Hamlet - Summary

Hamlet, prince of Denmark, returns to Denmark after the death of his father, the King, also named Hamlet.  Upon his return, his uncle, Claudius, becomes king and marries his mother, Gertrude.  Hamlet talks to the ghost of his father, who tells him that Claudius murdered Old Hamlet and had an affair with Gertrude.  Hamlet swears to avenge his father, and to distract the others, he will pretend to be insane.  To investigate his insanity, Claudius and Polonius, Claudius’s closest friend, make Ophelia, Polonius’s daughter and Hamlet’s lover, confront Hamlet.  Hamlet yells at her and ends their relationship. Hamlet bypasses an opportunity to kill Claudius because he is praying and would go to heaven.  He then has actors act out Old Hamlet’s death in front of Claudius, which enrages Claudius.  Polonius then asks Gertrude to confront Hamlet.  Hamlet notices Polonius watching the exchange and kills him thinking he was killing Claudius.  Gertrude then promises to be loyal to Hamlet and not Claudius.  Hamlet is sent to England with his old schoolmates to be killed.  He rewrites the letter and has them killed instead.  Hamlet returns to Denmark to kill Claudius.  Ophelia has killed herself because of her father’s death and her brother Laertes wants revenge.  Hamlet and Laertes fight over Ophelia’s grave.  Then Laertes and Claudius request a duel between Laertes and Hamlet, but they have poisoned Laertes blade and Hamlet’s wine.  Gertrude drinks the wine to protect Hamlet from it.  Laertes strikes Hamlet, Hamlet strikes Laertes with his own sword, thus they are both poisoned.  Hamlet stabs and kills Claudius when he sees his mother die.  Horatio, Hamlet’s best friend, consoles Hamlet as he dies, then gives Denmark to Fortinbras, a neighboring ruler, because all of the royal family is dead.