Hamlet - Summary and Analysis

Hamlet

Summary:

~Author - Shakespeare
~Setting - Denmark
~Plot - So basically there is this guy named Hamlet. His father, Old Hamlet, was killed by his brother, Claudius. Now Claudius rules alongside Gertrude, who was married to Old Hamlet and is currently married to Claudius. Yes... Gertrude married her husband's brother. Hamlet didn't like this too much....
So then there's this ghost that tells Hamlet the truth about Claudius... and Hamlet doesn't like it too much. He does test the ghost's truthfulness, though, by putting on a play about... well... Claudius. When he reacts, Hamlet will know the truth.
Side note... all the while young Fortinbras is mad because Old Hamlet killed Old Fortinbras... so now Young Fortinbras wants to attack Denmark. But when his uncle puts a stop to it... Fortinbras plans to just "pass through" on his way to Poland to attack.
Back to Hamlet... he decides to play crazy and the whole play is about him deciding whether or not to kill Claudius. People die *echem Rozencrantz, Guildenstern, Polonius, Ophelia...* and Hamlet is still in this whole "to be or not to be" funk.
Finally, Claudius has had enough. After one murder plan failed (Hamlet getting killed in Europe), he gets Laertes in on the job. A fencing match, he says; oh Hamlet you'll win, he says; drink when you get a hit, he says. But really, he just wants Hamlet to die.
Oh and when Hamlet refuses to drink from the cup, Gertrude does. And Claudius lets her. SHOCKER
So finally Laertes cuts Hamlet and then Hamlet does the same... so now they're both doomed. On his way to  death, he tells Horatio not to kill himself because life is too precious. Aw... good Hamlet. And then he dies and saves the kingdom from the Chaos that is his family.
Oh and Fortinbras walks in and is like...cool... I win! And he is now the ruler. He does, however, let Hamlet have a proper kings' burial.


Significant Characters:

~ Hamlet: The prince of Denmark
~ Claudius: Brother to Old Hamlet, Married to Gertrude, uncle/dad to Hamlet
~ Horatio: Hamlet's best friend, the only man Hamlet really trusts/cares about;
 ~ Ophelia: Lover to Hamlet, daughter to Polonius and sister to Laertes
~Polonius: Suck-up to Claudius, dad to Ophelia and Laertes
~Laertes: Son of Polonius
~Fortinbras: Prince of Norway
~ Rozencrantz and Guilenstern: Old friends of Hamlet, help the kind

Narrative Voice and Author's style:

~View: No narrator, nobody knows all
~ Tone: Dark, ironic, contemplative
~Imagery:
     * the palace with many places to hide and deceive parallel with the ways in which the people are able to disguise themselves
     * Images of death all throughout the play - skull, ghost, dark
~ Symbolism:
     * Ghost - the spiritual consequences of death
     * Yourick's skull - the physical consequences of death
 

Quotes
~ Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

 Marcellus says this as he and Horatio debate whether or not to follow Hamlet and the ghost into the dark night. The line refers both to the idea that the ghost is an ominous omen for Denmark and to the larger theme of the connection between the moral legitimacy of a ruler and the health of the state as a whole. The ghost is a visible symptom of the rottenness of Denmark created by Claudius’s crime.

~ To be, or not to be: that is the question

This is the beginning to Hamlet's long soliloquy basically questioning life itself. It's all about morality and suicide and weighs the consequences of living or dying. He goes on to say that not knowing what waits in the afterlife is what stops people from committing suicide. This quote plays with the themes and motifs about life and death. 

Theme: Revenge is never rewarded in life

The name of the whole work is The Tragedy of Hamlet, which, had he chosen to revenge his father, would not be fitting. Nobody would have felt bad for Hamlet had he killed Claudius and ruled, in fact we might just hate him even more. This shows that he was rewarded for his death and not seeking revenge, the people are able to feel for him and he gets a king's burial. Also take into consideration Fortinbras. He listened to his uncle, didn't seek revenge, and was rewarded with a new kingdom. Those who sought revenge, like Laertes, were faced with death and got nothing out of the deal. All of these things show that revenge not being rewarded is a key theme in Hamlet.