Summaries and Analyses of Lit - Hamlet

Hamlet  was written by William Shakespeare, one of his most famous tragedies. The play is set at Elsinore Castle in Denmark where the old King Hamlet has just passed away. His brother, Claudius, has taken the throne and married his widow, Gertrude. Old Hamlet's ghost appears to his son, also called Hamlet, and tells him that he was murdered by Claudius and instructs young Hamlet to take revenge on his uncle. The play then follows Hamlet's struggle as he decides whether or not to kill his uncle. In the meantime, Denmark is paranoid of the threat of an attack from young Fortinbras whose father, king of Norway, lost some land and his life in a duel with old Hamlet. Other important characters include Ophelia, Polonius, Laertes, and Horatio. Horatio is Hamlet's best friend and ends up being the only person that Hamlet truly trusts. He is a skeptic and eventually carries out Hamlet's last wishes. Polonius is an adviser to the king. His son, Laertes, goes to school in France but returns after his father is killed by Hamlet to enact revenge. His daughter, Ophelia, goes quite mad and ends up drowning. She was in love with Hamlet and he with her, although he broke off their relationship in the play. There is some evidence to suggest she kills herself because she was pregnant, although that is never said outright. In the end, Claudius, Gertrude, Laertes, Polonius, Ophelia, and Hamlet are all dead. In other words, there is no one left with a claim to the throne of Denmark. Hamlet's dying wish is that Fortinbras, an outsider, will take the throne. Shakespeare, of course, is known for his eloquent language. He uses iambic pentameter, switching out of it only when speaking of a vile, base, offensive subject or when a particularly uneducated character speaks. There are many allusions in Hamlet to the Bible including references to the story of Adam and Eve and to Peter, who denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed.
QUOTES:
"There is a certain providence in the fall of a sparrow." This, of course, is a reference to the Bible. The quote demonstrates that Hamlet knows that he will probably die when he goes to meet Laertes but accepts it.
"There is something rotten in the state of Denmark." This quote is a pretty clear foreshadowing of the coming action. It implies all the corruption of the royal family of Denmark and foreshadows the coming action.
THEME: Hamlet recognizes the corruption of the royal family of Denmark and has been instructed by his father's ghost to kill his uncle. Throughout the play, he struggles with his obligations as ruler and son. In the end, after all other have died, he meets his own death willingly and requests that an outsider, Fortinbras, take the throne. His tragic end shows that he realized Shakespeare's message that you must often sacrifice yourself for the greater good.
- Corruption - Gertrude and Claudius, murder, Hamlet's inaction, Polonius and Claudius's plotting
- Ghost scene, tells him to kill Claudius
- Has opportunity to kill uncle, does not
- "... fall of a sparrow." quote