Hamlet by William Shakespeare

(1564-1616)
Literary Terms:
Aside: when a character reveals thoughts while other
character’s are on stage; information is meant for the
audience to hear, not the other characters present.
Soliloquy: when a character is alone on stage revealing
his/her inner thoughts to the audience through a lengthy
speech.
Irony: when something happens that is the opposite of what
is meant or expected to happen.
Dramatic Irony: When the audience or reader knows or
perceives something other characters do not.
Biography of William Shakespeare:
Name : William Shakespeare ( 1564-1616)
Occupation : Poet, Playwright, Philosopher.
Birth Date : April 26, 1564 (England)
Death Date : April 23, 1616( aged 52)
Education : King's New School
Place of Birth : Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom
Place of Death : Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom
Nickname : "Bard of Avon“ "Swan of Avon” "The Bard“
Works : Poem (154 Sonnets) & Drama: 37 Plays
Original Identity of Hamlet Drama:
Full title : The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Author : William Shakespeare
Type of work : Play
Genre : Tragedy
Language : English
Written : ( 1600 or 1601)
Performed : July 1602
Published : 1603 (Printed)
Age : The Renaissance
From Hamlet play to Film Hamlet
CHARACTERIZATION
Hamlet: The prince of Denmark. The son of Queen Gertrude
and the late King Hamlet, the nephew of the present king
Claudius,The protagonist character. Hamlet has melancholy
and he is cynical, full of hatred for his uncle's scheming and
disgust for his mother's sexuality. A reflective and thoughtful
young man who has studied at the University of Wittenberg,
Hamlet is sometimes indecisive and hesitant, but at other
times prone to impulsive acts.
Claudius: The King of Denmark, Hamlet's uncle and
stepfather, Gertrude’s husband. The play's antagonist
character. The villain of the play, Claudius is a calculating,
ambitious politician, driven by his sexual appetites and his lust
for power, but he occasionally shows signs of guilt and human
feeling—his love for Gertrude, for instance, seems sincere.
Gertrude: The Queen of Denmark, Hamlet's mother, widow of
Old Hamlet and recently married to Claudius. Gertrude loves
Hamlet deeply, but she is a weak woman who seeks affection
and status rather than moral rectitude or truth.
Polonius: He is arrogant, conniving old man. Polonius is the
father of Laertes and Ophelia. Claudius’ advisor.
Horatio:Hamlet's close friend, who studied with the prince at
the university in Wittenberg. Horatio is loyal and helpful to
Hamlet throughout the play.
Ophelia: Polonius's daughter, a beautiful young woman with
whom Hamlet has been in love. Ophelia is a sweet and
innocent young girl, who obeys her father and her brother,
Laertes. she fell in love with Hamlet, but after her father’s
death. She was crazy. She fell into a river and drowned then
died.
Laertes: Polonius's son and Ophelia's brother, a young man
who spends many of the days in France. Passionate and quick
to action, Laertes is clearly a foil for the reflective Hamlet.
Fortinbras: The young Prince of Norway, whose father the
king (also named Fortinbras) was killed by Hamlet's father
(also named Hamlet). Now Fortinbras wishes to attack
Denmark to avenge his father's honor.
The Ghost: the specter of Hamlet's recently deceased father.
The ghost, who claims to have been murdered by Claudius,
calls upon Hamlet to avenge him.
Main Points:
Hamlet is upset that his mother married his uncle after his
father’s death. Watchmen and Horatio see a ghost, Hamlet
goes to see the ghost who says he should avenge his father’s
death.
Act II Hamlet starts acting crazy and Polonius thinks its
because of Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia. Laertes,
Ophelia’s brother did not approve. Polonius discouraged the
relationship to see what would happen. Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern are told to spy on Hamlet. R&G tell Hamlet there
is a theater group. He has them perform the Murder of
Gonzago “The Mouse Trap” with some changes he made.
Brief Story of play
*Hamlet’s father, king of Denmark has just dead. His brother
Claudius takes the throne and married Gertrude, Hamlet’s
mother.
*Horatio sees king Hamlet’s ghost and tells it to Hamlet. A
night king’s ghost appears to Hamlet and tells him that
Claudius murdered him, so Hamlet decides to avenge him.
* Hamlet pretends to be mad so Claudius and Gertrude give
to Polonius the task of discovering the cause of his madness.
*Polonius attributes the cause of madness to Hamlet’s love
for Ophelia, Polonius daughter
*Hamlet tries to stage a play with a company of actors, in
order to re-enact his father’s murder and determine Claudius
guilt or innocence.
*Gertrude asks to Hamlet the reason of his behavior and he
tells her the truth about his father’s death
*Hamlet believing to kill Claudius murders Polonius while he is
hidden .
*Ophelia goes mad for her father’s death and drowns in a river.
*After this, Claudius sent Hamlet with his close friend, Horatio
to England to study there, even though the real goal is to expel
Hamlet from Denmark.
* At the Ophelia’s funeral , her brother Laertes and Hamlet
reach there .
*When Hamlet returned back to Denmark. There was an
Ophelia’s funeral procession. Hamlet was very sad for losing her
and suddenly he jumped into Ophelia’s grave when the funeral
took place. Laertes, her brother was angry of what Hamlet did.
*Laertes decided to kill Hamlet in revenge for his father’s death.
He challenged Hamlet to a sword fight. Laertes pierces Hamlet
with a poisoned blade but is wounded by it himself.
*Gertrude drinks a poisoned wine and dies.
* Hamlet manages to kill Claudius and names Fortimbras as
his heir
* Finally, the play is ended with morning song
WHAT WAS SHAKESPEARE’S INSPIRATION IN WRITING
HAMLET?
Many people think that Shakespeare based Hamlet on the
legend of Amleth. There was also an old Elizabethan play
named "Ur-Hamlet", which has now been lost. This is thought
to be the biggest source for Shakespeare. Some believe that
Shakespeare may have been inspired by the death of his own
son 'Hamnet' when writing 'Hamlet.' His son was only 11
years old when he died, and as his only son, Shakespeare was
deeply upset. Suggestions have been that the grief and loss
that Shakespeare was feeling was put into the tragedy. If so, it
is peculiar that he would have expressed these feelings four
or five years after Hamnet's death but not in such plays as
Henry IV Part I or The Merry Wives of Windsor which he
wrote shortly afterwards.
Kingship in Hamlet
*Shakespeare exposes through Hamlet the corruption among
rulers. Accordingly, Shakespeare explores the different types
of kings through Hamlets continuous comparison of Old
Hamlet and Claudius.
* Shakespeare through Hamlet puts up for the debate the
rights of a king to the throne, allowing the audience to
question whether Claudius' accession to the throne was
acceptable.
*In 'Hamlet' Shakespeare explores the necessary qualities of a
king and compares and contrasts these with the necessary
qualities put forward by King James I.
*Shakespeare questions the traditional view of whether or
not the king was above the law and so could do whatever he
willed.
* Shakespeare draws connections with the state of the court
and kings land and the state, with the power of a king and his
control over his people.
* Shakespeare looks at whether a morally corrupt king is
beyond punishment or correction.
*Shakespeare criticizes above-humanity and the almost
super-human view of kings and through Claudius repeats the
human element of Kings.
*Through the violence and the way in which Claudius gained
the throne, Shakespeare is questioning/criticizing the
conventional view that Kingship is a God-given rights.
FAMOUS LINES
“To be, or not to be: that is the question:” This soliloquy,
probably the most famous speech in the English language, is
spoken by Hamlet in Act III, scene i (58–90). His most logical
and powerful examination of the theme of the moral
legitimacy of suicide in an unbearably painful world, it
touches on several of the other important themes of the play.
Hamlet poses the problem of whether to commit suicide as a
logical question: “To be, or not to be,” that is, to live or not to
live. He then weighs the moral ramifications of living and
dying. Is it nobler to suffer life?
“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”. This line is
spoken by Marcellus in Act I, scene iv .
The ghost is a visible symptom of the rottenness of Denmark
created by Claudius’s crime.
 Ophelia has gone mad.
Claudius exclaims, “O, this is the poison of deep grief; it
springs all from her father’s death.”He shows sympathy and
compassion for Ophelia and seems to understand that grief
can cause strange behavior. He did not, however, understand
it in Hamlet, proving that he never had any compassion or
care for Hamlet.
Laertes arrives and is informed of his father’s death. He sees
his sister’s insanity firsthand . He instantly thinks of revenge,
thus serving as a foil to Hamlet
Ophelia’s Burial
The Grave Digger says that her suicide can’t be considered
justified unless she drowned in self-defense, something that is
impossible. She knew she was drowning herself. He goes on to
say that if the water had come to her, then she would not
have been responsible for shortening her life, and therefore it
would have a proper burial. But because she went to the
water, she shortened her life by choice.The other man relents
and says the reason she is given a proper Christian burial is
because her family is rich.An important conclusion is reached
by the Grave Digger: the rich have more freedom to kill
themselves because they can buy their redemption and
forgiveness. They can buy their way into heaven.
Death and Forgiveness
In this scene we have a clear change in Hamlet’s attitude
towards death and dying. He seems to have accepted the idea
of death and no longer worries about the supernatural as he
did with the ghost.Against Horatio’s advice, Hamlet agrees to
fight, saying that “all’s ill here about my heart,” but that one
must be ready for death, since it will come no matter what
one does (V.ii.222).We also learn that Hamlet has arranged for
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s death at the hands of
England. He feels no remorse in arranging for their deaths for
it was they wo betrayed him.
Death and Forgiveness cont.
Hamlet even shows sympathy towards Laertes and asks him
for forgiveness, claiming that it was his madness, and not his
own will, that murdered Polonius. This seems wholly
inadequate, given that Hamlet has previously claimed
repeatedly only to be feigning madness. But by the same
token, to expect moral completeness from a character as
troubled as Hamlet might be unrealistic. This shows a change
in Hamlet’s mental state: before he was only concerned with
himself and his family whereas now he is able to show
sympathy for others. While Hamlet does not take
responsibility for Polonius’ death, he is at least able to
understand the grief both Polonius’ death and Ophelia’s death
would cause Laertes.
Hamlet’s revenge finally realized.
Hamlet finally does achieve his revenge on Claudius, but only
after being spurred to it by the most extreme circumstances:
witnessing the death of his mother and realizing that his own
life will soon be over.Hamlet’s death is not heroic nor is it
shameful according to the moral of the play.In keeping with a
Shakespearean tragedy, our hero has indeed fallen because of
his own free will. His hesitation and procrastination (his tragic
flaw) have led to his own demise.
 Death, death and more death!
As the play draws to close, we are left with a scene of death
and mourning.Gertrude drank poisoned wine. Laertes got
poisoned from the tip of his own sword .Claudius poisoned
from both the wine and the poisoned sword . Hamlet
poisoned from the sword . Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
executed by England
*Horatio wanted to kill himself but Hamlet convinces him to
stay alive so that the whole story can be told to public.
According to Claudius, what are the five “sorrows” of
Denmark?
1. Polonius’ death
2. Hamlet sent away due to his actions
3. The people of Denmark are confused by the rumors about
Polonius’ death
4. Ophelia has gone mad
5. Laertes has returned from France ready to seek revenge for
his father’s death.
Conclusion
*William Shakespeare is regarded by many as the greatest
dramatist of all times.
*His works such as Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet hold a
significant place in world literature and occupy a major part of
literary academics. Often referred to as England’s national
poet, Shakespeare is one author whose works have been
translated into every major language of the world and his
plays are performed more than that of any other playwright
living or dead. However, Shakespeare’s great skill is that in
Hamlet he is aware not only of English concepts of kingship,
but is conscious of European ideas on kingship to add levels
of political theory which complicates the play even further.
*The main problem is that Claudius has killed the king in
order to obtain his position.
*The main story of Hamlet is a Danish prince whose uncle
murdered the prince's father, married his mother, and
claimed the throne. The prince pretended to be feeble-
minded to trap his uncle, then killed his uncle in revenge.
*The theme explores treachery, revenge, and moral
corruption.
*Message We should not commit a foul and evil action
because it can hurt others.