The plot involves Prince Hamlet’s meeting with his school friend Horatio and the guards. They inform him that the slain king ghost has appeared to them. Hamlet seeks to meet the said ghost, and he reappears to Hamlet, telling him that Claudius, the new King poisoned him to death. He commands him to avenge for him.
Hamlet plans to avenge his slain father. He writes a play to be performed at the courts before king Claudius, one of the scenes mimicking his father’s murder. When the play is performed, king Claudius storms out of courts, confirming to Hamlet that he indeed murdered the slain King.
As Hamlet is debating with his mother, Polonius, a royal attendant is hiding in the queen’s room, and he makes some movement. Hamlet stabs him, thinking that it was king Claudius (Shakespeare, 2012).
In the end, The King, the queen, and Hamlet die.
The beginning of Hamlet involves the guards who are at Denmark’s Elsinore castle meeting Horatio, Hamlet’s friend. They describe to him a ghost that appeared to them and resembled Hamlet’s slain father. At that point, the ghost reappears to them, and they all agreed to tell Hamlet. Meanwhile, Hamlet is still mourning his father while his mother, Gertrude, marries Hamlet’s uncle, who has become the new King. Hamlet is keen to see the ghost, and it later appears to him commanding him to avenge for him because Claudius murdered him. Hamlet feigns madness as he tests the truth of the ghost’s allegations.
Characters in the play include Hamlet, the prince of the slain King, the ghost of the slain King, and Gertrude, the widow of the slain King, who later marries King Claudius. King Claudius is a brother to the slain King. Horatio, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern are Hamlet’s friends. Ophelia was a lady who was seeking Hamlet’s attention. Her brother was Laertes, while her father was Polonius. There is also King Fortinbras of Norway.
The middle of Hamlet involves Hamlet feigning madness and beginning to act strange. The King and the queen are bothered by this. They deployed Polonius, the royal attendant, to spy on him. Additionally, the King asks Hamlet’s old friends, Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, to watch over him. Meanwhile, Hamlet rejects Ophelia accusing her of immodesty.
Hamlet writes a play and asks a group of traveling actors to perform it at the courts in the presence of the King and queen. The play contained scenes that mimic the murder of Hamlet’s father.
During the performance, Hamlet watches keenly to see how King Claudius will react. Mid-way, the King is provoked, and he storms out (Shakespeare, 2012). His distressed mother summons Hamlet as they are bitterly exchanging words, Polonius, a royal attendant, is hiding at the corner and is startled to hear Hamlet’s accusations. He makes some movements prompting Hamlet to stab him to death, thinking it was King Claudius.
Ophelia falls into depression due to the rejection of Hamlet and the death of her father, Polonius. Hamlet attends her burial, and he fights with her brother Laertes.
One of the emotional conflict witnesses is fear. Hamlet wants to avenge his slain father, but his religion prohibits him. He is also not entirely sure whether that is his father’s ghost. This results in his inaction. He is also conflicted inwards because he loves his mother, yet he despises behavior and choice to marry King Claudius. Additionally, Hamlet finds it hard to deal with Ophelia’s betrayal. He loves her but does not like behavior.
Elsinore is a critical military location in Denmark. The whole play takes place inside the castle except for act five, scene one. This confined setting reflects Hamlet’s state of emotions. He feels trapped by the duty as a member of the Danish royal family, so his family at the battlements of the Danish royal family. The private places also allow Hamlet to deliver his monologues. The characters’ privacy is also spied and disturbed.
In the end, King Claudius again plans to have Hamlet killed by giving Laertes a poisoned sword with the hope of killing him. King Claudius confides with Laertes to have Hamlet killed by a poisoned sword, but should Hamlet win; he will be killed by poisoned wine. In the duel, Hamlet is winning, and the queen unwittingly drinks the poisoned wine and dies. (Shakespeare.2009). The blade also wounds Hamlet and Laertes, and the latter dies. Hamlet rushes at King Claudius and kills him, as he, Hamlet also dies slowly of the sword. He pleads with his friend Horatio to “tell his story.”
Hamlet is a duel where all the characters die tragically. Justice is seen to be done on the slain King, but other innocent people die in the process
Shakespeare has used monologue at the opening of the play using the words “to be or not to be.” Hamlet continues to show the high level of sadness he experiences to the extent of contemplating suicide. There is also the use of prose and verse. Shakespeare chose to use verse when relaying serious themes. The interchange of both pro and verse portrays Hamlet’s double-mindedness. There is also the use of metaphor, similes, and personification in the Hamlet.
Hamlet ends on a sad note where almost all the characters die. I do not wish the way it ends because, as much as justice is seen to be done by avenging for the slain King, many people who were not necessarily evil die in the process.
I would recommend a friend to read Hamlet because first, of the great creativity of the fiction work. It is very captivating. Secondly, the play has lessons to learn about doing good to others because evil will beget evil. By reading the play, one is also able to learn some ancient Denmark history.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, W. Hamlet. Simon & Schuster, 2012.
—. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Tragedy by William Shakespeare. Independently Published, 2018.
Shakespeare. Hamlet. Pearson Education India, 2009.