Hamlet, short plot and characters: analysis and links to summaries in Italian and English, and a commentary on the monologue To Be or Not to Be?
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of the most famous and beautiful tragedies of the English playwright and your teachers will surely suggest that you read it, study it and comment on it. We recommend that you do so, but if you are behind with your homework, we will help you analyze this famous tragedy, which became famous above all for the monologue “To be or not to be, that is the question”. In this section you will find the plot of this work, but also our precious links to detailed summaries in Italian and English, the analysis of the characters and a commentary on the monologue and the tragedy.
HAMLET: SHORT PLOT
Hamlet is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies. The plot develops in Elsinore in Denmark, where the ghost of the deceased king, killed by his brother Claudius who replaced him on the throne and above all married his wife, appears to his son Hamlet asking to be avenged. Hamlet, prey to a thousand doubts, initially tries to discover the truth by pretending to be crazy, but Hamlet’s crazy behavior alarms both his uncle and his mother. The chamberlain Polonius believes that it is caused by love for Ophelia, his daughter, but Hamlet rejects her. Taking advantage of a company of actors, invited to lift the young man’s spirits, Hamlet stages a drama with them in which a murder similar to the one that occurred is represented. The interpretation shocks the king, who interrupts the performance.
For Hamlet, everything is clear: Claudius is to blame for his father’s death. He decides to reveal everything to his mother, but accidentally kills Polonius. The king, beside himself, decides to send Hamlet to England with two friends, ordering them to kill him upon arrival. On the ship, Hamlet discovers the truth and returns. Back in Denmark, he discovers that Ophelia has committed suicide out of grief over her father’s death and Hamlet’s rejection of her love. Laertes accuses Hamlet of the death of his father Polonius and his sister Ophelia, and taking advantage of his anger and desire for revenge, Claudius organizes a duel between the two, looking for a way to kill Hamlet.
He puts poison in a cup of wine, but Hamlet’s mother drinks it by mistake and dies. During the duel, Laertes and Hamlet wound each other with poisoned swords, marking their end: before dying, however, Hamlet manages to avenge his deceased father by killing Claudius.
