Title: Hamlet

Author: William Shakespeare

Date, Place of Publication: 1603 (First Quarto), 1604 (Second Quarto)
Bio Notes:
Shakespeare had only grammar school education
Married Anne Hathaway in 1582, left family in 1590 and moved to London to
become actor/playwright
Immediate success--> most popular playwright of Globe Theater
Theater group adopted by King James as Kings Men in 1603
Died in 1606?
Setting: Denmark during the late middle ages (c. 1200)
occasionally reference things or events from the Elizabethan Age (c. 1500)
Notes on Period/Place of Pub:
Written during The Renaissance Literary Period (1500-1660)
Written as product of Reformation Period protestants broke
away from Catholic church
Hamlets anxiety of appearance/reality, struggles
with religion (suicide = sinful, cant murder while victim praying)
brought on by breaking religion during Reformation period
Plot Summary:
King has died, Claudius (kings younger brother/Hamlets uncle) takes the throne
and marries Gertrude (Hamlets mother)
An outraged Hamlet vows revenge (after seeing fathers ghost)
Hamlet goes crazy Polonius says its because lovesickness for
Ophelia
King Claudius calls Rosencrantz & Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet
Hamlet hires troupe of actors to act out play of King Claudius murdering/Old
Hamlet
Claudius runs away from the muder scene guilty
Hamlet goes to kill Claudius but hesitates because hes praying
(sinful)
Hamlet yells at Gertrude for marrying Claudius while Polonius is
spying Hamlet mistakes P for C and kills P
Ps son, Laertes, comes home and teams up with C to battle Hamlet
with poisoned knife for revenge
Ophelia is sad and drowns (suicide)
Hamlet is ready to die, agrees to fight with Laertes everyone
pretty much dies
Gertrude drinks poisoned wine
Laertes and Hamlet are both stabbed
Hamlet kills Claudius
Horatio tells story as Hamlets body is being taken off stage (closing scene)
MOWAAW:

 Revenge does not lead to justice.

Death is truth in reality whereas life is the multiple appearances masking as
reality. (Appearance vs reality).
Opening Sentence for Essay:
William Shakespeares Hamlet presents a lost prince that confuses the reasons of
revenge with the idea of justice.
Style/Characteristic of Work:
Written with both verse & prose:
Nobles speak in blank verse (unrhymed iambic
pentameter) Claudius addressing court in Act 1, Scene II
Gravediggers/commoners speak in prose, but sometimes Hamlet
does too
How noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form, in
moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how
like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this
quintessence of dust? (2.2.327-332)

Characters:
Hamlet: protagonist, Prince of Denmark; deeply thinks about
suicide/death/truth/appearances vs reality/motivation but is also a hormonal teen and is
obsessive; crushes on Ophelia; hates mother bc she married Claudius and distrusts
women
Claudius: antagonist (??), new King of Denmark, King Hamlets younger brother,
Gertrudes new husband, Hamlets uncle; poisions old Hamlet so he can have the throne
because hes power hungry;
Gertrude: Hamlets mother, remarries Claudius so Denmark would be safe from
Fortinbras; weak and unable to control personal problems; loves Hamlet
Polonius: Lord Chamberlain of Denmark; pompous, long-winded, is killed by
Hamlet
Ophelia: daughter of P, crushee of Hamlet; as woman, must obey
men around her but is secretly very intelligent and strong-willed; loyalty and
estrangement from Hamlet makes her crazy and she drowns herself
Laertes: son of P, mirrors Hamlets character
Horatio: Hamlets confidant and friend from university; least moved by passion
The Ghost: reincarnation of Hamlets dead father; orders Prince Hamlet to get
revenge against Claudius but spare Gertrude
Opening Scene/Significance: Ghost appears, but doesnt talk to Horatio every
father/son relationship will lead to revenge, ghost confirms something isnt
right in Denmark
Closing Scene/Significance: Horatio tells story of what has happened in Denmark
as Fortinbra gives Hamlet a soldiers honors, saying he would have made a
great king Denmark is healed by succession from Hamlet Fortinbras
(WTF HAS HAPPENED IN THIS PLAY)

Symbols:
Yoricks Skull (Act 5, Scene 1): reps inevitability of death
Memorable Quotes:
"The glass of fashion and the mold of form, th' observed of all observers."
[Ophelia, 3.1.167-68] Ophelia says this after Hamlet's "get thee
to a nunnery" bit, and basically has just witnessed the man she loves acting
crazy and telling her he doesn't love her. Here, she describes Hamlet (premadness) as having been the mirror (or model) of proper behavior, every bit
the gentleman, and the model of attractiveness and self-disposition. (This
Hamlet she describes is quite different from the one we see)
"O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt."
[Hamlet,1.2.133] Hamlet says this in his first soliloquy. This is the
first time he speaks about suicide, wishing that his stained (defiled) skin would
just fall off his bones and decompose. Hamlet is upset at his mother's marriage to
Claudius, and not being allowed to return to Wittenberg for school. He's so upset
with his mother, that he just wants to give up, but later in the soliloquy states that
he can't commit suicide for religious reasons.