it when he sees him praying. Yet
after Hamlet exits, Claudius reveals here that his prayers
Related Characters: Hamlet (speaker), Rosencrantz and were in vain, for they were mere words without the
Guildenstern associated repentant thoughts.

These lines return to the theme of external presentation that Claudius may soon meet a similar fate as Polonius. And
and internal identity, here by approaching the question of third, Hamlet points out how humans of all social statuses
language. Claudius points out that “words” and the find equal ground in their death. Since the worms now
“thoughts” they convey are not necessarily linked, for the feasting on Polonius are transforming his flesh into soil, his
language may “fly up” with the intent to access the heavens, body may soon be feeding someone of lowly status like “a
while their contents “remain below” in an earthly, or even beggar.”
hellish, realm. This is a clever explanation of what it means This point returns to Hamlet’s earlier anxieties about how
to lie, and Claudius points out that while such a separation humans, despite their nobility and pretenses, are never
of word and meaning might be effective in human anything more than “dust.” Here, he takes this same
interactions, it does not at all function in prayer. When he comment and makes it a weapon against the pomp of a
says “Words without thought never to heaven go,” he kingly figure like Claudius. Once more Shakespeare has
repeats the exact same words from the previous line to housed this compelling reflection on human mortality in a
show that while his language may “fly up,” it will not actually multi-layered comment that encapsulates Hamlet’s
reach its destination in “heaven.” Thus a repenting prayer is madness, manipulation, and jesting nature in a single line.
deemed to require a higher truth-value than human
communication, because divinities are able to correctly
recognize when content and language—interior and Act 5, scene 1 Quotes
exterior—have been divorced.
Alas! poor Yorick. I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite
Beyond rendering ironic Hamlet’s decision to not kill the
jest.... Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs?
praying Claudius, this passage also gives us important
your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a
information about the spiritual belief systems of the
roar?
characters. Even the sinner Claudius, who does not repent,
is shown to be aware of the consequences of his actions.
Thus the characters hold a continued belief in divine destiny Related Characters: Hamlet (speaker), Horatio, Yorick
that can see through performances to some kind of interior
truth. Related Themes:
Related Symbols:
Claudius: What dost thou mean by this?
Hamlet: Nothing but to show you how a king may go a progress Explanation and Analysis
through the guts of a beggar. As Hamlet speaks to the gravediggers, he comes across a
skull and learns it is from the court jester Yorick. This shock
Related Characters: Hamlet, Claudius (speaker) causes Hamlet to wonder about the distance between
Yorick’s behavior in life and his current decaying state.
Related Themes: This passage mixes Hamlet’s characteristic philosophical
rumination with an intense dark humor. He offers a series of
Page Number: 4.3.33-35 apostrophe-questions addressed to Yorick, which point out
Explanation and Analysis how the dead man will remain ever unable to respond. And
the jocular disposition of Yorick reiterates the lack of humor
When Claudius asks Hamlet where he has put Polonius’s
in the current situation. Thus Hamlet is able to take a
body, Hamlet offers an expectedly indirect response that
positive set of terms—“jest,” “gibes,” “gambols,” “songs,” and
Polonius is food for worms. He adds, here, that this is the
“merriment”—and turn them all into bleak descriptions of
eventual fate of all men.
what has been lost. The lines recall his earlier description of
Hamlet’s comment functions simultaneously as an evasive how man’s nobility only served to cover an essence of dust.
maneuver, an indirect threat, and an existential comment on Yet here it is not only great deeds that fade into non-
humanity. First, it allows him to avoid giving a specific existence, but even small moments of laughter. Shakespeare
location for the body—stressing that it does not matter thus channels the grave scene to point out how the most
where Polonius is located, for his fate in all places is the impressive accomplishments—be they the creation of
same. Second, he implies through the reference to “a king”

Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince;
kingdoms or of “infinite jest”—ultimately end in an empty And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
and absent skull.
Related Characters: Horatio (speaker), Hamlet
Act 5, scene 2 Quotes Related Themes:
We defy augury; there's a special providence in the fall of a
sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will Page Number: 5.2.397-398
be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all.
As Hamlet dies, Horatio speaks these emotional words of
Related Characters: Hamlet (speaker)
farewell. With them, he sanctifies Hamlet’s character and
actions in the final moments of the play.
Related Themes:
First Horatio stresses both Hamlet’s royal heritage and his
Page Number: 5.2.233-237 moral goodness through the term “noble heart.” Next, he
reasserts Hamlet’s social position by referring to him as
Explanation and Analysis “sweet prince.” And finally he gives him a religious and
Before the play’s final duel commences, Horatio and Hamlet ethical pass by claiming that “flights of angels” will
discuss his chances of wining the fight. Hamlet expresses accompany his death. Each of these moves is significant for
confidence in his abilities, as well as a fatalistic belief that a friend that has, throughout the play, often expressed
death will come to all at some point. mixed beliefs with respect to Hamlet’s actions. Yet here,
Here, Hamlet stakes out a direct claim against a Horatio ignores such skepticisms and decides to fully
deterministic viewpoint with the phrase “We defy augury.” vindicate Hamlet on his deathbed.
(Augury was a means of predicting the future through What are we to make of how these final judgments are
observing the actions of birds.) Though Hamlet's resulting positioned in Horatio’s character? After all, he is presumably
language takes its cues from prophecy—with the term quite biased toward his friend, and thus cannot be trusted
“providence,” the image of a “sparrow.” which is often as the main moral judge of the play. Yet at the same time, he
interpreted as a portent, and the “will be” future verb is tasked by Hamlet with carrying on the legacy of the
tense—Hamlet firmly denies the value of such pseudo- events that have thus transpired—which renders him the
mystic beliefs. Instead, he points out that this “special author of the tragedy, and thus the closest representative of
providence” is actually just a sign of a fate that must Shakespeare himself. Perhaps Horatio returns here to
transpire at some point, no matter what. Death, for him, will Claudius’s earlier explanation of how his words would not
either come “now” in the moment of the duel, or it will arrive rise to heaven because they were divorced from his actual
at some future point. When he says, “yet it will come,” sentiments. Here, Horatio contends that Hamlet is indeed
Hamlet reiterates his point on the eventuality of death. responded to by the heavens—indicating that Hamlet's
Yet whereas before this conclusion might have crippled language has been a truthful representation of his
Hamlet from acting, here he finds in it a source of intentions. Whether or not one believes this to be accurate,
empowerment. Human mortality shows him that one need it reiterates the characters’ belief in a (religious) moral
not pay attention to “augury,” for the expectation of death compass for the play that could sense the real significance
will be manifested at one point or another—and thus of actions, and determine who deserved to rise to heaven.
Hamlet finally decides to take up arms against his demons.
Shakespeare shows, then, a decisive change in Hamlet's
character, in which existential despair can now actively
motivate action instead of paralyzing it.

SUMMARY AND ANAL

ANALYSIS
YSIS
The color-coded icons under each analysis entry make it easy to track where the themes occur most prominently throughout the
work. Each icon corresponds to one of the themes explained in the Themes section of this LitChart.
ACT 1, SCENE 1
On the ramparts of the Danish castle Elsinore, the guardsman Nervous cries of "who's there?" builds dread and develops theme of
Barnardo relieves Francisco. The men are nervous, calling out uncertain reality.
"Who's there?" Marcellus, another guard, and Horatio, a
nobleman, arrive.
A Ghost appears. It looks like the recently deceased Old The appearance of the ghost confirms something is not right in
Hamlet, King of Denmark. Horatio tries to speak to it, but it Denmark.
disappears.
Horatio says the ghost might be warning of an attack. After all, The ghost is connected immediately to the theme of
the prince of Norway, Fortinbras, is raising an army to retake revenge—Fortinbras's revenge.
lands that Old Hamlet won in battle from Fortinbras' father.
The Ghost reappears but disappears again without speaking Every father/son relationship in the play leads to revenge.
when the cock crows to greet the dawn. Horatio decides they
should tell Hamlet, the dead King's son, about the ghost.
ACT 1, SCENE 2
The next morning, King Claudius, the brother of the dead king, Claudius uses language as a tool to smooth over actions that are
holds court. He uses pretty language to make his recent immoral. He uses language to create the appearance of propriety.
marriage to Gertrude, his brother's widow, sound perfectly
normal. He says it is possible to balance "woe" and "joy."
Claudius then says he has received a message from Fortinbras Fortinbras is a son looking to avenge his father. He takes action,
demanding Denmark give up the lands Old Hamlet won from however seemingly foolish, to achieve his ends.
Old Fortinbras. He sends Cornelius and Voltemand with a
message to Fortinbras' elderly uncle, the King of Norway.
Claudius turns to Laertes, the son of the Lord Chamberlain, Laertes/Polonius is another father/son relationship.
Polonius. Laertes asks to be allowed to return to his studies in
France. Claudius agrees.
Next, Claudius turns to Hamlet, and asks why he is still dressed By emphasizing that how he "is" is more important than how he
in mourning clothes. Gertrude wonders why he "seems" so "seems," Hamlet implies that his interior reality is more powerful
upset. Hamlet says he "is" upset, and that his clothes can't than any appearance.
capture his true mourning.
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Claudius chides that it's natural for fathers to die and for sons Claudius lectures Hamlet on what's natural, but Claudius murdered
to mourn, but that mourning for too long is unnatural and his own brother! Appearance vs. reality. Also, Wittenberg was where
unmanly. He asks Hamlet to see him as a father, since Hamlet is the Reformation, a schism in religion, started.
first in line to the throne. He asks Hamlet not to return to
Wittenberg, Germany to study.
Gertrude seconds the request. Hamlet promises to obey his But, tellingly, he doesn't promise to obey Claudius.
mother.
All exit but Hamlet. In a soliloquy, Hamlet wishes he could die It's important to note that Hamlet's death wish exists even before
and that God had not made suicide a sin. He condemns the he learns of his father's murder. Fury at his mother's marriage to
marriage between his mother and uncle. He says Claudius is far Claudius is enough to make him contemplate suicide.
inferior to Old Hamlet, and, in anguish, describes Gertrude as a
lustful beast.
Horatio, Marcellus, and Barnardo enter. Hamlet, who studied Horatio proves he is willing to speak honestly about reality by noting
with Horatio at Wittenberg, is happy to see his friend, and the speed of the wedding.
pleased when Horatio agrees that Gertrude and Claudius's
marriage was hasty.
Horatio tells Hamlet about the ghost. Hamlet, troubled, Hamlet learns his internal feelings of unease are mirrored by
decides to watch with the men that night. spiritual unease in Denmark.
ACT 1, SCENE 3
As he prepares to leave for France, Laertes warns his sister Laertes worries about Ophelia's honor just as Hamlet worries about
Ophelia not to fall for Hamlet, a young man whose passions will Gertrude's.
change, and a prince who must marry to preserve the "sanity
and health" of the state.
Ophelia promises, but sassily tells Laertes to listen to his own Inequality between men and women.
advice.
Polonius enters, scolds his son for taking so long, then Father/son talk here mirrors Claudius's with Hamlet—except
immediately starts giving him long-winded advice about how to Polonius isn't just trying to hide a secret.
act: be sociable, but not vulgar; do not lend or borrow money;
to your own self be true, and on and on… Finally, he lets Laertes
leave.
Polonius asks Ophelia what she was talking about with Laertes. Polonius gave Laertes advice, but gives Ophelia orders: women in
Ophelia answers: Hamlet. After Polonius asks her to explain, Denmark are expected to obey.
she says that Hamlet has expressed his love for her. Polonius
tells her that Hamlet is pretending to love her in order to sleep
with her, and forbids her to talk to him.

Ophelia promises to obey. Just as Hamlet promised Gertrude.
ACT 1, SCENE 4
On the bitter cold ramparts, Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus Hamlet connects indulgence of desires to corruption. What looks
keep watch. Meanwhile, from inside the castle they hear the like enjoyment only hides internal corruption.
roar of revelry. Hamlet condemns Claudius's constant merry-
making, saying that it makes the noble Danes look "swinish" and
corrupt.
The Ghost appears and beckons Hamlet to follow it. But Religion provides no answers: what looks good could be evil.
Horatio and Marcellus hold him back: they think the ghost may
be a demon laying a trap for him.
Hamlet breaks free of them and follows after the Ghost. Hamlet takes decisive action.
Marcellus says "something is rotten in the state of Denmark" The nation suffers for the immorality of its leaders.
(1.4.90). They run after Hamlet.
ACT 1, SCENE 5
When Hamlet and the Ghost are alone, the Ghost speaks. It The Ghost reveals reality. Also note that the way Claudius murdered
claims to be the spirit of Old Hamlet, murdered by Claudius. Old Hamlet, by pouring poison into Old Hamlet's ear, is actually a
Though the official story is that Old Hamlet was napping in his wonderful metaphor for lying, for using language to hide reality.
garden and was stung by a serpent, in reality Claudius poured
poison into the sleeping man's ear, murdering him and sending
him to Purgatory because he was not given a chance to confess
his sins before he died.
The Ghost commands Hamlet to seek revenge against Claudius Another command from a father. Another promise to obey.
for murder and for corrupting Gertrude. Yet the Ghost also
warns Hamlet not to harm his mother. Dawn breaks. The Ghost
disappears.
Hamlet promises to do nothing but seek revenge. He curses Hamlet promises to act, yet he curses his mother before Claudius. A
first Gertrude, "O most pernicious woman!" (1.5.105), then "smiling villain" is an example of appearance vs. reality.
Claudius, "That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain!"
(1.5.108).
Horatio and Marcellus rush in. Hamlet refuses to tell them As soon as reality is revealed, Hamlet hides behind mask of
what happened, saying they'll reveal it. But he does say he may madness. But at times already he seems actually to be mad.
pretend to be insane, and makes them swear to silence on his
sword. The Ghost's voice echoes: Swear! They swear.

Hamlet despairs at the burden the Ghost has given him: "The A few lines after promising to seek revenge, Hamlet is already
time is out of joint. / O cursed spite! That ever I was born to set cursing his fate.
it right!" (1.5.189-190).
ACT 2, SCENE 1
Polonius sends his servant Reynaldo to Paris to give Laertes Polonius is established here as a meddler; he instructs Reynaldo in
some money and letters, but also to secretly check up on him. using appearance to hide reality.
Polonius's instructions are so detailed and complicated that
they are absurd.
Ophelia enters, upset. She tells Polonius that Hamlet burst into Is Hamlet pretending, or is he actually mad? The answer isn't clear.
her room and held her wrists, studying her face and sighing.
Then he left without a word.
Polonius concludes that Hamlet has gone mad with love Polonius decides Hamlet really did love Ophelia after all, but does
because, on Polonius's orders, Ophelia stopped speaking with not apologize to his daughter.
him.
ACT 2, SCENE 2
Claudius and Gertrude greet Hamlet's old friends Rosencrantz R and G are introduced. They never see through the various plots
and Guildenstern, whom they summoned to Elsinore to figure and are manipulated by everyone.
out why Hamlet is so melancholy. Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern happily agree to help.
Polonius enters and says that he has figured out the cause of Some critics wonder at whether Gertrude was complicit in Old
Hamlet's lunacy. But, first, the ambassadors have returned Hamlet's murder. But her comment here indicates she's unaware
from Norway. He goes to get them. While Polonius is gone, that Claudius murdered Old Hamlet.
Gertrude remarks that Hamlet's mania probably comes from
his father's death and her too-hasty marriage to Claudius.
Polonius returns with the ambassadors. They report that the Fortinbras agrees to give up his effort to revenge his father and seek
King of Norway rebuked Fortinbras, who promised not to honor in another way. Is his promise reality, or appearance? Has
attack the Danes. Norway then rewarded Fortinbras by letting Claudius just allowed a hostile army to march into his country?
him attack the Poles. Now Norway asks that Claudius give
Fortinbras' army free passage through Denmark on the way to
Poland. Claudius agrees. The ambassadors leave.
After a long-winded ramble about Hamlet's madness, Polonius Polonius comes up with another plot to try to find out what's really
reads love letters Hamlet sent to Ophelia. Claudius and bothering Hamlet. Polonius once again is willing to use Ophelia in
Gertrude agree that lovesickness may be causing Hamlet's that plot.
behavior. Polonius proposes that they stage a meeting between
Hamlet and Ophelia and spy on it to test his theory. Claudius
agrees.

Hamlet enters, reading. The King and Queen leave Polonius Hamlet speaks in prose here, representing his "madness." But
alone to talk with him. Polonius speaks with Hamlet, who Hamlet uses madness only to mock Polonius, not to seek revenge.
responds with statements about pregnancy, death, and rot that,
though nonsensical, also seem to refer to Denmark, Ophelia,
and Polonius. Polonius, perplexed, exits.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter. Hamlet greets his old Hamlet wants the world to delight him, but he knows things (such
friends warmly, and tells them that Denmark is a prison. They as the fact that his father was murdered) that make its beauty
disagree. Hamlet responds, "then tis none to you; there is meaningless, a lie. And if life is pointless, what's the point of seeking
nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so" revenge?
(2.2.245-246). He launches into a long speech about the
beauty of the world and nobility of man, all of which looks to
him like dust and fails to delight him.
Hamlet asks why they've come. They say to visit him, but R and G are dupes, acting without any understanding—they're the
Hamlet angrily demands whether they were summoned by the opposite of Hamlet, who understands too much.
King and Queen. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern admit they
were.
Hamlet cheers up a little when Rosencrantz mentions the Actors make appearance seem like reality for a living.
arrival of a troupe of players (actors). Hamlet says his "uncle-
father and aunt-mother" are wrong: he's only insane some of
the time (2.2.359).
Polonius enters with the players. Hamlet mocks Polonius, but Priam was killed by the Greek Pyrrhus, who was getting revenge
greets the players warmly. He asks the First player to act a because Priam's son, Hector, killed Pyrrhus's son.
speech about the Trojan queen Hecuba's grief at the death of
her husband, Priam. The Player does, with great feeling.
Hamlet tells Polonius to treat the players well and give them It's interesting that Hamlet, who is so obsessed with what is real,
good lodgings, and privately asks the First Player to perform feels so comfortable with actors, whose job is to make the unreal
The Murder of Gonzago on the following night, with some extra seem real.
lines Hamlet will insert himself. The Player agrees.
Alone, Hamlet is furious that the Player could get so emotional By condemning himself for not acting and then plotting to use the
over long-dead Hecuba, while he can't even bring himself to play to determine Claudius's guilt, Hamlet reveals his fear that
revenge his murdered father. Hamlet muses on a plan he's Claudius might not be guilty, that the Ghost might be lying. Hamlet
come up with: he'll have the players show a scene similar to has a reason for his inaction: lack of evidence.
Claudius's murder of his father: "The play's the thing wherein
I'll catch the conscience of the King" (2.2.582).

ACT 3, SCENE 1
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern can't figure out what's behind While Hamlet is searching for evidence about whether Claudius
Hamlet's odd behavior, but tell Claudius and Gertrude that he killed Old Hamlet, Claudius is seeking evidence about what's
was excited by the arrival of the players. The King and Queen, bothering Hamlet.
hopeful that Hamlet is improving, agree to watch the play.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern exit. Gertrude leaves as well,
since Claudius and Polonius have chosen this moment to set up
the "accidental" meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia.
Polonius tells Ophelia to walk in the courtyard as if reading a Polonius muses on appearance vs. reality, and is sure he can tell one
book. He muses that people often use appearances to "sugar from the other.
o'er the devil" (3.1.47).
Claudius, struck by Polonius's words, mutters an aside about a Claudius privately admits his guilt, proving that in fact Polonius
"deed" that his "painted words" (3.1.52) can't hide from his can't tell appearance from reality.
conscience. They hear Hamlet coming and hide.
In a soliloquy, Hamlet agonizes over whether to kill himself: "To Hamlet tries to think through his wish for death, his fears about the
be or not to be" (3.1.55). He thinks men would almost always likely unfairness of the afterlife, and his inability to act. But before
choose suicide over the "slings and arrows" (3.1.57) of he can find a solution he sees Ophelia—a woman.
experience, except that they fear what might happen in the
afterlife. He observes that such thinking turns people into
cowards, and action into inaction. Suddenly Ophelia enters and
tries to return the gifts Hamlet gave her. He denies having ever
given them.
Hamlet asks Ophelia if she's honest, then says beauty corrupts Hamlet's hatred of women seems to have made him self-
honesty. Becoming angry, he tells Ophelia he loved her once, destructively crazy. (Here he reveals his plans to kill someone!) In
then says he never loved her. He commands her to go to a particular, Hamlet hates that women hide the reality of their faces
nunnery rather than become a "breeder of sinners" (3.1.120), behind makeup: it makes beauty dishonest, hiding age (and death)
and says all men, including himself, are "arrant knaves" behind a pleasant mask.
(3.1.127). He condemns women for hiding their faces behind
makeup. Then states that there will be no more marriages—and
that one person who's married already will die. Hamlet storms
off. Ophelia is heartbroken.
Claudius, from his hiding place, decides that Hamlet neither Does Claudius suspect Hamlet knows something about the murder?
loves Ophelia nor is he mad. Instead, he thinks Hamlet is Whether yes or no, he wastes no time in acting.
"brooding" on something, and that this brooding will lead to
danger. He decides to send Hamlet to England.
Polonius still thinks Hamlet loves Ophelia. He requests that Polonius cares more about confirming his theory than comforting
after the play Hamlet be sent to talk with Gertrude, where Ophelia.
Polonius will once again spy.

ACT 3, SCENE 2
Hamlet lectures three of the players on how to act. His lecture Hamlet instructs actors how to bridge the gap between appearance
focuses on how to avoid overacting, suiting action to word and and reality!
word to action. They exit.
Hamlet has already told Horatio what the Ghost said, and now Hamlet plans to use the "appearance" of the play to simulate
reveals his plan: the play to be put on will mirror the Ghosts' "reality" in order to prove if that reality is really real. Then, he says,
description of Claudius's murder of Old Hamlet. If Claudius he'll take revenge.
looks guilty while watching it, then he is.
Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, Ophelia, and others arrive to Hamlet puts on a "play" of his own—he pretends to be insane.
watch the play. Hamlet tells Horatio he's now going to act
insane.
Claudius asks how Hamlet is faring. Hamlet responds as if Once again, Hamlet's anger at women pushes his pretend madness
Claudius were using the word "fare" to mean food, and says toward something less pretend.
he's eating the air. Hamlet mocks Polonius's attempts to act at
university, harasses Ophelia with sexual puns, then makes
bitter remarks about Gertrude for marrying Claudius.
The players enter and first act out a dumbshow (a short silent If Hamlet is using madness only to try to protect himself from
play that shows what the longer play is about). The players then suspicion, why does he mock the King and Queen so obviously? And
begin to act the full play. As the plot becomes clear, Gertrude why mock Ophelia at all?
and Claudius become uncomfortable. Hamlet mocks them,
while continuing to launch sexual puns at Ophelia. Claudius
asks the name of the play. Hamlet says, "The Mouse-trap."
When the villain in the play pours poison into the king's ear, Claudius' reaction reveals that he really is guilty.
Claudius jumps from his seat, calls for light, and rushes from
the room.
Hamlet is triumphant. He tells Horatio that this proves the Hamlet's fear that Ghost was lying delayed his revenge.
Ghost was telling the truth.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter and say that his mother R and G try to use the guise of friendship to learn Hamlet's
wants to see him. Hamlet agrees to go, but furiously tells them thoughts. Such dishonesty angers Hamlet.
they cannot "pluck out the heart of his mystery" or play him like
a flute (3.2.336).
Polonius enters, repeating Gertrude's request to see him. Hamlet shows that Polonius will lie to flatter those who are more
Hamlet pretends to see odd shapes in a non-existent cloud. powerful than he.
Polonius also pretends to see the shapes.

All exit but Hamlet, who says to himself that he could "drink hot Hamlet knows he has no reason to delay revenge now, and shows
blood" (3.2.360), but forces himself to remember not to hurt that he knows his anger at women is out of control.
his mother.
ACT 3, SCENE 3
Claudius says Hamlet is a danger, and orders Rosencrantz and R and G echo belief that health of a country is tied to the legitimacy
Guildenstern to prepare to leave for England. They agree that if of the King. They don't know that Claudius isn't legitimate.
the King were to die it would be a tragedy for the country, and
exit.
Polonius enters with news: Hamlet is headed to Gertrude's Polonius is still stuck in the old plot, while new plots are afoot.
room, where Polonius will hide behind a tapestry.
Finally alone, Claudius cries out that his "offense is rank!" Now audience knows that Claudius both guilty and unable to
(3.3.36). He wants to pray, but doesn't see how he can ask repent. In other words, he deserves to be killed by Hamlet...
forgiveness when he possesses the spoils of the murder,
neither of which he wants to give up: Gertrude and the throne.
Yet he kneels to pray.
Hamlet enters. He draws his sword to kill Claudius and be Why does Hamlet delay again? Because he realizes that Christianity
revenged. But it occurs to him that if he kills Claudius as is arbitrary. Getting to heaven is based on when you pray rather
Claudius prays, then Claudius will go to heaven. That isn't real than who you are. Religion itself seems to have been duped by
revenge, especially when Claudius murdered Hamlet's father appearance. Hamlet waits to get true revenge.
before he could pray, sentencing Old Hamlet to torment in
purgatory. Hamlet decides to wait until Claudius is sinning to
kill him. Hamlet exits.
Claudius stops praying. The attempt was useless: "My words fly The ultimate irony. Hamlet is himself duped by appearance:
up, my thoughts remain below. / Words without thoughts never Claudius only looked like he was praying.
to heaven go" (3.3.97-87).
ACT 3, SCENE 4
Polonius and Gertrude wait for Hamlet in Gertrude's chamber. Polonius has no idea that his spying is now pointless since Claudius
Polonius advises her to be tough with Hamlet. Just then they already knows Hamlet has found him out.
hear Hamlet coming. Polonius hides behind a tapestry.
Hamlet enters. Gertrude says he has offended his father (i.e. Hamlet suggests his mother is hiding from the truth she knows in
Claudius). Hamlet says that she's offended his father (i.e. Old her heart.
Hamlet). Hamlet then furiously says he'll show her the "inmost
part" of herself. Gertrude thinks he means he's going to kill her
and cries out.

From his hiding place behind the tapestry Polonius hears By stabbing Polonius (whom he thinks is Claudius) Hamlet proves it
Gertrude's cry and calls for help. Hamlet, mistaking Polonius wasn't fear of killing that caused him to delay.
for Claudius, stabs Polonius through the tapestry.
Gertrude shouts, "What a rash and bloody deed!" (3.4.27). Hamlet links Claudius's crime of murder with Gertrude's "crime" of
Hamlet responds, "As bad… as kill a king, and marry with his marrying Claudius! Is he testing to see if Gertrude was in on the
brother" (3.4.29). Gertrude is shocked. Hamlet pulls back the plot?
tapestry and sees Polonius. He dismisses him as a "rash,
intruding fool" (3.4.32).
Hamlet forces Gertrude to look at a picture of his father and Hamlet's graphic description of Gertrude's lovemaking with
compare it to one of Claudius, whom he describes as a Claudius makes it sound dirty and corrupt. Once more his anger at
"mildewed ear" (3.4.64). Gertrude begs him to stop, but Hamlet his mother's betrayal takes precedence over his goal of revenge.
can't: "but to live in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, stew'd
in corruption…honeying and making love over the nasty sty"
(3.4.82-84). She again begs him to stop.
The Ghost appears in order, it says, to refocus Hamlet on his The Ghost's visit is ambiguous. Why can't Gertrude see it? Why
duty—revenge against Claudius. Hamlet speaks to it. Gertrude would it risk making Hamlet look insane? Many directors cut this
can't see the ghost and thinks Hamlet's mad. The Ghost tells scene.
Hamlet to calm her.
Hamlet tries to convince Gertrude that he's sane, and begs her Does Gertrude agree to keep silent because Hamlet has convinced
to confess her sins, to be pure and avoid sleeping with Claudius, her he's right, or because he frightens her?
and to keep secret that he, Hamlet, is not actually mad.
Gertrude promises.
Hamlet exits, dragging Polonius's body after him. Quests for vengeance often result in more than the intended death.
ACT 4, SCENE 1
Claudius sees that Gertrude is upset. She says Hamlet was It's unclear if Gertrude is keeping Hamlet's secret or really does
acting insane, and in his madness killed Polonius. think he's mad.
Claudius exclaims that if he had been behind the tapestry, he Claudius doesn't mourn for Polonius, instead worrying about
would now be dead. He thinks of how best to explain the himself and how to manage the murder politically.
murder to the public, and sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
to find Hamlet.

ACT 4, SCENE 2
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern find Hamlet. They ask where By calling R a "sponge," Hamlet implies that through their
Polonius's body is. Hamlet responds in riddles and insults—he foolishness R & G have been taken over by Claudius. They have lost
calls Rosencrantz a "sponge" soaking up the king's favor. their inner reality.
Hamlet agrees to see Claudius, but then dashes off.
ACT 4, SCENE 3
Claudius mulls how to deal with Hamlet. The killing of Polonius Claudius is always thinking about politics, about appearances.
has convinced him that Hamlet is too dangerous to remain
nearby, but at the same time he is unsure how to send Hamlet
away because the people of Denmark love Hamlet.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter with Hamlet. Claudius Hamlet's mockery and word play begins to focus on death. He
asks where Polonius is. Hamlet answers that Polonius is describes how life devours itself in order to live, and explicitly links
feeding worms. He explains that a dead king will do the same this idea to the image of worms devouring a king. In doing so,
and, through the processes of nature, might end up in the "guts Hamlet is indirectly threatening Claudius.
of a beggar." Hamlet then says Claudius could send someone to
check for Polonius in heaven or go down to check in hell
himself. Finally, Hamlet tells them that in a month they may
smell Polonius's body rotting beneath the stairs to the castle
lobby.
Claudius sends Rosencrantz to get the body, then tells Hamlet Claudius doesn't feel the need for evidence to act against Hamlet.
that to protect him he will send him immediately to England. As soon as Hamlet seems like a threat, Claudius plots to have him
Hamlet agrees, though he continues to insult Claudius. killed, and uses the unknowing R and G to make it happen.
Claudius sends Guildenstern to make sure Hamlet gets on the
ship immediately. Finally alone, Claudius writes a letter for the
three men to give to the King of England—a letter that asks the
King to execute Hamlet.
ACT 4, SCENE 4
Near the coast of Denmark, Fortinbras's army marches toward By sending the captain to greet Claudius, Fortinbras shows he
Poland. He sends a captain to Elsinore with a message of means to keep his word not to attack Denmark.
greeting for the King of Denmark.
The captain runs into Hamlet, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern, Fortinbras is willing to act to gain honor. Though Hamlet, as you'd
and happily tells them the land about to be fought over is expect, sees such thoughtless action as ridiculous, he also sees the
worthless. Hamlet asks Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to go on nobility in it.
ahead. In a soliloquy, he bitterly compares himself to Fortinbras
and his soldiers. They go to die just for a chance at honor, while
he, with much greater reason to act, has failed to revenge
himself on Claudius. Hamlet vows "from this day forward may
all my thoughts be bloody," and promises to focus only on
revenge.

ACT 4, SCENE 5
Gertrude and Horatio sadly discuss the madness that has taken Hamlet's madness is feigned. Ophelia's is real. As a woman, Ophelia
over Ophelia since Polonius was killed. Ophelia enters, singing can't act, so she goes mad.
mournful songs about her father.
Claudius enters. Ophelia's madness upsets and unnerves him. Do Ophelia's songs about seduced maids indicate that she had a
Ophelia's songs change topic, and focus on maids who are sexual relationship with Hamlet? This is an unresolved question in
seduced. She exits with the comment that her brother shall the play.
know of her father's death. Horatio follows her.
Claudius mentions that the commoners are also angry about Contrast with Hamlet: as soon as Laertes hears of his father's
Polonius's death, and that Laertes has secretly sailed back to murder, he returns to Denmark and nearly starts a revolution!
Denmark. A messenger rushes in with news that Laertes is
actually marching toward the castle at the head of a mob
chanting "Laertes king!"
Gertrude exclaims that the mob and Laertes are blaming the Ironic that Gertrude defends the man who killed her husband.
wrong person for the death of Polonius.
Laertes bursts into the room. Claudius asks for calm. Laertes Another point of comparison with Hamlet in terms of willingness to
retorts that to be calm would make him a bastard, that he act to get revenge.
would dare damnation just to get revenge for the death of his
father. Claudius admits that Polonius is dead. Gertrude adds
that Claudius did not kill him.
Ophelia enters. She is clearly insane, singing songs, speaking in The flowers held symbolic meaning in Shakespeare's time. In
riddles, and handing out flowers (that are perhaps imaginary): addition, though unmentioned in stage directions, it is traditional
rosemary, pansies, fennel, columbines, rue, and daisies. Laertes for Ophelia to give the flowers to particular characters in symbolic
demands vengeance for her madness. Ophelia exits, wishing ways: rosemary to an imaginary Hamlet for remembrance. Pansies
God's blessing on everyone. to Laertes for faithfulness. Fennel for flattery and columbines for
infidelity to Claudius. Rue for bitterness and daisies for seduction to
Gertrude.
Claudius asks Laertes to let him explain what happened to Laertes acts without thinking. Claudius can manipulate those who
Polonius, and promises to hand over the crown to Laertes if, don't think and turn their actions to his own advantage.
after the explanation, his actions still strike Laertes as unjust.

ACT 4, SCENE 6
A sailor gives Horatio letters from Hamlet. The letter says that The pirate attack is an example of deus ex machina—a device used
a pirate attacked Hamlet's ship. Hamlet was taken prisoner and to further the plot and return Hamlet to Denmark. It doesn't have
returned to Denmark for a ransom, while Rosencrantz and any real thematic meaning.
Guildenstern continue on to England. Horatio is to send the
sailors to Claudius, and then to find Hamlet.
ACT 4, SCENE 7
Alone with Claudius, Laertes asks why Claudius didn't punish Claudius is always calculating, always careful to manipulate events
Hamlet for killing Polonius. Claudius answers: First, he loves and perceptions of events. He has already blunted Laertes' purpose.
Gertrude and she's Hamlet's mother; second, Hamlet is loved
by the people, so punishing him might have caused a revolt.
A messenger enters with letters from Hamlet. Claudius is Claudius uses flattery of Laertes swordsmanship to convince
bewildered at Hamlet's return. Laertes is pleased: now he'll get Laertes to join his plot. Claudius doesn't care about Laertes' honor.
his chance at revenge. Claudius comes up with a plot. Claudius He just wants to get rid of Hamlet. Compare Laertes willingness to
says Laertes' skill with a sword recently aroused Hamlet's envy, kill Hamlet in church; this is exactly what Hamlet refused to do to
and Claudius thinks they could lure Hamlet into a duel with Claudius.
Laertes. Claudius asks to what length Laertes would go to get
revenge on Hamlet. Laertes says: "to cut his throat in a church"
(4.7.98).
Claudius reveals his plan: they will poison Laertes's sword. The Laertes, who prides himself on honor, has been corrupted. He's
slightest scratch will kill Hamlet. As a backup, Claudius decides joined an ignoble plot using deception and poison.
to poison a glass of wine and offer it to Hamlet during the duel.
Gertrude rushes in with news that Ophelia has drowned. While The male response to tragedy is to seek revenge. Ophelia, who
gathering flowers she fell into the river and sang songs as her cannot "act" because she's a woman, opts for suicide.
clothes grew heavy and pulled her under.
Laertes, weeping, exits. Claudius fears Ophelia's death might Claudius only cares about how Ophelia's death might affect him
reignite Laertes anger and rebellion. He and Gertrude follow and his power.
Laertes to calm him down.
ACT 5, SCENE 1
In a cemetery, two gravediggers discuss whether the body to By pointing out that nobles receive different treatment from
be put in the grave they're digging should receive a Christian organized religion than poor people do, the gravediggers show
burial. The first grave digger argues that because the dead religion is unfair and influenced by appearance rather than the
woman did not try to escape the water her death was a suicide. "reality" of someone's soul. Religion, that bedrock of human life,
The second says that if she had not been a noblewoman she can't be trusted, and all of Hamlet's earlier philosophizing about
would not have received a Christian burial. The first grave religion and death, all his agonizing, was pointless.
digger asks a riddle: who builds stronger than the mason,
shipbuilder, or carpenter? Answer: The grave-maker, whose
"houses" last until doomsday.

Hamlet and Horatio enter. The second gravedigger exits. The Hamlet's continuing fascination with death here comes in contact
first gravedigger throws up a skull he has found in the grave with the man who knows the most about it: a grave digger.
he's digging, then another. Hamlet wonders what sort of people
the skulls belonged to when alive, and comments that their
earthly possessions mean nothing to them now. The grave
digger says that he became a grave digger on the day that Old
Hamlet defeated Old Fortinbras in battle, which was also the
same day that Hamlet was born.
Hamlet asks the gravedigger how long it takes a body to There is one reality that awaits all men: death and decomposition.
decompose. The grave digger points to a skull that was once No matter whether you're Caesar or a beggar, that's your fate.
Yorick, a court jester. Hamlet is shocked: he knew Yorick. While Horatio says that Hamlet is still thinking too much, Hamlet
Hamlet examines the skull. He realizes that death will claim seems to find the idea freeing.
everyone, and says no amount of makeup can hold off the
inevitable. Hamlet then wonders if the bodies of great kings like
Alexander and Caesar now are dust used to plug holes.
Horatio says Hamlet is considering "too curiously"—is Horatio diagnoses Hamlet's "fatal flaw."
overthinking things.
Hamlet and Horatio hear a noise and hide. Claudius, Gertrude, The priest is unwilling to provide further ceremony because it
Laertes, a priest, and other lords enter in a funeral procession seemed like suicide. The priest can't tell the difference between
with a coffin. The priest refuses to provide further religious appearance and reality, so he plays it safe.
services because Ophelia's death seemed like suicide. Laertes
says his sister will be an angel while the priest howls in hell.
Laertes jumps into Ophelia's grave to embrace her once more. Interesting that Hamlet claims to love Ophelia only after she dies.
Hamlet, shocked and distraught at Ophelia's death, follows
Laertes into Ophelia's grave and claims to have loved Ophelia
more than forty-thousand brothers could. They grapple until
Hamlet exits in a rage.
ACT 5, SCENE 2
In Elsinore, Hamlet tells Horatio that he discovered that the R and G are duped again. Their sad fate shows the way plots and
letters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern bore to England asked deception tend to widen and take the lives of those on the periphery
that Hamlet be executed. Hamlet switched the letter with one too.
that requested Rosencrantz and Guildenstern be executed.
Hamlet says he has no sympathy for Rosencrantz and Hamlet identifies with Laertes.
Guildenstern, who gave up their honor to curry favor with the
king. But he is sorry he fought with Laertes, who only wanted to
revenge his own father.

A dandyish nobleman, Osric, enters. Hamlet gets him to agree Osric is what Hamlet most hates—a man who values appearance
first that it's cold, then that it's actually hot. Osric announces over reality.
that Claudius has wagered Hamlet can defeat Laertes in a duel.
Hamlet agrees to fight.
Horatio says that Hamlet will lose the wager. Hamlet says he'll Hamlet is finally at peace. He accepts death. Death comes for
win a fair fight, but he has a bad foreboding. Horatio urges him everyone, so why not face it now? Note that Hamlet has ceased to
to call off the duel. But Hamlet says there's no use trying to plot: he's chosen reality over appearance.
escape death: it will come no matter what.
Claudius, Gertrude, Laertes, and the entire court enter to Laertes speaks of honor while plotting against Hamlet. He's sold his
watch the duel. Hamlet apologizes to Laertes. Laertes won't soul for vengeance.
accept the apology until he can consult an expert on honor. The
two men select their foils (swords). Laertes picks the poisoned
foil.
Claudius announces that if Hamlet gets one of the first three The "jewel" is poison—appearance vs. reality.
hits he will drink to Hamlet's health and then drop a jewel into
the cup and give it to Hamlet. The duel starts. Hamlet scores
the first hit. Claudius drops the jewel into the wine. Hamlet,
concentrating on the duel, says he'll drink the wine later.
Hamlet scores the second hit. Gertrude lifts the poisoned cup Claudius is in so deep that he can't admit reality even to save his
to drink in Hamlet's honor. Claudius tries to stop her, but can't wife.
tell her why without revealing his plot. She drinks.
They duel. Laertes wounds Hamlet, drawing blood. They Laertes gets his revenge, but it rebounds on himself.
scuffle, and in the scuffle end up exchanging swords. Hamlet
wounds Laertes.
Gertrude falls. Claudius claims Gertrude fainted because she Claudius lies right up until the end. But death is a reality that
saw Hamlet and Laertes bleeding, but Gertrude says the wine appearance can't hide.
was poisoned. She dies.
Laertes, who knows he's dying of his wound from the poisoned Reality revealed.
sword, reveals Claudius's treachery.
Hamlet stabs Claudius and then forces him to drink the Hamlet gets his revenge.
poisoned wine. Claudius dies.

Laertes forgives Hamlet and asks for forgiveness. Laertes dies. Hamlet and Laertes are honest before they die.
Hamlet forgives him.
Horatio wants to kill himself, but Hamlet forbids it: Horatio Through Horatio, Hamlet will reveal Claudius's lies.
must tell Hamlet's story to the world.
In the distance a cannon sounds. Fortinbras is returning Fortinbras achieves "vengeance" by not pursuing it. He's the only
victorious from Poland, and fired the blast to honor English character who never plots—he always chooses reality over
ambassadors arriving to Denmark. Hamlet says that Fortinbras appearance.
should be made King of Denmark, then dies.
Fortinbras and the English ambassadors enter. Amazed at the The deaths of R and G emphasize absurd and bloody reach of
carnage, the ambassadors announce that Rosencrantz and revenge.
Guildenstern are dead.
Horatio begins to tell the story of what has happened in Claudius's lies are swept away, and Denmark is "healed" by a
Denmark. Fortinbras orders Hamlet be honored as a soldier, legitimate succession from Hamlet to Fortinbras.
since he would have made a great king.

HOW T
TO
O CITE
To cite this LitChart:
MLA
Florman, Ben. "Hamlet." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 22 Jul 2013.
Web. 14 Dec 2017.
CHICA
CHICAGO
GO MANU
MANUAL
AL
Florman, Ben. "Hamlet." LitCharts LLC, July 22, 2013. Retrieved
December 14, 2017. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/hamlet.
To cite any of the quotes from Hamlet covered in the Quotes

section of this LitChart:
MLA
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Simon & Schuster. 1992.
CHICA
CHICAGO
GO MANU
MANUAL
AL
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1992.

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RELIGION, HONOR, AND REVENGE YORICK'S SKULL

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Act 2, scene 2 Quotes

Explanation and Analysis

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Related Characters: Hamlet (speaker), First Player

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Act 3, scene 1 Quotes

Explanation and Analysis

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Related Characters: Hamlet (speaker), Ophelia

Related Characters: Claudius (speaker)

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SUMMARY AND ANAL

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