Hamlet by William Shakespeare
The tragical history of Hamlet,Prince of Denmark(a later tragedy) - the longest shakespeare play by no. of lines....3929 lines.
On a dark winter night, a ghost walks the ramparts of Elsinore Castle in Denmark. Discovered first by a pair of watchmen, then by the scholar Horatio, the ghost resembles the recently deceased King Hamlet, whose brother Claudius has inherited the throne and married the king’s widow, Queen Gertrude. When Horatio and the watchmen bring Prince Hamlet, the son of Gertrude and the dead king, to see the ghost, it speaks to him, declaring ominously that it is indeed his father’s spirit, and that he was murdered by none other than Claudius. Ordering Hamlet to seek revenge on the man who usurped his throne and married his wife, the ghost disappears with the dawn.
Prince Hamlet devotes himself to avenging his father’s death,
but, because he is contemplative and thoughtful by nature, he delays, entering
into a deep melancholy and even apparent madness. Claudius and Gertrude worry
about the prince’s erratic behavior and attempt to discover its cause. They
employ a pair of Hamlet’s friends, Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern, to watch him. When Polonius,
the pompous Lord Chamberlain, suggests that Hamlet may be mad with love for
his daughter, Ophelia,
Claudius agrees to spy on Hamlet in conversation with the girl. But though
Hamlet certainly seems mad, he does not seem to love Ophelia: he orders her to
enter a nunnery and declares that he wishes to ban marriages.
A group of traveling actors comes to Elsinore,
and Hamlet seizes upon an idea to test his uncle’s guilt. He will have the
players perform a scene closely resembling the sequence by which Hamlet
imagines his uncle to have murdered his father, so that if Claudius is guilty,
he will surely react. When the moment of the murder arrives in the theater,
Claudius leaps up and leaves the room. Hamlet and Horatio agree that this proves
his guilt. Hamlet goes to kill Claudius but finds him praying. Since he
believes that killing Claudius while in prayer would send Claudius’s soul to
heaven, Hamlet considers that it would be an inadequate revenge and decides to
wait. Claudius, now frightened of Hamlet’s madness and fearing for his own
safety, orders that Hamlet be sent to England at once.
Hamlet goes to confront his mother, in whose bedchamber
Polonius has hidden behind a tapestry. Hearing a noise from behind the
tapestry, Hamlet believes the king is hiding there. He draws his sword and
stabs through the fabric, killing Polonius. For this crime, he is immediately
dispatched to England
with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. However, Claudius’s plan for Hamlet
includes more than banishment, as he has given Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
sealed orders for the King of England demanding that Hamlet be put to death.
In the aftermath of her father’s death, Ophelia goes mad with
grief and drowns in the river. Polonius’s son, Laertes,
who has been staying in France,
returns to Denmark
in a rage. Claudius convinces him that Hamlet is to blame for his father’s and
sister’s deaths. When Horatio and the king receive letters from Hamlet
indicating that the prince has returned to Denmark
after pirates attacked his ship en route to England, Claudius concocts a plan
to use Laertes’ desire for revenge to secure Hamlet’s death. Laertes will
fence with Hamlet in innocent sport, but Claudius will poison Laertes’ blade
so that if he draws blood, Hamlet will die. As a backup plan, the king decides
to poison a goblet, which he will give Hamlet to drink should Hamlet score the
first or second hits of the match. Hamlet returns to the vicinity of Elsinore just as Ophelia’s funeral is taking place.
Stricken with grief, he attacks Laertes and declares that he had in fact
always loved Ophelia. Back at the castle, he tells Horatio that he believes
one must be prepared to die, since death can come at any moment. A foolish
courtier named Osric
arrives on Claudius’s orders to arrange the fencing match between Hamlet and
Laertes.
The sword-fighting begins. Hamlet scores the first hit, but
declines to drink from the king’s proffered goblet. Instead, Gertrude takes a drink
from it and is swiftly killed by the poison. Laertes succeeds in wounding
Hamlet, though Hamlet does not die of the poison immediately. First, Laertes
is cut by his own sword’s blade, and, after revealing to Hamlet that Claudius
is responsible for the queen’s death, he dies from the blade’s poison. Hamlet
then stabs Claudius through with the poisoned sword and forces him to drink
down the rest of the poisoned wine. Claudius dies, and Hamlet dies immediately
after achieving his revenge.
At this moment, a Norwegian prince named Fortinbras,
who has led an army to Denmark
and attacked Poland
earlier in the play, enters with ambassadors from England, who report that
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. Fortinbras is stunned by the gruesome
sight of the entire royal family lying sprawled on the floor dead. He moves
to take power of the kingdom. Horatio, fulfilling Hamlet’s last request,
tells him Hamlet’s tragic story. Fortinbras orders that Hamlet be carried
away in a manner befitting a fallen soldier.
On a dark winter night, a ghost walks the ramparts of Elsinore Castle in Denmark. Discovered first by a pair of watchmen, then by the scholar Horatio, the ghost resembles the recently deceased King Hamlet, whose brother Claudius has inherited the throne and married the king’s widow, Queen Gertrude. When Horatio and the watchmen bring Prince Hamlet, the son of Gertrude and the dead king, to see the ghost, it speaks to him, declaring ominously that it is indeed his father’s spirit, and that he was murdered by none other than Claudius. Ordering Hamlet to seek revenge on the man who usurped his throne and married his wife, the ghost disappears with the dawn.
Prince Hamlet devotes himself to avenging his father’s death,
but, because he is contemplative and thoughtful by nature, he delays, entering
into a deep melancholy and even apparent madness. Claudius and Gertrude worry
about the prince’s erratic behavior and attempt to discover its cause. They
employ a pair of Hamlet’s friends, Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern, to watch him. When Polonius,
the pompous Lord Chamberlain, suggests that Hamlet may be mad with love for
his daughter, Ophelia,
Claudius agrees to spy on Hamlet in conversation with the girl. But though
Hamlet certainly seems mad, he does not seem to love Ophelia: he orders her to
enter a nunnery and declares that he wishes to ban marriages.
A group of traveling actors comes to Elsinore,
and Hamlet seizes upon an idea to test his uncle’s guilt. He will have the
players perform a scene closely resembling the sequence by which Hamlet
imagines his uncle to have murdered his father, so that if Claudius is guilty,
he will surely react. When the moment of the murder arrives in the theater,
Claudius leaps up and leaves the room. Hamlet and Horatio agree that this proves
his guilt. Hamlet goes to kill Claudius but finds him praying. Since he
believes that killing Claudius while in prayer would send Claudius’s soul to
heaven, Hamlet considers that it would be an inadequate revenge and decides to
wait. Claudius, now frightened of Hamlet’s madness and fearing for his own
safety, orders that Hamlet be sent to England at once.
Hamlet goes to confront his mother, in whose bedchamber
Polonius has hidden behind a tapestry. Hearing a noise from behind the
tapestry, Hamlet believes the king is hiding there. He draws his sword and
stabs through the fabric, killing Polonius. For this crime, he is immediately
dispatched to England
with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. However, Claudius’s plan for Hamlet
includes more than banishment, as he has given Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
sealed orders for the King of England demanding that Hamlet be put to death.
In the aftermath of her father’s death, Ophelia goes mad with
grief and drowns in the river. Polonius’s son, Laertes,
who has been staying in France,
returns to Denmark
in a rage. Claudius convinces him that Hamlet is to blame for his father’s and
sister’s deaths. When Horatio and the king receive letters from Hamlet
indicating that the prince has returned to Denmark
after pirates attacked his ship en route to England, Claudius concocts a plan
to use Laertes’ desire for revenge to secure Hamlet’s death. Laertes will
fence with Hamlet in innocent sport, but Claudius will poison Laertes’ blade
so that if he draws blood, Hamlet will die. As a backup plan, the king decides
to poison a goblet, which he will give Hamlet to drink should Hamlet score the
first or second hits of the match. Hamlet returns to the vicinity of Elsinore just as Ophelia’s funeral is taking place.
Stricken with grief, he attacks Laertes and declares that he had in fact
always loved Ophelia. Back at the castle, he tells Horatio that he believes
one must be prepared to die, since death can come at any moment. A foolish
courtier named Osric
arrives on Claudius’s orders to arrange the fencing match between Hamlet and
Laertes.
The sword-fighting begins. Hamlet scores the first hit, but
declines to drink from the king’s proffered goblet. Instead, Gertrude takes a drink
from it and is swiftly killed by the poison. Laertes succeeds in wounding
Hamlet, though Hamlet does not die of the poison immediately. First, Laertes
is cut by his own sword’s blade, and, after revealing to Hamlet that Claudius
is responsible for the queen’s death, he dies from the blade’s poison. Hamlet
then stabs Claudius through with the poisoned sword and forces him to drink
down the rest of the poisoned wine. Claudius dies, and Hamlet dies immediately
after achieving his revenge.
At this moment, a Norwegian prince named Fortinbras,
who has led an army to Denmark
and attacked Poland
earlier in the play, enters with ambassadors from England, who report that
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. Fortinbras is stunned by the gruesome
sight of the entire royal family lying sprawled on the floor dead. He moves
to take power of the kingdom. Horatio, fulfilling Hamlet’s last request,
tells him Hamlet’s tragic story. Fortinbras orders that Hamlet be carried
away in a manner befitting a fallen soldier.
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