Hamlet

A detailed Summary of Hamlet


William Shakespeare's Hamlet, is one of the best known tragedies in literature.

Hamlet, is charged by the spirit of his father to avenge his wrongful death. Previously

unaware of any foul play in the death of King Hamlet, Hamlet becomes suspicious for the

ghost said that "the serpent that did sting thy father's life/ Now wears his crown." (Act I

sc.v 46-7) He must now take revenge on his uncle Claudius to let the disturbed spirit rest

in peace. It would seem to most people that this is a rather simple task to execute, but it

proves to be the single most difficult thing for Hamlet to do in the play. His inanition in

murdering Claudius stems from his great cowardice.

Many people believe that the main reason that Hamlet takes so long to kill

Claudius is that he is constantly contemplating his morals. Samuel Taylor Coleridge

would have you believe that the reason for the inaction is caused by "endless reasoning

and hesitating- constant urging and solicitation of the mind to act, and constant escape

from action." Here we have poor young Hamlet, mourning the death of his father and

now must kill his uncle. His conscience is preventing him from taking any action to send


forge a new letter and sentences the messengers, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to death

As always, there is a person that hits the nail right on the head. This person is

Another person that was caught in Shakespeare's trap of making people believe

Gonzago. Upon observing Claudius' reaction tot he play, Hamlet is convinced that he is

thinking too precisely on th' event" (41-3), sending the image of a man pondering his

have some evidence for him to continue his vengeance. He was quite certain that Claudius

had murdered his father by then, but wanted an escape from completing his charge, so he



Some common words found in the essay are:
Taylor Coleridge, AC Bradley, Murder Gonzago, Act IV, Hamlet Hamlet, Guildenstern Hamlet's, William Richardson, Shakespeare's Hamlet, England Hamlet, Laertes Hamlet, moral conduct, sense moral conduct, sense moral, exquisite sense moral, exquisite sense, hamlet coward, death father, reason inaction, rosencrantz guildenstern, killing claudius, william richardson, people believe,

Approximate Word count = 1377
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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