HAMLET!

THE TRADGEDY OF HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK.

Author:  William Shakespeare, in London, England, 1602 Hamlet was performed

Plot:
-Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, is upset because his dad died recently, and his mother married his dad's brother, Hamlet's uncle Claudius.
-The ghost of the dead King Hamlet returns to tell his son, Hamlet, about how he was murdered by his own brother, Claudius, and to revenge his death.
-Hamlet is very distressed about this, can he do it, should he do it, etc.
-Hamlet's plan is to be feign madness, then somehow kill the king.  Only his BFF Horatio and some other guy knows about this plan.
-Everyone (but Horatio) betrays Hamlet -- Ophelia, whom he once loved, allows him to be spied on by her scheming father Polonius, old friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern try to understand his madness so they can report back to the king, and his mother does not understand the depth of his grief at her marriage. 
-Hamlet organizes a play similar to the scenario of how Claudius killed the king in order to ensure what the ghost told him is real.
-Hamlet goes to his mother and tries to convince her of her sin.  Polonius is spying on them behind a curtain, and upon hearing him Hamlet kills him, thinking him to be the king.
-Hamlet has a chance to kill the king, but since the king is praying at the time he refrains.
-Hamlet leaves to go back to school.  He goes with orders from the king to have him killed, and upon discovering this, changes the letters to orders to kill Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
-Meanwhile, Ophelia is lost in grief over her father, Hamlet, (and possibly the fact that she is pregnant).  We see her madness in her "flower scene". 
-Later the queen reports that Ophelia has drowned herself.
-Ophelia's brother Laertes return, seeking revenge.  The king calms him down, and forms a plan with him to kill Hamlet.
-Hamlet returns, their ship having been overtaken by friendly pirates. 
-Hamlet is at a grave with Horatio, and sees the skull of the old court jester Yorick.
-Hamlet sees Ophelia being buried, and wrestles with Laertes.
-Hamlet and Laertes duel in a (seemingly) harmless, noble fight.
-The king has poisoned the tip of Laertes sword, and poisoned Hamlet's wine to ensure Hamlet dies.
-Laertes cuts Hamlet with the poisoned sword, and in the heat of the duel their swords are swapped and Hamlet cuts Laertes with it.
-The queen drinks some of the poisoned wine, and dies.
-Laertes is aware of the poison, and as he lays dying tells Hamlet what has happened.
-Hamlet then rushes to the king, cuts/stabs him with the poisoned sword, and makes him drink the wine.
-Hamlet instructs Horatio to tell the world his story.
-Everyone is dead.
-Fortinbras storms the castle, and finding all the rulers dead, takes the throne.

Setting: The rotten state of Denmark, in Elsinore (the castle).

Significant Characters:
Hamlet: Prince of Denmark, seriously troubled, more of a philosopher than a fighter.
Queen Gertrude: Hamlet's mother, not given so much blame as Claudius for their marriage.
King Claudius: The murderer and adulterer, the "bad guy".
Ophelia: Once was lover with Hamlet, went mad after he abandoned her and her father died, drowns.
Horatio: Hamlet's BFF, the moral compass for the play.
Laertes: Ophelia's brother, has a very deep love for her, foil for Hamlet, instrumental in Hamlet's death.
Fortinbras:  Foil for Hamlet, meet him at the end when he takes the throne.

Tone: There is a very desperate tone throughout the work.  Everyone is trying to keep what is theirs; the kingdom, their wife, their honor, etc.

Imagery: Tons of allusions to Greco-Roman myths, lots said about ears/hearing, death, the "rank" garden allusions, (aka Adam and Eve in the garden, then sin came and ruined the garden), the supernatural vs. free will.

Symbolism: Yorick's skull (the physical consequences of death).  The ghost, (the spiritual consequences of death).  Ophelia's flowers, representing more than just a flower (rue for abortion, daisies for innocence, etc).

3 quotes:
1) Hamlet. " To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?—To die,—to sleep,—
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to,—’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d."
In his famous "To be or not to be" Hamlet here is considering what he is going to do next.  Does he kill the king or ignore the ghost?  Or end it all by killing himself?  And when he does die, what will happen to him?  In this way this little part of the speech and the entire soliloquy sum up much of the big ideas this play has.

2) Marcellus. "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."
Another famous line, said at the beginning of the play, sets up the audience for the rest of the play.  It also draws upon the allusion of the (now corrupted) Garden of Eden Shakespeare constantly uses to describe Elsinore.

3) Hamlet to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. "Do you think I am easier to be played on that a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me."
Here Hamlet is calling out his so-called friends on their disloyalty, and for using him as they would an instrument.  This goes along with the secrecy, lies, and corruption that is throughout the work.

Theme:  The theme of revenge is present throughout the entire play.

Elements that support this theme:
Setting: The corrupt, dark, rotten state of Denmark.
Plot: Hamlet's response to revenge, (hesitant) vs. Fortinbras and Laertes (immediate).  The entire play is a revenge tragedy, but Hamlet isn't totally sure about it.
Tone: There's a dark, desperate tone throughout the work.  The audience knows someone is going to die, and that this is a very "sick" situation.
Symbolism: The ghost, a skull, flowers with double meanings = not a very happy time.