Importance of each act and their scenes
Act I-
The play begins on the outer ramparts of Elsinore castle. It is late and Francisco, a guard, is on duty waiting for Bernardo to relieve him from his watch. Francisco is nervous because the previous two nights he and Bernardo have seen a figure who appears to be the ghost of the recently deceased king wandering around. The scene ends with Horatio stating that he will go and inform his friend Hamlet of these incredible events.
The second scene takes place in a brightly lit court with the newly appointed king and old Queen Gertrude. Everyone in the court appears happy and joyful, except one character who is sitting off to the side. He is dressed in black, the color of mourning, and does not like what he sees. The lone figure is Hamlet, the main character of the play. He is wearing black because it has been only two months since his father, Hamlet senior the ghost on the battlements, died and he still is mourning his father's death. Hamlet is left on stage after everyone else leaves. He speaks a soliloquy expressing his anger at the present circumstances in his life and discusses his depression as a result of these events. The scene ends with Horatio, Marcellus and Bernardo entering and talking with Hamlet about the ghost they have seen. Hamlet agrees to join them this coming night to see the ghost for himself.
Scene iii opens with Laertes saying his goodbyes to his sister Ophelia, before he leaves for school. We find out from their discussion that Hamlet has been seeing Ophelia and is very serious about their relationship. He has been alone with Ophelia on many occasions and has professed his love for her during these times. He has also given her gifts during these visits. She promises to be careful in this relationship and reasserts that Hamlet has never taken advantage of her, nor has he ever been anything but a gentleman in their relationship. The scene ends with Polonius discussing with Ophelia her relationship with Hamlet. He, like Laertes, does not trust Hamlet's intentions, because Hamlet is young and young men have no honor; they have only one thing on their minds- sex. Although Ophelia has no reason to distrust Hamlet's intentions, she obeys her father's wishes and agrees she will not see Hamlet any more.
Scene iv opens up in the castle where cannons are shot off to honor the King's health. The ghost appears and Hamlet, realizing that the ghost does look like his dead father, approaches it and asks that it speak to him. At this point, Hamlet doesn't know whether or not the ghost is there for good or evil purposes. The ghost beckons Hamlet. When Hamlet considers leaving with the ghost, Horatio and Marcellus try to dissuade him. They are concerned for his safety. If the ghost is there for evil purposes, it might lead Hamlet to his death. Hamlet forces his way past them and follows the ghost. The scene ends with Horatio and Marcellus following Hamlet to try and protect him.
Scene v opens up with Hamlet and he is shocked when the ghost goes on to tell him that he was murdered by his own brother, Claudius. Unlike the story Claudius told the court, that a serpent stung and killed the old king, the ghost tells Hamlet that during his afternoon nap in the orchard Claudius crept in and poured poison in the king's ear. The ghost goes on to tell Hamlet about how Hamlet's own mother was adulterous with Claudius, before the ghost's death. He also has Hamlet promise him that he will leave her deeds to be judged and punished by God, and that Hamlet should not take revenge on her himself. The dawn comes, forcing the ghost to return to the hellish underworld he must inhabit, because of the wrongful deeds he did prior to his own death.
Act II-
The scene opens with Polonius sending Reynaldo to Wittenberg to give Laertes money. Although Reynaldo's quest at first appears straightforward, Polonius also gives Reynaldo the added duty of spying on Laertes. Because Polonius is concerned for his family name, he wants to find out all about Laertes' actions. Ophelia enters as Reynaldo leaves and her father, seeing that she is distressed, asks her what is troubling her. Ophelia relates a strange encounter she has just had with Hamlet. He came to see her in complete disarray. His clothes were a mess and his appearance was pale and sickly. She goes on to say that Hamlet grabbed her hand and studied her at arms length. He didn't say anything, but after a perusal of her face he shook his head three times and gave out a wail that was piteous and profound. He then dropped her arm and, without taking his eyes off Ophelia, walked out of the room. Polonius, thinking that Hamlet is still madly in love with Ophelia, believes his request for Ophelia to stop seeing Hamlet is the cause of his recent apparent madness. He tells Ophelia that they must report this incident to the King.
Scene ii opens with Claudius and Gertrude talking to two of Hamlet's friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. It seems that Hamlet has been acting strangely for the past couple of months, and no one is able to find out why. Although Gertrude guesses it is because of the death of his father and her overhasty marriage, Claudius is not so sure this is the reason. Because Claudius and Gertrude are unable to find out the reason for Hamlet's madness they send for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with the hopes that they will be able to find out the truth. Hamlet greets the players warmly and asks the leader to recite a passage he once heard the player speak. Hamlet remembered the recital because the player spoke it in such an honest and passionate way. The player recites a passage concerning the death of Priam, during the Trojan war. After the speech, Hamlet asks Polonius to take excellent care of the players and to find them quarters. Hamlet talks with the First Player about inserting some lines that Hamlet will make up into the play they are presenting tomorrow. Hamlet is angry with himself for procrastinating and failing to take revenge for his father's death. He is upset because he is unable to show the passion in real life that the player can show on stage. He can't believe that an actor can show anger and even cry for a fictitious event when he can't, despite all his reasons to show these emotions. He tries to incite his passion by stating events that would make him angry, but realizes all he is doing is talking about what he should do.
Act III-
Scene i opens up with Claudius asking Gertrude to leave so that he and Polonius can observe a clandestine meeting they set up between Hamlet and Ophelia. They tell Ophelia to pretend she is praying and they go and hide. Hamlet enters and gives a soliloquy on his thoughts about himself committing suicide. He sees Ophelia, and when she tries to return some gifts that he had given her, he claims he never gave her any. They have a discussion wherein Hamlet denies ever loving Ophelia and berating her and women in general for their trickery and pretentiousness. When Hamlet leaves, Claudius and Polonius enter. Claudius is convinced that Hamlet's madness does not stem from his love for Ophelia, but that it is something else that is afflicting his soul. Claudius realizes that Hamlet's actions are a danger to those around him. He decides to send Hamlet to England, hoping a change of atmosphere will settle his heart.
Scene ii begins with some last minute instructions to the players and they proceed to get ready to perform the play. Hamlet confides in Horatio that he has a plan to test his uncle's guilt. He tells Horatio that he has asked the players to reenact the murder of Hamlet's father. By seeing Claudius' reaction to the murder, Hamlet will know for sure whether or not the ghost was telling the truth. Horatio agrees to watch the king's reaction. The play, The Murder of Gonzago, is introduced and gets underway. When the murder scene is enacted, Claudius calls for lights and storms out.
In scene iii this scene shows us Claudius' thoughts and gives the audience proof regarding Hamlet's and the ghost's ideals that Claudius killed Hamlet's father. The king, frightened, prepares to send Hamlet to England, with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to accompany him. Polonius enters and tells the King that Gertrude is going to talk to Hamlet and try and come to an understanding regarding his madness, while he (Polonius) hides and listens to the conversation. In Claudius' soliloquy, he admits to killing his brother and starts to realize the difficulties he is in. He tries to atone for his sins by praying, but he finds that although he can say the words to ask for forgiveness, he doesn't believe what he is saying. Unbeknownst to Claudius, Hamlet enters while Claudius is at prayer. Although this seems like the perfect opportunity for Hamlet, a chance to kill Claudius after proving Claudius' guilt in the murder, Hamlet refuses to go ahead with the deed. He is afraid that because Claudius is praying, Claudius' sins will be forgiven. Because Hamlet doesn't want Claudius to have a chance to go to heaven, or to purgatory where Hamlet's father now resides, he leaves
In scene iv Polonius hides behind a curtain as Hamlet enters into his mother's chamber. When the Queen is confronted by an angry and upset Hamlet, she panics and screams for help. When Polonius hears her scream, he thinks Hamlet is trying to kill her and he yells out. Hamlet, who suspects that Claudius is hiding behind the curtain, draws his sword and stabs at the sound.The Queen, horrified at what Hamlet has done, tries to contain him, but Hamlet says his deed is nowhere as bad as killing a king and marrying the old king's wife. Hamlet then begins to vulgarly scream at his mother. Hamlet gets excited when confronted with Gertrude's misplaced love; he doesn't understand how she can forget her husband so easily. The ghost enters. The Queen thinks Hamlet is mad (crazy), because she cannot see the ghost Hamlet sees. The ghost reminds Hamlet that Hamlet is to leave the judgement of Gertrude to God and not to harm her.
Act IV
In the first scene of act IV Gertrude explains to Claudius that she believes Hamlet is truly mad and that as proof, he has killed Polonius and taken away the body. Claudius, after being thankful that he wasn't the one killed, asks where Hamlet went. She cannot tell him, and Claudius tries to comfort her by telling her that they will soon be rid of him, because of his trip. Claudius calls for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. After telling them that Hamlet has killed Polonius, he asks them to go and find Hamlet, get Polonius' body and to put Polonius' body in the chapel.
In scene iii Hamlet is brought before Claudius, he at first doesn't tell the king where the body is. Hamlet waits for his own opportunity to inform the king of Polonius' whereabouts. The king sends some attendants to retrieve the body. Claudius informs Hamlet that Hamlet must be sent away immediately, because of Polonius' murder. When Hamlet is taken away, and Claudius is left on stage alone, we are told that Claudius is preparing a trap for Hamlet. Claudius is sending a note to the king of England informing him that Hamlet is to be executed immediately after his arrival.
For scene iv Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern meet up with the captain, who informs them the army that they see is Fortinbras'. The Captain discusses the futility of the battle that they fought, where thousands of men died over a barren patch of land. The captain leaves and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern precede Hamlet to the ship; they are taking Hamlet to England.
In scene v Gertrude encounters a "mad" Ophelia in this scene. Unlike Hamlet's feigned madness, Ophelia really is insane. Throughout this scene she sings about death and behaves erratically. Claudius enters and Ophelia's songs hint at grief regarding her father's death. Claudius is amazed at Ophelia's condition and asks how long she has been like this. When Ophelia leaves, he asks Horatio to follow her and to protect her from doing herself harm.
In scene vi Horatio meets with sailors who have messages from Hamlet. They give Horatio a letter which recounts Hamlet's adventures on his sea voyage. It seems that pirates attacked the ship that Hamlet was on and through misadventure, Hamlet was captured and taken prisoner. Everyone else on the ship escaped unharmed and continued on to England.
In scene vii a messenger enters with Hamlet's letter and Claudius is amazed to find that Hamlet is still alive. Claudius reads the letter to Laertes. Hamlet is writing to inform the King that he has returned to Denmark and that he wishes to meet with Claudius tomorrow. Claudius, concerned about Hamlet's untimely return, advises Laertes to have a dueling match with Hamlet. In this match, Claudius plans to have Laertes kill Hamlet. They plan to cover the tip of Laertes's sword with poison. Once Hamlet is struck with the sword, he will die. Hamlet's death will end Claudius' worries about anyone finding out about his involvement in his brother's death. To further ensure Hamlet's demise, Claudius intends to present Hamlet, if he scores the first "hit," with a poisoned cup of wine. This way, Hamlet will be killed even if he wins the match.
Act V-
In scene i two grave diggers are preparing Ophelia's grave. They discuss the inappropriateness of Ophelia being buried in a Catholic cemetery after she killed herself. It was against Church doctrine for suicides to be buried in this way. They discuss that it is only because of her connections that the rules are being broken. Hamlet and Horatio enter. Hamlet is surprised by the gravedigger's jokes while performing their tasks. Hamlet makes comments on the fact that no matter who you are and how you lived your life, you end up dead. A humorous scene emerges when Hamlet engages one of the grave diggers in conversation. Although Hamlet has had the upper hand in making play on words, he is overshadowed by the gravedigger's comments. Hamlet encounters the skull of a person he once knew and is disgusted by the fact that he knows someone who is buried in this grave.Hamlet finds out that Ophelia is going to be buried in this grave after the funeral procession enters. We discover Hamlet still loves Ophelia, even though he has been mean to her and he previously told her that he never loved her. When Hamlet sees Laertes jump into the grave, crying with grief, Hamlet jumps in after and protests that he was the only one who ever truly loved her and that Laertes has no right to be displaying such emotions.
In the final scene of the play Osric enters and informs Hamlet that the King has wagered that Hamlet could best Laertes in a fencing match and that the king will even wager on Hamlet. After some discussion, Hamlet agrees to the match. Hamlet is informed that the King and Queen would like him to come to attend them in the hall. The queen sends Hamlet a message that she would like him to show some courtesy (to apologize) to Laertes before they engage in the match. The court enters and Hamlet explains to Laertes that although he killed Laertes' father, he did not mean to. Hamlet explains further that it was a madness which came over him that caused him to do this deed. Laertes accepts Hamlet's apology, but states that his honor demands that Hamlet duel with him to defend his honor to the court. The match begins and Hamlet scores the first hit. Claudius offers a toast to Hamlet, drinks some wine, then offers the goblet to Hamlet. Because Hamlet isn't tired yet he postpones the drink and continues fighting. Hamlet scores a second hit and before Hamlet is offered the toast again, Gertrude grabs the goblet and drinks the poisoned wine, while toasting Hamlet's fortune. Hamlet once again refuses a drink at this time and continues the match. Laertes does manage to wound Hamlet, but in the scuffle they exchange swords and Hamlet wounds Laertes with the poisoned sword.The match is disrupted when the Queen falls. Although Claudius tries to convince everyone that Gertrude fainted because of the blood, Gertrude informs everyone that she was poisoned by Claudius' wine. Gertrude dies. Laertes falls and before he dies, he informs Hamlet that the sword tip was poisoned. He further explains that it was Claudius' idea to poison the sword and that Hamlet is going to die as well. Hamlet, in a rage, stabs the king with the sword with the poisoned tip, then pours poisoned wine down the king's throat. Claudius dies. Laertes apologizes for his actions and asks for Hamlet's forgiveness. Laertes dies. A shot is heard and Hamlet is informed that Fortinbras is crossing Denmark, coming back from his conquest over Poland. Hamlet gives his approval to Fortinbras to become king of Denmark after Hamlet's death. Hamlet dies.
The play begins on the outer ramparts of Elsinore castle. It is late and Francisco, a guard, is on duty waiting for Bernardo to relieve him from his watch. Francisco is nervous because the previous two nights he and Bernardo have seen a figure who appears to be the ghost of the recently deceased king wandering around. The scene ends with Horatio stating that he will go and inform his friend Hamlet of these incredible events.
The second scene takes place in a brightly lit court with the newly appointed king and old Queen Gertrude. Everyone in the court appears happy and joyful, except one character who is sitting off to the side. He is dressed in black, the color of mourning, and does not like what he sees. The lone figure is Hamlet, the main character of the play. He is wearing black because it has been only two months since his father, Hamlet senior the ghost on the battlements, died and he still is mourning his father's death. Hamlet is left on stage after everyone else leaves. He speaks a soliloquy expressing his anger at the present circumstances in his life and discusses his depression as a result of these events. The scene ends with Horatio, Marcellus and Bernardo entering and talking with Hamlet about the ghost they have seen. Hamlet agrees to join them this coming night to see the ghost for himself.
Scene iii opens with Laertes saying his goodbyes to his sister Ophelia, before he leaves for school. We find out from their discussion that Hamlet has been seeing Ophelia and is very serious about their relationship. He has been alone with Ophelia on many occasions and has professed his love for her during these times. He has also given her gifts during these visits. She promises to be careful in this relationship and reasserts that Hamlet has never taken advantage of her, nor has he ever been anything but a gentleman in their relationship. The scene ends with Polonius discussing with Ophelia her relationship with Hamlet. He, like Laertes, does not trust Hamlet's intentions, because Hamlet is young and young men have no honor; they have only one thing on their minds- sex. Although Ophelia has no reason to distrust Hamlet's intentions, she obeys her father's wishes and agrees she will not see Hamlet any more.
Scene iv opens up in the castle where cannons are shot off to honor the King's health. The ghost appears and Hamlet, realizing that the ghost does look like his dead father, approaches it and asks that it speak to him. At this point, Hamlet doesn't know whether or not the ghost is there for good or evil purposes. The ghost beckons Hamlet. When Hamlet considers leaving with the ghost, Horatio and Marcellus try to dissuade him. They are concerned for his safety. If the ghost is there for evil purposes, it might lead Hamlet to his death. Hamlet forces his way past them and follows the ghost. The scene ends with Horatio and Marcellus following Hamlet to try and protect him.
Scene v opens up with Hamlet and he is shocked when the ghost goes on to tell him that he was murdered by his own brother, Claudius. Unlike the story Claudius told the court, that a serpent stung and killed the old king, the ghost tells Hamlet that during his afternoon nap in the orchard Claudius crept in and poured poison in the king's ear. The ghost goes on to tell Hamlet about how Hamlet's own mother was adulterous with Claudius, before the ghost's death. He also has Hamlet promise him that he will leave her deeds to be judged and punished by God, and that Hamlet should not take revenge on her himself. The dawn comes, forcing the ghost to return to the hellish underworld he must inhabit, because of the wrongful deeds he did prior to his own death.
Act II-
The scene opens with Polonius sending Reynaldo to Wittenberg to give Laertes money. Although Reynaldo's quest at first appears straightforward, Polonius also gives Reynaldo the added duty of spying on Laertes. Because Polonius is concerned for his family name, he wants to find out all about Laertes' actions. Ophelia enters as Reynaldo leaves and her father, seeing that she is distressed, asks her what is troubling her. Ophelia relates a strange encounter she has just had with Hamlet. He came to see her in complete disarray. His clothes were a mess and his appearance was pale and sickly. She goes on to say that Hamlet grabbed her hand and studied her at arms length. He didn't say anything, but after a perusal of her face he shook his head three times and gave out a wail that was piteous and profound. He then dropped her arm and, without taking his eyes off Ophelia, walked out of the room. Polonius, thinking that Hamlet is still madly in love with Ophelia, believes his request for Ophelia to stop seeing Hamlet is the cause of his recent apparent madness. He tells Ophelia that they must report this incident to the King.
Scene ii opens with Claudius and Gertrude talking to two of Hamlet's friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. It seems that Hamlet has been acting strangely for the past couple of months, and no one is able to find out why. Although Gertrude guesses it is because of the death of his father and her overhasty marriage, Claudius is not so sure this is the reason. Because Claudius and Gertrude are unable to find out the reason for Hamlet's madness they send for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with the hopes that they will be able to find out the truth. Hamlet greets the players warmly and asks the leader to recite a passage he once heard the player speak. Hamlet remembered the recital because the player spoke it in such an honest and passionate way. The player recites a passage concerning the death of Priam, during the Trojan war. After the speech, Hamlet asks Polonius to take excellent care of the players and to find them quarters. Hamlet talks with the First Player about inserting some lines that Hamlet will make up into the play they are presenting tomorrow. Hamlet is angry with himself for procrastinating and failing to take revenge for his father's death. He is upset because he is unable to show the passion in real life that the player can show on stage. He can't believe that an actor can show anger and even cry for a fictitious event when he can't, despite all his reasons to show these emotions. He tries to incite his passion by stating events that would make him angry, but realizes all he is doing is talking about what he should do.
Act III-
Scene i opens up with Claudius asking Gertrude to leave so that he and Polonius can observe a clandestine meeting they set up between Hamlet and Ophelia. They tell Ophelia to pretend she is praying and they go and hide. Hamlet enters and gives a soliloquy on his thoughts about himself committing suicide. He sees Ophelia, and when she tries to return some gifts that he had given her, he claims he never gave her any. They have a discussion wherein Hamlet denies ever loving Ophelia and berating her and women in general for their trickery and pretentiousness. When Hamlet leaves, Claudius and Polonius enter. Claudius is convinced that Hamlet's madness does not stem from his love for Ophelia, but that it is something else that is afflicting his soul. Claudius realizes that Hamlet's actions are a danger to those around him. He decides to send Hamlet to England, hoping a change of atmosphere will settle his heart.
Scene ii begins with some last minute instructions to the players and they proceed to get ready to perform the play. Hamlet confides in Horatio that he has a plan to test his uncle's guilt. He tells Horatio that he has asked the players to reenact the murder of Hamlet's father. By seeing Claudius' reaction to the murder, Hamlet will know for sure whether or not the ghost was telling the truth. Horatio agrees to watch the king's reaction. The play, The Murder of Gonzago, is introduced and gets underway. When the murder scene is enacted, Claudius calls for lights and storms out.
In scene iii this scene shows us Claudius' thoughts and gives the audience proof regarding Hamlet's and the ghost's ideals that Claudius killed Hamlet's father. The king, frightened, prepares to send Hamlet to England, with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to accompany him. Polonius enters and tells the King that Gertrude is going to talk to Hamlet and try and come to an understanding regarding his madness, while he (Polonius) hides and listens to the conversation. In Claudius' soliloquy, he admits to killing his brother and starts to realize the difficulties he is in. He tries to atone for his sins by praying, but he finds that although he can say the words to ask for forgiveness, he doesn't believe what he is saying. Unbeknownst to Claudius, Hamlet enters while Claudius is at prayer. Although this seems like the perfect opportunity for Hamlet, a chance to kill Claudius after proving Claudius' guilt in the murder, Hamlet refuses to go ahead with the deed. He is afraid that because Claudius is praying, Claudius' sins will be forgiven. Because Hamlet doesn't want Claudius to have a chance to go to heaven, or to purgatory where Hamlet's father now resides, he leaves
In scene iv Polonius hides behind a curtain as Hamlet enters into his mother's chamber. When the Queen is confronted by an angry and upset Hamlet, she panics and screams for help. When Polonius hears her scream, he thinks Hamlet is trying to kill her and he yells out. Hamlet, who suspects that Claudius is hiding behind the curtain, draws his sword and stabs at the sound.The Queen, horrified at what Hamlet has done, tries to contain him, but Hamlet says his deed is nowhere as bad as killing a king and marrying the old king's wife. Hamlet then begins to vulgarly scream at his mother. Hamlet gets excited when confronted with Gertrude's misplaced love; he doesn't understand how she can forget her husband so easily. The ghost enters. The Queen thinks Hamlet is mad (crazy), because she cannot see the ghost Hamlet sees. The ghost reminds Hamlet that Hamlet is to leave the judgement of Gertrude to God and not to harm her.
Act IV
In the first scene of act IV Gertrude explains to Claudius that she believes Hamlet is truly mad and that as proof, he has killed Polonius and taken away the body. Claudius, after being thankful that he wasn't the one killed, asks where Hamlet went. She cannot tell him, and Claudius tries to comfort her by telling her that they will soon be rid of him, because of his trip. Claudius calls for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. After telling them that Hamlet has killed Polonius, he asks them to go and find Hamlet, get Polonius' body and to put Polonius' body in the chapel.
In scene iii Hamlet is brought before Claudius, he at first doesn't tell the king where the body is. Hamlet waits for his own opportunity to inform the king of Polonius' whereabouts. The king sends some attendants to retrieve the body. Claudius informs Hamlet that Hamlet must be sent away immediately, because of Polonius' murder. When Hamlet is taken away, and Claudius is left on stage alone, we are told that Claudius is preparing a trap for Hamlet. Claudius is sending a note to the king of England informing him that Hamlet is to be executed immediately after his arrival.
For scene iv Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern meet up with the captain, who informs them the army that they see is Fortinbras'. The Captain discusses the futility of the battle that they fought, where thousands of men died over a barren patch of land. The captain leaves and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern precede Hamlet to the ship; they are taking Hamlet to England.
In scene v Gertrude encounters a "mad" Ophelia in this scene. Unlike Hamlet's feigned madness, Ophelia really is insane. Throughout this scene she sings about death and behaves erratically. Claudius enters and Ophelia's songs hint at grief regarding her father's death. Claudius is amazed at Ophelia's condition and asks how long she has been like this. When Ophelia leaves, he asks Horatio to follow her and to protect her from doing herself harm.
In scene vi Horatio meets with sailors who have messages from Hamlet. They give Horatio a letter which recounts Hamlet's adventures on his sea voyage. It seems that pirates attacked the ship that Hamlet was on and through misadventure, Hamlet was captured and taken prisoner. Everyone else on the ship escaped unharmed and continued on to England.
In scene vii a messenger enters with Hamlet's letter and Claudius is amazed to find that Hamlet is still alive. Claudius reads the letter to Laertes. Hamlet is writing to inform the King that he has returned to Denmark and that he wishes to meet with Claudius tomorrow. Claudius, concerned about Hamlet's untimely return, advises Laertes to have a dueling match with Hamlet. In this match, Claudius plans to have Laertes kill Hamlet. They plan to cover the tip of Laertes's sword with poison. Once Hamlet is struck with the sword, he will die. Hamlet's death will end Claudius' worries about anyone finding out about his involvement in his brother's death. To further ensure Hamlet's demise, Claudius intends to present Hamlet, if he scores the first "hit," with a poisoned cup of wine. This way, Hamlet will be killed even if he wins the match.
Act V-
In scene i two grave diggers are preparing Ophelia's grave. They discuss the inappropriateness of Ophelia being buried in a Catholic cemetery after she killed herself. It was against Church doctrine for suicides to be buried in this way. They discuss that it is only because of her connections that the rules are being broken. Hamlet and Horatio enter. Hamlet is surprised by the gravedigger's jokes while performing their tasks. Hamlet makes comments on the fact that no matter who you are and how you lived your life, you end up dead. A humorous scene emerges when Hamlet engages one of the grave diggers in conversation. Although Hamlet has had the upper hand in making play on words, he is overshadowed by the gravedigger's comments. Hamlet encounters the skull of a person he once knew and is disgusted by the fact that he knows someone who is buried in this grave.Hamlet finds out that Ophelia is going to be buried in this grave after the funeral procession enters. We discover Hamlet still loves Ophelia, even though he has been mean to her and he previously told her that he never loved her. When Hamlet sees Laertes jump into the grave, crying with grief, Hamlet jumps in after and protests that he was the only one who ever truly loved her and that Laertes has no right to be displaying such emotions.
In the final scene of the play Osric enters and informs Hamlet that the King has wagered that Hamlet could best Laertes in a fencing match and that the king will even wager on Hamlet. After some discussion, Hamlet agrees to the match. Hamlet is informed that the King and Queen would like him to come to attend them in the hall. The queen sends Hamlet a message that she would like him to show some courtesy (to apologize) to Laertes before they engage in the match. The court enters and Hamlet explains to Laertes that although he killed Laertes' father, he did not mean to. Hamlet explains further that it was a madness which came over him that caused him to do this deed. Laertes accepts Hamlet's apology, but states that his honor demands that Hamlet duel with him to defend his honor to the court. The match begins and Hamlet scores the first hit. Claudius offers a toast to Hamlet, drinks some wine, then offers the goblet to Hamlet. Because Hamlet isn't tired yet he postpones the drink and continues fighting. Hamlet scores a second hit and before Hamlet is offered the toast again, Gertrude grabs the goblet and drinks the poisoned wine, while toasting Hamlet's fortune. Hamlet once again refuses a drink at this time and continues the match. Laertes does manage to wound Hamlet, but in the scuffle they exchange swords and Hamlet wounds Laertes with the poisoned sword.The match is disrupted when the Queen falls. Although Claudius tries to convince everyone that Gertrude fainted because of the blood, Gertrude informs everyone that she was poisoned by Claudius' wine. Gertrude dies. Laertes falls and before he dies, he informs Hamlet that the sword tip was poisoned. He further explains that it was Claudius' idea to poison the sword and that Hamlet is going to die as well. Hamlet, in a rage, stabs the king with the sword with the poisoned tip, then pours poisoned wine down the king's throat. Claudius dies. Laertes apologizes for his actions and asks for Hamlet's forgiveness. Laertes dies. A shot is heard and Hamlet is informed that Fortinbras is crossing Denmark, coming back from his conquest over Poland. Hamlet gives his approval to Fortinbras to become king of Denmark after Hamlet's death. Hamlet dies.
Key Components of the story
Setting and History of the Play-
The story of Hamlet is set in the late middle ages in and around the royal palace in Elsinore, a city in Denmark. Denmark was a Protestant nation at the time Shakespeare wrote the play and Hamlet seems to be the essential Protestant kid, he goes to school in Wittenberg, Germany and he's also skeptical of the Ghost, who claims to be his father's Purgatorial spirit. Protestants rejected the notion of Purgatory as mere "superstition".
The story of Hamlet is set in the late middle ages in and around the royal palace in Elsinore, a city in Denmark. Denmark was a Protestant nation at the time Shakespeare wrote the play and Hamlet seems to be the essential Protestant kid, he goes to school in Wittenberg, Germany and he's also skeptical of the Ghost, who claims to be his father's Purgatorial spirit. Protestants rejected the notion of Purgatory as mere "superstition".
Sources
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Work and Power.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. n.d.. Web. 6 Jan. 2017.
"Character Analysis Pip." CliffsNotes.com. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2011
"Character Analysis Pip." CliffsNotes.com. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2011