Hamlet Summary/Analysis

Setting:

• The play takes place in Denmark, in castle called Elsinore. Elsinore is supposed to be a very corrupt place, where no tells the truth and everything is very deceitful  The time period is about 12th century (It never gave the exact time period). 

Author:

• Shakespeare is probably the most famous playwright in western culture and has written many other plays. He lived around the 17th century during the Elizabethan era. 

Characters:

• Hamlet - The son of the dead king Hamlet. He is the prince of Denmark and next in line for the throne. His intelligence far exceeds that of anyone else's in Elsinore. Hamlet is also very manipulative in his language and often says things that have an ulterior meaning. The play is obviously centered around him, which most of the time he spends thinking about how, where and when to kill Claudius. 
• Claudius - Hamlet's uncle who has assumed the throne after he murdered the previous king, Hamlet's dad, who is also his brother.
• Gertrude - Hamlet's mother, who is the queen of Denmark. She married Claudius very shortly after elder Hamlet died, and during the Elizabethan time, their marriage would have been viewed as incest. If she is innocent or good can be debated.
• Polonius - Adviser to Claudius. Often times he acts much dumber than he really is, which makes people underestimate him and not see him as a threat. He is the father of Laertes and Ophelia. He is very power hungry, easily seen how he tries to exploit Ophelia's and Hamlet's love for each other. 
• Horatio - He is very trusted by everyone and is Hamlet's closest friend. Many characters seek out his advice, because he is wise. He is also not as rich as most of the other characters.
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern - Hamlet's child hood friends. They were sent for by Claudius to figure what is wrong with Hamlet and to spy on him.
• Fortinbras - A foil to Hamlet. He is the prince of Norway, who's father is also dead. He decides not to take revenge because his uncle told him not to. He ends up with pretty much everything by the end of play when he comes in.
• Ophelia - Hamlet's lover and daughter and of Polonius. She can be viewed in two different ways: She can either be completely innocent and just crazy because her father died or she could be pregnant and know that there is no way out, so she just commits suicide.
• Laertes - Brother of Ophelia and son of Polonius. He seeks revenge on Hamlet for killing his father and being the root of Ophelia's death.

Summary:

• The play begins with the swapping of guards. Horatio enters because the guards called him because they have been seeing a ghost in the likeness of the former king. The ghost appears and says nothing. They decide to tell Hamlet about this. It is then explained the back story of old Hamlet and the challenge from Fortinbras. The next scene starts out with Laertes requesting to go back to France, which is granted. Claudius and Gertrude also berate Hamlet for still grieving for his father even though its only been a few months. They also encourage him not to go back to Wittenburg. Horatio takes Hamlet aside and tells of him of his father's ghost. Hamlet goes to sees the ghost and it tells him that Claudius killed him and to revenge him, so he can rest peacefully. He tells the guards not to mention this ever and that he will be acting like a mad man. The next act starts with Polonius telling Reynaldo to spy on Laertes. Reynaldo leaves and then Ophelia enters saying that Hamlet had been in her chamber room acting crazy. Polonius goes to the king telling him that his love for Ophelia is causing his madness. Claudius then sends for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet. When they arrive, Hamlet greets them openly and quickly realizes that they were sent for by the king. Hamlet mocks them along with Polonius. The players enter, where he formulates the plan to use a play to reflect his father's murder and see how Claudius acts. Polonius returns to the king suggests leeting Hamlet and Ophelia talk, while they watch. Hamlet quickly realizes that Polonius is watching them. The king feels threatened and decides to send Hamlet to Britain. The play within a play begins and Claudius walks out, just how Hamlet thought it would turn out. Polonius tells Hamlet to go meet with the queen. Hamlet sees Claudius praying, but decides not to kill him because he will go to heaven if he dies while praying. He then goes to see the queen and berates her for marrying Claudius so soon after his father's death. He then discover Polonius spying on them and kills him. The king sends Hamlet to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, with secret orders to have Hamlet killed. Hamlet leaves seeing Fortinbras's army going to invade Poland. This causes him to change and start to act on things, instead of just thinking about them. Ophelia goes crazy and can only directly communicate by singing. Laertes hears of his father's death and blames Claudius for his father's death, which he quickly tells him that Hamlet did it. Horatio sends a letter to Horatio that he had been captured by pirates and need his help. The king and Laertes concoct a plan to poison Hamlet during a fencing match. Hamlet and Horatio go to the graveyard, where they talk with a grave digger and Hamlet sees Yorik's skull, who was his court jester and was much like a father to him. Hamlet sees Ophelia's funeral coming and goes to hide.  He realizes that it's her funeral and jumps in the grave fighting with Laertes, while confessing his love for her. While Hamlet and Horatio are talking, Osric informs Hamlet of challenge from Laertes, which he accepts. During the duel, the queen drinks the poisoned cup that was meant for Hamlet. Hamlet is wounded by Laertes, and their swords get mixed up and then Hamlet wounds Laertes with the poisoned sword. Laertes tells Hamlet that they are both going to die and that the king is treasonous. Hamlet kills the king and imparts his last wishes onto Horatio. Fortinbras arrives and honors Hamlet. 

Tone

• The tone is very ambiguously. The scene where Hamlet tells Ophelia to go to a nunnery could either be interpreted by him calling her a whore or telling her to stay pure. The only thing that is definite is when the ghost appears in the beginning that something is rotten with the state of Denmark.  

Imagery:

• There are very few stage directions, so its mostly left up to the director of the play. The character's speeches have a lot imagery in them, especially Hamlet's soliloquies. 

Symbols/Motifs:

• Flowers - Ophelia gives everyone flowers when she goes crazy, each having a certain meaning pertaining to the person she gave it to.
• Death - Hamlet is obsessed with death and often remarks how everyone ends up exactly the same. 
• Fate - Shakespeare thinks that everyone has a predestined path that you should follow and not defy. Claudius ends up dead because he defied his path and Fortinbras is rewarded for not going through with his revenge. 

Quotes:

• "To be, or not to be; that is the question" - This quote pretty much sums up Hamlet's thoughts about life. He is to scared to die because of the uncertainty of the after life. 
• "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" - This sets a dark tone of the play, that something is not right with Denmark and obviously that the play will end badly.

Theme:

• No matter who you are, we all end up the same when we're dead. - Multiple times Hamlet remarks how everyone who dies ends up the same, buried in the ground. In the graveyard scene Hamlet asks Horatio if he thinks that Alexander the great is like this. Horatio responds with a yes, probably giving Hamlet some comfort about his inevitable fate.

Revised Prompt #1 (Open Prompt 2)

1988. Choose a distinguished novel or play in which some of the most significant events are mental or psychological; for example, awakenings, discoveries, changes in consciousness. In a well-organized essay, describe how the author manages to give these internal events the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. Do not merely summarize the plot.

Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian Gray's appearance stays the same, while his portrait changes with his sins and time. The portrait shows what Dorian should look like. After being strongly influenced by Lord Henry, Dorian believes that beauty is the only worthwhile aspect of life. With this idea in mind, he ignores what his true self  looks like, the portrait, and only concerns himself with what he looks like. 

Dorian tells Sybil that he does not love her anymore, because her only beauty was on her acting, Dorian notices that his portrait has changed. Later, Dorian tries to reconcile with Sybil, only to learn that she had committed suicide. He dismisses her suicide realizing that his life will be lust and looks. This is where Dorian renounces all of his innocence and completely changes his personality. To deal with the loss of Sybil, Dorian leads an indulgent lifestyle. After 18 years, Dorian invites Basil over and shows him the painting. When Basil sees the painting, he is horrified. Dorian lashes out and blames Basil for it and ends up killing him with a knife.

Dorian tries to escape his guilt by going to an opium den. Dorian again has misgivings about who he is and tries to run away from what he really looks like. By the end of the novel, Dorian ends up stabbing his portrait killing himself. His battle between what he actually looks like and his image drives him crazy. 

The constant battle that Dorian has with himself and his portrait makes the novel very interesting. Lord Henry’s influence changes Dorian’s outlook on life and embodies what the portrait becomes, while still maintaining the image of an innocent boy.

Response to Course Material 5

The last response to course material! Since the last response, we have finished Hamlet and have watched two different movies of Hamlet. The first one kept very true to the play and left it up to interpretation. This was helpful for me because it helped me visualize the play and gave even more meaning to what the characters said. The second one was more modern and was definitely more entertaining, despite being four hours. This version did all of the thinking for you, which made it much more watchable. These movies definitely helped in my understanding of the play.

Once going back through the play and annotating it, I realized how just about everything in the play connected together to the whole picture. There are many themes and motifs in the play. Like Hamlet's fascination with and remarks multiple times how everyone ends up the same when they are dead. Hamlet as character is probably one of the most complex characters I have ever met. I think this speaks to how good of a playwright Shakespeare was and that 400 hundred years later, we still read his plays.