Hamlet

📖 Overview

  • Title: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

  • Author: William Shakespeare

  • Genre: Tragedy

  • Setting: Elsinore Castle, Denmark

  • Written: Around 1600

  • Main Theme: Revenge, madness, betrayal, death

🧑‍🤴 Main Characters

  • Hamlet: Prince of Denmark, philosophical and emotional, struggles with revenge

  • Claudius: Hamlet’s uncle and the new king; kills Hamlet’s father

  • Gertrude: Hamlet’s mother; marries Claudius

  • The Ghost: Spirit of Hamlet’s father; asks Hamlet to take revenge

  • Ophelia: Daughter of Polonius; Hamlet’s love interest

  • Polonius: Court advisor; meddling and talkative

  • Laertes: Polonius’s son; seeks revenge for his father’s death

  • Horatio: Hamlet’s loyal friend

  • Rosencrantz & Guildenstern: Hamlet’s school friends, used by Claudius

📚 Plot Summary by Acts

🟨 Act 1

  • Ghost of the old King appears at night

  • Hamlet learns from the ghost that Claudius murdered his father

  • Hamlet vows to take revenge

🟨 Act 2

  • Hamlet pretends to be mad ("antic disposition")

  • Polonius believes Hamlet is mad due to love for Ophelia

  • Claudius becomes suspicious

🟨 Act 3

  • Hamlet stages a play ("The Mousetrap") to expose Claudius

  • Claudius reacts guiltily, confirming his crime

  • Hamlet kills Polonius by mistake

  • Claudius plans to send Hamlet to England

🟨 Act 4

  • Ophelia goes mad and drowns

  • Laertes returns, angry over his father's and sister's deaths

  • Claudius and Laertes plot to kill Hamlet in a duel

🟨 Act 5

  • Graveyard scene: Hamlet reflects on death (e.g., Yorick's skull)

  • Duel between Hamlet and Laertes

  • Queen Gertrude accidentally drinks poisoned wine

  • Laertes and Hamlet wound each other with a poisoned sword

  • Claudius is killed by Hamlet

  • Hamlet dies; Fortinbras of Norway arrives to take over Denmark

🎭 Major Themes

  • Revenge: Central theme; Hamlet struggles to take action

  • Madness: Real and feigned madness shown through Hamlet and Ophelia

  • Corruption: Political and moral decay in Denmark

  • Mortality: Deep reflections on death (e.g., “To be or not to be”)

  • Appearance vs Reality: Many characters hide their true motives

✍️ Important Literary Devices

  • Soliloquy: Hamlet’s inner thoughts ("To be or not to be…")

  • Dramatic irony: Audience knows things characters don't

  • Foil: Laertes and Fortinbras are foils to Hamlet

  • Symbolism: Yorick's skull symbolizes death and decay

  • Metaphor: Denmark as a "prison"

💬 Famous Quotes

    1. “To be, or not to be: that is the question.”

      • Speaker: Hamlet

      • Spoken to: Himself (soliloquy)

      • Context: Hamlet is contemplating whether life is worth living. He questions the value of enduring suffering versus ending it through death.

    2. “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”

      • Speaker: Marcellus

      • Spoken to: Horatio

      • Context: After seeing the ghost of the dead king, Marcellus senses corruption and trouble in the kingdom.

    3. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

      • Speaker: Queen Gertrude

      • Spoken to: Hamlet

      • Context: During the play-within-the-play, Gertrude comments that the actress (playing the queen) overacts her loyalty—ironically revealing her own guilty conscience.

    4. “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

      • Speaker: Hamlet

      • Spoken to: Rosencrantz

      • Context: Hamlet expresses the idea that things are not inherently good or bad—it's our perception that defines them.

    5. “Brevity is the soul of wit.”

      • Speaker: Polonius

      • Spoken to: Queen Gertrude

      • Context: Polonius says this while giving a long-winded explanation, which makes the line ironically funny.

    6. “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.”

      • Speaker: Polonius

      • Spoken to: Himself (aside, about Hamlet)

      • Context: Polonius suspects that Hamlet's madness is not entirely insane—there is a plan behind it.

    7. “What a piece of work is man!”

      • Speaker: Hamlet

      • Spoken to: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

      • Context: Hamlet reflects on the greatness of human beings but admits that he finds no joy or meaning in life anymore.

    8. “Get thee to a nunnery.”

      • Speaker: Hamlet

      • Spoken to: Ophelia

      • Context: In a harsh and emotional moment, Hamlet tells Ophelia to go to a convent, possibly to protect her from the corrupt world or out of frustration and betrayal.

    9. “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio.”

      • Speaker: Hamlet

      • Spoken to: Horatio

      • Context: In the graveyard, Hamlet holds the skull of the court jester Yorick and reflects on death, memory, and the fate of all people.

    10. “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”

    • Speaker: Polonius

    • Spoken to: Laertes

    • Context: Polonius gives practical advice to his son before he leaves for France.

    1. “This above all: to thine own self be true.”

    • Speaker: Polonius

    • Spoken to: Laertes

    • Context: A famous line encouraging personal integrity and honesty as part of Polonius’s long farewell speech.

    1. “Now might I do it pat, now he is praying…”

    • Speaker: Hamlet

    • Spoken to: Himself (soliloquy)

    • Context: Hamlet sees Claudius praying and considers killing him, but decides not to, fearing it will send Claudius’s soul to heaven.

    1. “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!”

    • Speaker: Hamlet

    • Spoken to: Himself (soliloquy)

    • Context: Hamlet criticizes himself for his inaction and compares himself unfavorably to the passionate actor in the play.

    1. “O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain.”

    • Speaker: Queen Gertrude

    • Spoken to: Hamlet

    • Context: After Hamlet confronts her about her marriage to Claudius, Gertrude feels torn emotionally and admits her guilt.

    1. “The rest is silence.”

    • Speaker: Hamlet

    • Spoken to: Horatio (last words)

    • Context: Hamlet says this as he dies, suggesting the end of all struggle and speech.

    1. “Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!”

    • Speaker: Horatio

    • Spoken to: Dead Hamlet

    • Context: Horatio bids a heartfelt farewell to Hamlet, expressing sorrow and reverence for his friend.


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