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Hamlet summary by scene. Interesting Facts

The pinnacle of world drama is Shakespeare's tragedy “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.” For several centuries now, the play has been a programmatic work of literature and a permanent performance in theater repertoires around the world. Such popularity of the work speaks of the urgency of the problems raised in the work, which are relevant at all times in the development of society.

The tragedy takes place in Denmark, in the royal residence of Elsinore. The other day, the whole country was shrouded in a sad event - the king passed away. After the death of the monarch, his brother Claudius takes the throne. Having gathered his subjects, he announces two news: that he will be crowned, and also that he will marry the current queen, that is, the widow of his late brother. The son of the deceased king, Hamlet, is extremely upset by the death of his father and the fact that his mother and uncle so quickly forgot their grief.

The night watchmen noticed that at the same hour a ghost appeared that looked very much like the late king. They are frightened and call Horatio, who recognizes the former king in the night image. He understands that the deceased wants to tell about something, and decides to report everything to Hamlet. The next night, the prince sees the ghost of his father, who told him that his brother Claudius poisoned him by pouring poison into his ear in order to gain the state and the queen. Hamlet's father convinces him to avenge his death.

Seeing Hamlet's strange state, Claudius tries to understand the reasons. The king's closest confidant and adviser, Polonius, learns of Hamlet's love for his daughter Ophelia. He convinces his daughter not to believe his words and take care of her honor. The girl returns all the gifts and letters to the prince. Why does Hamlet realize that his feelings were not mutual. Polonius explains Hamlet's strange behavior to the royal couple as the suffering of a lover and offers to keep an eye on the prince to make sure of this. Realizing this, Hamlet pretends to be crazy. Eavesdropping, the king understands the prince's belligerent attitude and realizes that the hidden reason is not love.

To distract the prince, the king invites Hamlet's university friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to the court, who bring a theater troupe with them. Hamlet is tormented by doubts whether his uncle is really a murderer and must pay for his act, and what if the ghost is a demon that confuses Hamlet’s thoughts and leads him to sin. In order not to make a mistake and to be convinced of the king’s guilt, Hamlet asks the actors to perform the play “The Murder of Gonzago.” In the plot of the play, a nephew kills his uncle and seduces his wife. Hamlet adds his poems to it and gives instructions to the actors on how to play, and also asks Horatio, the only person he trusts, to observe the king’s reaction. The latter cannot stand it and leaves the hall before the end of the performance. Now Hamlet is confident in the veracity of the ghost's words.

The king begins to fear Hamlet and asks the queen mother to influence him. Polonius helpfully offers to eavesdrop on their conversation and hides behind the carpet. During the conversation, Hamlet appeals to his mother's conscience, condemning her marriage to a traitor. Polonius gives himself away, and Hamlet, believing that this is the king, in his anger hits the carpet with his sword and kills the adviser. Hamlet feels sorry for the wise old man, but he himself chose his fate and died the fate he deserves. After the murder of Polonius, the king is completely frightened and decides to send the prince to England under the supervision of his imaginary friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, giving them a covering letter with the royal seal, in which he demands to kill Hamlet.

Polonius is buried in secret and without honors, so as not to attract attention. The news of his father's death reaches Polonius's son, Laertes. He explains the mystery of his father’s death by saying that the king committed a heinous act, and begins to turn the Danes against Claudius. Upon learning of this, the king reveals to Laertes the real murderer and supports his desire to avenge his father's death.

At this time, Hamlet, having opened the royal letter and learned of Claudius’s intentions, replaced it with another, in which he orders the execution of his traitorous friends, and he himself leaves the ship and returns to Denmark. The grief of her father's death led Ophelia to lose her mind and she drowned in the lake. Hiding in the cemetery, Hamlet and Horatio are placed as witnesses to Ophelia's funeral. Hamlet, unable to bear it, approaches the grave, where a conflict occurred between him and Laertes. Hamlet cannot understand Laertes' belligerence. The king, meanwhile, invites Laertes to take revenge on Hamlet so that in the eyes of the queen and society it does not look like murder. They decide to challenge the prince to fight with rapiers for a bet. To absolutely guarantee Hamlet's death, Laertes smears the rapiers with poison, and the king poisons the wine.

During the fight, Queen Gertrude, worried about her son, drinks wine and dies. Laertes and Hamlet wound each other by exchanging weapons. Laertes dies. The prince, having understood everything, wounds Claudius with a poisonous rapier and gives him wine to drink. Before his death, Hamlet asks Horatio to tell the people everything he knows and to vote for Fortinbras as the future king. The Norwegian prince Fortinbras became king, burying Hamlet with great honors.

Analysis of the work

The social and philosophical tragedy was created by Shakespeare based on the medieval legend of Prince Amleth. Folk works have repeatedly been subject to literary adaptations. However, it was Shakespeare’s creation that became immortal.

Historical facts and the character of the hero

The time period of the play is not clearly indicated. By depicting the past, the author raises in the work actuarial problems both during Shakespeare’s life and in our days. Historical authenticity and eventfulness in the work fade into the background, allowing the plot to focus all its attention on the personal tragedy of Prince Hamlet.

The composition of the tragedy is built on the basis of two storylines: Hamlet's path to revenge for the death of his father and the honor of his mother; treacherous actions, full of intrigue and intrigue, on the part of King Claudius. A striking example of Shakespeare’s author’s style is such a feature of the composition of the tragedy as its saturation with Hamlet’s monologues, the role of which is in summing up certain phenomena and events, their comprehension by both the hero and the reader. The monologues of the main character add a peculiar philosophical character to the general style of the tragedy and give the work a touch of subtle lyricism.

The time periods of the work cover only a few days, but the system of characters in the tragedy is quite developed. All heroes can be divided according to their ideological significance into three groups: main characters: Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude; images influencing the course of action: the ghost of Hamlet's father, Polonius, Ophelia, Laertes, Horatio, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Fortinbras; minor characters: watchmen, gravediggers, captain, sailors, nobles and others. Conventionally, the author himself divides the characters into two categories with the ability to see a ghost. After all, only those who were pure in soul and heart could see him.

The main character is Hamlet - a controversial and complex character. The peculiarity of this character is revealed in Shakespeare's extraordinary skill in showing the hero in development. Since Hamlet at the beginning of the work and at the end are completely different images. Split consciousness, attempts to analyze one’s capabilities, the desire to live according to conscience, doubts and reproaches - all this tempers and shapes an effective character from a thinking hero. In a philosophical and humanistic vein, the image of Hamlet is a talisman of universal human values: morality, truth, honor and justice.

In the work, the author raises the main problem of the Renaissance - the collapse of the ideals of morality, humanism, honor, which are replaced by the power of money and power. In the tragedy, the author tries to solve the main philosophical question - why does a person live, what is the meaning of his existence, if everything in this world is perishable.

This universal, eternal problem is embodied in the famous phrase: “To be or not to be, that is the question.” That is why Hamlet’s remarks are filled with thoughts about death, about the meaning of existence. The answer to this question is the idea of ​​the value of human morality, the ability to comprehend the past and present, to feel, to love. Hamlet sees the meaning of human life in this.

The pinnacle of world drama is Shakespeare's tragedy “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.” For several centuries now, the play has been a programmatic work of literature and a permanent performance in theater repertoires around the world. Such popularity of the work speaks of the urgency of the problems raised in the work, which are relevant at all times in the development of society.

The tragedy takes place in Denmark, in the royal residence of Elsinore. The other day, the whole country was shrouded in a sad event - the king passed away. After the death of the monarch, his brother Claudius takes the throne. Having gathered his subjects, he announces two news: that he will be crowned, and also that he will marry the current queen, that is, the widow of his late brother. The son of the deceased king, Hamlet, is extremely upset by the death of his father and the fact that his mother and uncle so quickly forgot their grief.

The night watchmen noticed that at the same hour a ghost appeared that looked very much like the late king. They are frightened and call Horatio, who recognizes the former king in the night image. He understands that the deceased wants to tell about something, and decides to report everything to Hamlet. The next night, the prince sees the ghost of his father, who told him that his brother Claudius poisoned him by pouring poison into his ear in order to gain the state and the queen. Hamlet's father convinces him to avenge his death.

Seeing Hamlet's strange state, Claudius tries to understand the reasons. The king's closest confidant and adviser, Polonius, learns of Hamlet's love for his daughter Ophelia. He convinces his daughter not to believe his words and take care of her honor. The girl returns all the gifts and letters to the prince. Why does Hamlet realize that his feelings were not mutual. Polonius explains Hamlet's strange behavior to the royal couple as the suffering of a lover and offers to keep an eye on the prince to make sure of this. Realizing this, Hamlet pretends to be crazy. Eavesdropping, the king understands the prince's belligerent attitude and realizes that the hidden reason is not love.

To distract the prince, the king invites Hamlet's university friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to the court, who bring a theater troupe with them. Hamlet is tormented by doubts whether his uncle is really a murderer and must pay for his act, and what if the ghost is a demon that confuses Hamlet’s thoughts and leads him to sin. In order not to make a mistake and to be convinced of the king’s guilt, Hamlet asks the actors to perform the play “The Murder of Gonzago.” In the plot of the play, a nephew kills his uncle and seduces his wife. Hamlet adds his poems to it and gives instructions to the actors on how to play, and also asks Horatio, the only person he trusts, to observe the king’s reaction. The latter cannot stand it and leaves the hall before the end of the performance. Now Hamlet is confident in the veracity of the ghost's words.

The king begins to fear Hamlet and asks the queen mother to influence him. Polonius helpfully offers to eavesdrop on their conversation and hides behind the carpet. During the conversation, Hamlet appeals to his mother's conscience, condemning her marriage to a traitor. Polonius gives himself away, and Hamlet, believing that this is the king, in his anger hits the carpet with his sword and kills the adviser. Hamlet feels sorry for the wise old man, but he himself chose his fate and died the fate he deserves. After the murder of Polonius, the king is completely frightened and decides to send the prince to England under the supervision of his imaginary friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, giving them a covering letter with the royal seal, in which he demands to kill Hamlet.

Polonius is buried in secret and without honors, so as not to attract attention. The news of his father's death reaches Polonius's son, Laertes. He explains the mystery of his father’s death by saying that the king committed a heinous act, and begins to turn the Danes against Claudius. Upon learning of this, the king reveals to Laertes the real murderer and supports his desire to avenge his father's death.

At this time, Hamlet, having opened the royal letter and learned of Claudius’s intentions, replaced it with another, in which he orders the execution of his traitorous friends, and he himself leaves the ship and returns to Denmark. The grief of her father's death led Ophelia to lose her mind and she drowned in the lake. Hiding in the cemetery, Hamlet and Horatio are placed as witnesses to Ophelia's funeral. Hamlet, unable to bear it, approaches the grave, where a conflict occurred between him and Laertes. Hamlet cannot understand Laertes' belligerence. The king, meanwhile, invites Laertes to take revenge on Hamlet so that in the eyes of the queen and society it does not look like murder. They decide to challenge the prince to fight with rapiers for a bet. To absolutely guarantee Hamlet's death, Laertes smears the rapiers with poison, and the king poisons the wine.

During the fight, Queen Gertrude, worried about her son, drinks wine and dies. Laertes and Hamlet wound each other by exchanging weapons. Laertes dies. The prince, having understood everything, wounds Claudius with a poisonous rapier and gives him wine to drink. Before his death, Hamlet asks Horatio to tell the people everything he knows and to vote for Fortinbras as the future king. The Norwegian prince Fortinbras became king, burying Hamlet with great honors.

Analysis of the work

The social and philosophical tragedy was created by Shakespeare based on the medieval legend of Prince Amleth. Folk works have repeatedly been subject to literary adaptations. However, it was Shakespeare’s creation that became immortal.

Historical facts and character of the hero

The time period of the play is not clearly indicated. By depicting the past, the author raises in the work actuarial problems both during Shakespeare’s life and in our days. Historical authenticity and eventfulness in the work fade into the background, allowing the plot to focus all its attention on the personal tragedy of Prince Hamlet.

The composition of the tragedy is based on two storylines: Hamlet’s path to revenge for the death of his father and the honor of his mother; treacherous actions, full of intrigue and intrigue, on the part of King Claudius. A striking example of Shakespeare’s author’s style is such a feature of the composition of the tragedy as its saturation with Hamlet’s monologues, the role of which is in summing up certain phenomena and events, their comprehension by both the hero and the reader. The monologues of the main character add a peculiar philosophical character to the general style of the tragedy and give the work a touch of subtle lyricism.

The time periods of the work cover only a few days, but the system of characters in the tragedy is quite developed. All heroes can be divided according to their ideological significance into three groups: main characters: Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude; images influencing the course of action: the ghost of Hamlet's father, Polonius, Ophelia, Laertes, Horatio, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Fortinbras; minor characters: watchmen, gravediggers, captain, sailors, nobles and others. Conventionally, the author himself divides the characters into two categories with the ability to see a ghost. After all, only those who were pure in soul and heart could see him.

The main character is Hamlet - a controversial and complex character. The peculiarity of this character is revealed in Shakespeare's extraordinary skill in showing the hero in development. Since Hamlet at the beginning of the work and at the end are completely different images. Split consciousness, attempts to analyze one’s capabilities, the desire to live according to conscience, doubts and reproaches - all this tempers and shapes an effective character from a thinking hero. In a philosophical and humanistic vein, the image of Hamlet is a talisman of universal human values: morality, truth, honor and justice.

In the work, the author raises the main problem of the Renaissance - the collapse of the ideals of morality, humanism, honor, which are replaced by the power of money and power. In the tragedy, the author tries to solve the main philosophical question - why does a person live, what is the meaning of his existence, if everything in this world is perishable.

This universal, eternal problem is embodied in the famous phrase: “To be or not to be, that is the question.” That is why Hamlet’s remarks are filled with thoughts about death, about the meaning of existence. The answer to this question is the idea of ​​the value of human morality, the ability to comprehend the past and present, to feel, to love. Hamlet sees the meaning of human life in this.

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies. The eternal questions raised in the text concern humanity to this day. Love conflicts, themes related to politics, reflections on religion: this tragedy contains all the basic intentions of the human spirit. Shakespeare's plays are both tragic and realistic, and the images have long become eternal in world literature. Perhaps this is where their greatness lies.

The famous English author was not the first to write the story of Hamlet. Before him there was The Spanish Tragedy, written by Thomas Kyd. Researchers and literary scholars suggest that Shakespeare borrowed the plot from him. However, Thomas Kyd himself probably consulted earlier sources. Most likely, these were short stories from the early Middle Ages.

Saxo Grammaticus in his book "History of the Danes" described real story the ruler of Jutland, who had a son named Amlet (English Amlet) and a wife Geruta. The ruler had a brother who was jealous of his wealth and decided to kill him, and then married his wife. Amlet did not submit to the new ruler, and, having learned about the bloody murder of his father, decides to take revenge. The stories coincide down to the smallest detail, but Shakespeare interprets the events differently and penetrates deeper into the psychology of each character.

The essence

Hamlet returns to his native castle Elsinore for his father's funeral. From the soldiers who served at the court, he learns about a ghost who comes to them at night and whose outline resembles the late king. Hamlet decides to go to a meeting with an unknown phenomenon, a further meeting horrifies him. The ghost reveals to him the true cause of his death and persuades his son to take revenge. The Danish prince is confused and on the verge of madness. He doesn’t understand whether he really saw his father’s spirit, or was it the devil who visited him from the depths of hell?

The hero reflects on what happened for a long time and ultimately decides to find out on his own whether Claudius is really guilty. To do this, he asks a troupe of actors to perform the play “The Murder of Gonzago” to see the king’s reaction. During a key moment in the play, Claudius becomes ill and leaves, at which point a sinister truth is revealed. All this time, Hamlet pretends to be crazy, and even Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who were sent to him, could not find out from him the true motives of his behavior. Hamlet intends to talk to the queen in her chambers and accidentally kills Polonius, who hid behind the curtain in order to eavesdrop. He sees in this accident a manifestation of the will of heaven. Claudius understands the criticality of the situation and tries to send Hamlet to England, where he is to be executed. But this does not happen, and the dangerous nephew returns to the castle, where he kills his uncle and himself dies from poison. The kingdom passes into the hands of the Norwegian ruler Fortinbras.

Genre and direction

“Hamlet” is written in the genre of tragedy, but the “theatrical” nature of the work should be taken into account. After all, in Shakespeare’s understanding, the world is a stage, and life is a theater. This is a specific worldview, a creative look at the phenomena surrounding a person.

Shakespeare's dramas are traditionally classified as. She is characterized by pessimism, gloom and aestheticization of death. These features can also be found in the work of the great English playwright.

Conflict

The main conflict in the play is divided into external and internal. Its external manifestation lies in Hamlet’s attitude towards the inhabitants of the Danish court. He considers them all base creatures, devoid of reason, pride and dignity.

The internal conflict is very well expressed in the hero’s emotional experiences, his struggle with himself. Hamlet chooses between two behavioral types: new (Renaissance) and old (feudal). He is formed as a fighter, not wanting to perceive reality as it is. Shocked by the evil that surrounded him on all sides, the prince is going to fight it, despite all the difficulties.

Composition

The main compositional outline of the tragedy consists of a story about the fate of Hamlet. Each individual layer of the play serves to fully reveal his personality and is accompanied by constant changes in the hero’s thoughts and behavior. Events gradually unfold in such a way that the reader begins to feel constant tension, which does not stop even after Hamlet’s death.

The action can be divided into five parts:

  1. First part - plot. Here Hamlet meets the ghost of his deceased father, who bequeaths him to take revenge for his death. In this part, the prince for the first time encounters human betrayal and meanness. This is where his mental torment begins, which does not let him go until his death. Life becomes meaningless for him.
  2. Second part - action development. The prince decides to pretend to be crazy in order to deceive Claudius and find out the truth about his act. He also accidentally kills the royal advisor, Polonius. At this moment, the realization comes to him that he is the executor of the highest will of heaven.
  3. The third part - climax. Here Hamlet, using the trick of showing the play, is finally convinced of the guilt of the ruling king. Claudius realizes how dangerous his nephew is and decides to get rid of him.
  4. Part four - The Prince is sent to England to be executed there. At the same moment, Ophelia goes crazy and tragically dies.
  5. Fifth part - denouement. Hamlet escapes execution, but is forced to fight Laertes. In this part, all the main participants in the action die: Gertrude, Claudius, Laertes and Hamlet himself.
  6. The main characters and their characteristics

  • Hamlet– from the very beginning of the play, the reader’s interest is focused on the personality of this character. This “bookish” boy, as Shakespeare himself wrote about him, suffers from the disease of the approaching century - melancholy. At his core, he is the first reflective hero of world literature. Someone may think that he is a weak person, incapable of action. But in fact, we see that he is strong in spirit and is not going to submit to the problems that befell him. His perception of the world changes, particles of former illusions turn to dust. This gives rise to that same “Hamletism”—an internal discord in the hero’s soul. By nature he is a dreamer, a philosopher, but life forced him to become an avenger. Hamlet’s character can be called “Byronic”, because he is maximally focused on his internal state and is quite skeptical about the world around him. He, like all romantics, is prone to constant self-doubt and tossing between good and evil.
  • Gertrude- Hamlet's mother. A woman in whom we see the makings of intelligence, but a complete lack of will. She is not alone in her loss, but for some reason she does not try to get closer to her son at a time when grief has occurred in the family. Without the slightest remorse, Gertrude betrays the memory of her late husband and agrees to marry his brother. Throughout the action, she constantly tries to justify herself. Dying, the queen understands how wrong her behavior was, and how wise and fearless her son turned out to be.
  • Ophelia- daughter of Polonius and lover of Hamlet. A meek girl who loved the prince until her death. She also faced trials that she could not endure. Her madness is not a fake move invented by someone. This is the same madness that occurs at the moment of true suffering; it cannot be stopped. There are some hidden indications in the work that Ophelia was pregnant with Hamlet's child, and this makes the realization of her fate doubly difficult.
  • Claudius- a man who killed his own brother to achieve his own goals. Hypocritical and vile, he still carries a heavy burden. The pangs of conscience devour him daily and do not allow him to fully enjoy the rule to which he came to in such a terrible way.
  • Rosencrantz And Guildenstern– Hamlet’s so-called “friends” who betrayed him at the first opportunity to make good money. Without delay, they agree to deliver a message announcing the death of the prince. But fate has prepared a worthy punishment for them: as a result, they die instead of Hamlet.
  • Horatio- an example of a true and faithful friend. The only person the prince can trust. They go through all the problems together, and Horatio is ready to share even death with his friend. It is to him that Hamlet trusts to tell his story and asks him to “breathe some more in this world.”
  • Themes

  1. Hamlet's Revenge. The prince was destined to bear the heavy burden of revenge. He cannot coldly and calculatingly deal with Claudius and regain the throne. His humanistic principles force him to think about the common good. The hero feels responsible for those who have suffered from the evil that is widespread around him. He sees that it is not Claudius alone who is to blame for the death of his father, but all of Denmark, which blithely turned a blind eye to the circumstances of the death of the old king. He knows that to take revenge he needs to become an enemy to everyone around him. His ideal of reality does not coincide with the real picture of the world; the “shaken age” arouses hostility in Hamlet. The prince understands that he cannot restore peace alone. Such thoughts plunge him into even greater despair.
  2. Hamlet's love. Before all those terrible events, there was love in the hero’s life. But, unfortunately, she is unhappy. He loved Ophelia madly, and there is no doubt about the sincerity of his feelings. But the young man is forced to give up happiness. After all, the proposal to share sorrows together would be too selfish. To finally break the connection, he has to inflict pain and be merciless. Trying to save Ophelia, he could not even imagine how great her suffering would be. The impulse with which he rushes to her coffin was deeply sincere.
  3. Hamlet's friendship. The hero values ​​friendship very much and is not used to choosing his friends based on his assessment of their position in society. His only true friend is the poor student Horatio. At the same time, the prince is contemptuous of betrayal, which is why he treats Rosencrantz and Guildenstern so cruelly.

Problems

The issues covered in Hamlet are very broad. Here are the themes of love and hate, the meaning of life and the purpose of man in this world, strength and weakness, the right to revenge and murder.

One of the main ones is problem of choice, which the main character faces. There is a lot of uncertainty in his soul; alone he thinks for a long time and analyzes everything that happens in his life. There is no one next to Hamlet who could help him make a decision. Therefore, he is guided only by his own moral principles and personal experience. His consciousness is divided into two halves. In one lives a philosopher and humanist, and in the other, a man who understands the essence of a rotten world.

His key monologue “To be or not to be” reflects all the pain in the hero’s soul, the tragedy of thought. This incredible internal struggle exhausts Hamlet, makes him think about suicide, but he is stopped by his reluctance to commit another sin. He began to become increasingly concerned about the topic of death and its mystery. What's next? Eternal darkness or a continuation of the suffering he endures during his life?

Meaning

The main idea of ​​tragedy is to search for the meaning of life. Shakespeare shows a man of education, eternally searching, with a deep sense of empathy for everything that surrounds him. But life forces him to face true evil in various manifestations. Hamlet is aware of it, trying to figure out how exactly it arose and why. He is shocked by the fact that one place can so quickly turn into hell on Earth. And his act of revenge is to destroy the evil that has entered his world.

Fundamental to the tragedy is the idea that behind all these royal squabbles there is a great turning point in the entire European culture. And at the edge of this turning point Hamlet appears - new type hero. Along with the death of all the main characters, the centuries-old system of understanding the world collapses.

Criticism

In 1837, Belinsky wrote an article dedicated to Hamlet, in which he called the tragedy a “brilliant diamond” in the “radiant crown of the king of dramatic poets,” “crowned by entire humanity and having no rival before or after himself.”

The image of Hamlet contains all the universal human traits "<…>this is me, this is each of us, more or less...”, Belinsky writes about him.

S. T. Coleridge, in his Shakespeare Lectures (1811-12), writes: “Hamlet hesitates due to natural sensitivity and hesitates, held back by reason, which forces him to turn his effective forces to the search for a speculative solution.”

Psychologist L.S. Vygotsky focused on Hamlet’s connection with the other world: “Hamlet is a mystic, this determines not only his state of mind on the threshold of double existence, two worlds, but also his will in all its manifestations.”

And literary critic V.K. Kantor looked at the tragedy from a different angle and in his article “Hamlet as a “Christian Warrior”” pointed out: “The tragedy “Hamlet” is a system of temptations. He is tempted by a ghost (this is the main temptation), and the prince’s task is to check whether it is the devil who is trying to lead him into sin. Hence the trap theater. But at the same time he is tempted by his love for Ophelia. Temptation is a constant Christian problem.”

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Year of writing: 1600-1601

Genre: tragedy

Main characters: Hamlet- heir to the king, Claudius- brother of the king, Ophelia- Hamlet's bride Laertes- her brother, Gertrude- queen

The famous play in the world itself has not been read by everyone; to fill such a significant gap, you need to use our summary of the tragedy “Hamlet” for reader's diary.

Plot

Hamlet sees the spirit of his father, and he says that Claudius killed him in order to get the throne and queen, and demands revenge. Hamlet is upset, how could his uncle and mother do this! He is torn between the desire for revenge and indecision. Claudius guesses his nephew's intentions. Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, mistaking him for Claudius. Ophelia loses her mind and drowns in the river. Claudius confronts Hamlet and Laertes, the opponents injure each other. Before his death, Hamlet kills Claudius. The Norwegian ruler receives the throne.

Conclusion (my opinion)

There are a lot of ideas in this story. Hamlet suffers from an internal conflict - he is a highly spiritual person and wants to be higher low society, but circumstances plunge him into the dirt, self-interest and greed of those around him. He asks himself the eternal question “To be or not to be” and dies without having decided, but giving us, the readers, food for thought.

Year: 1600-1601 Genre: tragedy

Main characters: King's heir Hamlet, King's brother Claudius, Hamlet's fiancée Ophelia, her brother Laertes, Queen Gertrude

Plot:

Prince Hamlet learns that at midnight the spirit of his late father appears on the castle walls. Alarmed, he decides to see the ghost, who reveals the terrible truth. Claudius, the brother of the deceased king, poisoned him, wanting to get the throne and the queen's hand. Hamlet pretends to be crazy in order to find evidence of his uncle's guilt. Beginning to suspect that his nephew knows about his crime and is feigning madness, Claudius wants to get rid of him.

After Hamlet accidentally kills the royal advisor Polonius, he is sent to England with a letter containing an order to immediately kill the heir. But Hamlet avoids the trap and leaves the ship. In Elsinore, Ophelia, the prince's lover, loses her mind after the death of her father Polonius. Hamlet attends her funeral and encounters Ophelia's older brother, Laertes. The king invites the young people to resolve their differences with a duel, during which both wound each other with a poisoned blade. Hamlet stabs Claudius, and Queen Gertrude dies from drinking poison.

Along with other works of the great playwright, the tragedy "Hamlet" affects eternal problems. Among them: the conflict of high ideals and mundane reality; discrepancy between the goal and the means spent to achieve it; the role of an individual human personality in history, in a changing world. And, most importantly, the search for answers about the meaning of life.

Read a summary of Shakespeare's Hamlet

For two nights in a row, Bernardo and Marcellus, on night guard, notice the figure of a royal ghost on the walls of the royal castle of Elsinore. They fearfully recognize the recently deceased king, the father of Crown Prince Hamlet. The military shares their observations with Horatio, Hamlet's learned friend, and he comes to the square at midnight to see for himself. Seeing the spirit with his own eyes, Horatio is shocked. The phenomenon seems to him a harbinger of terrible events.

Hamlet, returning from the university in Wittenberg, indulges in grief and despair. With bitterness he accepts the hasty marriage of his mother, Queen Gertrude, with his uncle, who took the Danish throne after the death of his brother. A short period of mourning for the deceased seems indecent to him, as does a union that in recent times was considered “incestuous.”

Horatio's story worries Hamlet to the core, he goes to guard the ghost, and he manages to draw the otherworldly guest into conversation. The shadow of his father reveals to Hamlet the terrible truth: Claudius, the treacherous usurper, poisoned his brother and took his place on the throne and in the queen's bed. The restless spirit calls on his son to take revenge, but asks to spare his mother. Let Gertrude’s conscience torment her, her son should not encroach on her life.

Shocked by the monstrous truth, Hamlet begins to ask questions. What is real in this life? What can you take for granted? Who to rely on? Why are we given our existence? What should we use the time allotted for? Torn apart by emotions, he wants to make sure the ghost's words are true. Hamlet decides to hide under the mask of a madman.

Meanwhile, Laertes, the eldest son of the royal adviser Polonius, leaving his native place, instructs his sister to stay away from the prince and his advances. Her father tells her the same thing, and then Ophelia admits that she recently saw Hamlet, who was “as if not himself,” behaved wildly and looked strange.

Soon everyone will know that the heir has lost his mind. Polonius is trying to prove to the king that Hamlet has gone mad with love for his daughter, who was too strict with him. They secretly observe the meeting of young people, during which the prince pushes Ophelia away and tells her to “enter the monastery”, where she has a chance to preserve her honor and not become a pawn in intrigues powerful of the world this.

The nephew's words worry Claudius, whose conscience is not clear. He does not believe that Hamlet has gone mad from passion. From Wittenberg, the king invites Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet's university friends, to whom he proposes to keep an eye on the heir in order to find out his true motives. Hamlet receives his comrades well, but he clearly does not trust them.

Together with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, a troupe of traveling performers appears in the royal castle, which friends invited, since the prince always loved theatrical performances. Hamlet is friendly with the actors; he asks them to stage the play “The Murder of Gonzago.” The performance is meant to be a trap for Claudius.

On the day of the performance, the king and queen and the servants gather in the main hall. Everyone is in a good mood because Prince Hamlet seems cheerful and well. He communicates affably with his mother and flirts with Ophelia. The play begins. When the actors reach the scene of the killing of Gonzago, who is sleeping in the garden, with mercury poured into his ear, King Claudius rises from his seat in confusion and leaves. The courtiers leave with him. Hamlet, left alone, triumphs. Now he is sure that the ghost's accusations were true.

That evening, the prince appears in his mother’s chambers to express to Gertrude his opinion about her and her new marriage. Hamlet cruelly scourges the queen with words, praises the virtues of her late husband and reproaches his mother for infidelity. Suddenly it seems to him that Claudius himself is hiding behind the tapestry, and Hamlet pierces the moving cover with his blade. Polonius, who overheard the conversation, turns out to be killed.

Taking advantage of the pretext, Claudius decides to send the heir away from the country until his crime is forgotten. He sends him, along with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, onto a ship bound for England. The king writes a secret letter to the ruler of Britain asking him to immediately execute the sender of this message. On the way to the sea, Hamlet sees the Norwegian army of Fortinbras, marching to defend a piece of no-man's land. The prince is amazed at how much effort another person spends for a worthless goal, and he himself has still not completed his mission.

Ophelia loses her mind after the death of Polonius. Laertes, who returned to the country for revenge, rebels and seizes the castle, but Claudius convinces the young man that the real enemy is Hamlet. The sight of his sister touches Laertes and inflames his hatred of the prince.

Hamlet's ship is captured by pirates, and he himself is landed back on Danish soil. Claudius receives news of this and persuades Laertes to a duel with the prince, for which they will prepare in advance. Meanwhile, Ophelia is found drowned in the river.

On the morning before the funeral, Hamlet walks through the cemetery, where gravediggers are digging earth for Ophelia's coffin, throwing out old bones. The prince discovers the skull of the old jester Yorick; in a monologue addressed to Horace, Hamlet talks about the transience and futility of life.

A funeral procession appears. Hiding, Hamlet listens to the funeral speeches and thus learns that Ophelia is being buried. When Laertes throws himself on the coffin screaming, Hamlet pulls him out of the grave. A quarrel begins, and they agree to settle it with a duel.

The next day, Hamlet tries to apologize to Laertes, but he does not want to give up revenge. Laertes has a poisoned rapier in his hand; he wounds the prince with it, but in the heat of battle the fighters exchange weapons, and Laertes himself also receives a dangerous scratch. Gertrude takes a sip from the cup intended for Hamlet. It contains poison that Claudius threw there, and she dies. Hamlet demands to find the culprit, Laertes confesses everything to him, after which the prince stabs Claudius. On his deathbed, Hamlet and Laertes make peace. Horace is about to finish the poisonous drink, but Hamlet convinces him to tell people about everything that happened.

An army passes by, returning with victory. Hamlet asks Fortinbras to inherit the Danish throne.

Picture or drawing of Hamlet

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