Hamlet By Shakespeare

Hamlet Act I, Scene i Summary

• Long, long ago in Elsinore, Denmark, some guys named Bernardo and Francisco were hanging out on the castle battlements.
• Francisco is done with his shift and heads out. Marcellus, yet another watchman, shows up with a man named Horatio.
• Because it's dark outside, no one can see anything, much less each other, so there's a lot of "who's there?" and "what?" and, in one very interesting case, "holla!"
• Everyone keeps talking about this mysterious "thing" that's been appearing lately, and by lately, we mean the last two nights. Bernardo starts to explain what he saw. It was a…
• Just then, a ghost shows up.
• The guards all think the ghost looks suspiciously like the recently deceased King of Denmark, especially around the eyes. Everyone tells Horatio to talk to the ghost, since he's the scholar in the group (turns out, he's not a guard).
• Horatio says OK and asks the ghost a few questions which are apparently offensive, as the ghost walks off without answering.
• To further confirm that the ghost is the image of the dead King, Horatio remarks that it was wearing the same armor the King wore when fighting Norway.
• We learn that, a while back, Old King Hamlet made a little wager with the King of Norway about who could kill the other person first in combat. Old King Hamlet won so he got to take a bunch of Norway's land. The king of Norway's son, young Fortinbras, is ticked off and has raised an army to get his family's land back. He also wants revenge for his dad's death.
• Because the kingdom of Denmark is preparing for war with Norway, Horatio's number one concern is that a dead man walking about in ghost form might be a sign that Denmark is going to lose.
• Horatio is busy detailing just how bad an omen this is, with many references to Julius Caesar's death and all the nasty things that came before it, when the ghost comes back.
• The guards all scream until the ghost leaves.
• Then they recount the episode: 1) they were silly for trying to strike at the ghost, and 2) the ghost was probably going to say something, except the cock crowed and scared it off.
• Horatio suggests they tell Prince Hamlet about the ghost that looks an awful lot like his father. Maybe Hamlet will know what to do, because these guys sure don't

Hamlet Act I, Scene ii Summary

• Claudius, the new King of Denmark, gives his inaugural address to the court. He manages to explain away the fact that he has married his brother's widow, Gertrude, only a month after her husband's death. No one has any issues with this.
• Conveniently, marrying the Queen also meant that Claudius got to become King.
• No one has any issues with this either, and especially not Cornelius, who kisses up to the new king.
• Claudius sends Voltimand (a courtier) and Cornelius (also a courtier) to Norway with the following message to young Fortinbras's uncle, the King of Norway: "Mmm, how about telling your bratty little nephew to quit thinking about attacking Denmark?"
• King Claudius then turns to Laertes and asks what would make him happy. Laertes wants to go to France, and Claudius says he'd better check with Laertes's father, Polonius.
• The response from Polonius: Sure.
• With all that out of the way, Claudius gets down to business: dealing with Hamlet, who he laughingly remarks is both his nephew and his son.
• Hamlet makes a snarky, under-the-breath remark in regards to his uncle/father: "A little more than kin, and less than kind."
• Since Hamlet's been moody lately, Gertrude tells him to cut it out already. She says to him yes, his father may be dead, but honestly, everybody dies. Hamlet should ditch his all black get-up for some more cheerful clothes.
• Hamlet responds tensely and sarcastically and makes a big deal about how his inner grief and anguish is more intense than any outward "show" (dark clothing, somber behavior, etc.).
• Claudius calls him a sissy, effectively.
• Both Claudius and Gertrude, after the display of callousness, declare that they would rather Hamlet stay and chill with them than go back to school at the German University of Wittenberg. Hamlet says fine, and the King and Queen exit with their courtiers, leaving the moody and depressed Prince alone.
• Hamlet reveals that he is contemplating suicide and wishes that his "flesh" would "melt." Yep, he's serious.
• Time for a history snack: If Hamlet were a real person and alive today, he'd probably be diagnosed with clinical depression. In Shakespeare's day, there was another term for this: melancholy. Elizabethans thought that melancholy was brought on by too much "black bile" in the body, which caused lethargy, irritability, distorted imagination, and all kinds of unpleasant symptoms. What the heck's "black bile"? Elizabethans believed the human body was made up of four basic elements, called humors: phlegm, blood, yellow bile, and black bile. These elements were supposed to influence a person's disposition and mood.
• Now, back to the play.
• Hamlet's thoughts go something like this:
• His mother's hasty marriage to his uncle has ripped apart the foundations of his universe. She seemed like she really loved his father and acted heartbroken when he died, but she must have been faking it. How else could she have remarried so quickly?
• Hamlet then concludes that his own mother is selfish and deceitful, therefore he has no faith in the world or the people in it.
• Since everything and everyone is corrupted, Hamlet thinks suicide would be a good idea.
• We interrupt this program for another History Snack: While marrying your dead spouse's sibling would be considered unusual today, it was considered a major sin against God in Shakespeare's time. In 1563, Queen Elizabeth I asked Archbishop Parker to come up with a list of rules about marriage (just in case anyone forgot to read Leviticus 8.6-18). The Archbishop drew up something called a "Table of Kindred and Affinity, Wherein Whosoever Are Related are Forbidden in Scripture and Our Laws to Marry Together." (That just means it's a list of relatives who couldn't marry.) This "Table" eventually made its way into The Book of Common Prayer (a compilation of services for the Church of England that made its debut in 1549.) Guess what's on list? A big "don't even think about marrying your brother- or sister-in-law."
• Back to business: Enter Horatio, one of Hamlet's buddies from Wittenberg and the guy we saw earlier on the battlements. He is accompanied by Marcellus and Bernardo, whom we also saw on the battlements.
• Horatio explains that he's in town for King Hamlet's funeral. Hamlet cleverly responds that he must be in town for his mother's wedding. But really, same difference. In fact, they used the leftover appetizers from the funeral wake at the wedding reception (Hamlet actually says this).
• Important line: Hamlet says he sees his father – in his mind's eye. Just go ahead and dog-ear this page of your text.
• But forget Hamlet's clever wordplay; Horatio does what any typical college pal would do – he distracts Hamlet from his misery. Horatio does so by telling him about his father's ghost.
• Hamlet is shocked, and then asks a litany of questions, including: Did the Ghost look mad? Horatio says no, its expression was closer to an "I'm so sad" look than an "I'm going to kill you!" face.
• Hamlet decides he ought to go to the battlement tonight. He says he'll talk to the ghost of his father.
• Hamlet then instructs the other guys to keep quiet about the dead-dad sighting, and hopes they've not told anyone else to this point. He plans to meet them at 11:30pm on the designated ghost-meeting platform area.
• Once everyone is gone, Hamlet, left to his own devices, indulges in some genius observations: His dad's ghost showing up armed is probably a bad sign. He suspects foul play and pledges that truth of the crime will rise to the top in this matter, though the earth tries to hide it from men's eyes.
• If this scene's got you befuddled, let Hamlet, Claudius, and Gertrude break it down for you.

Hamlet Act I, Scene iii Summary

• Laertes, a young lord about to depart for Paris, has some dear parting words with his sister, Ophelia.
• He asks her about her budding relationship with Prince Hamlet, and details that because Hamlet is above her (in the social status way), he might have to marry someone else for the sake of the state. Also, he's worried that Hamlet might take advantage of her. He warns her that if she has sex with Hamlet, she'll be damaged goods.
• Ophelia, it turns out, is no wimp because she tells Laertes not to be a hypocrite. In other words, he's probably been sleeping around pre-maritally himself.
• Polonius, father of Laertes and Ophelia, enters and gives his son a lot of long-winded advice. He tells the young man to listen more than he talks; to not borrow or lend money; to not wear gold and silver at the same time (he actually says not to be gaudy); and in a line of great meter and measure: "This above all, to thine own self be true."
• When Laertes finally leaves, Polonius tells his daughter that Hamlet only wants to sleep with her. He also tells Ophelia she's an idiot if she actually believes Hamlet loves her. He orders her to stop seeing him and uses the word "pooh" in the process. She agrees.
• Be sure to check out this scene, staged by the awesome actors at This is Hamlet.