Hamlet

A detailed Summary of Hamlet


Hamlet is considered one of the greatest plays ever written, and for good reason. One is the fact that it is so dynamic. The characters are so well developed and the reader gains a feeling of what they are going through. Another reason is that the events that occur throughout the play all flow together so well. One event always seems to lead to another and so on throughout the play. One final reason that Hamlet is considered to be one of, if not "the," greatest play written in the English language is the emotion that it conveys.

Many of the characters in the play have an entire drama that surrounds all of them. Each character by themselves could tell a story, about their motivations, about their love, and more than likely about what kind of person they are. For instance, the reader finds that Hamlet's father had died and that his Uncle had taken the thrown and married Gertrude, Hamlet's mother. Obviously this angers Hamlet, and one can assume what kind of person Hamlet develops into as the story goes on. Claudius' character (Hamlet's uncle) is also one that is well developed. The reader sees that he has married his brother's wife just a month after his funeral. The ghost of Hamlet Sr. reveals a secret to Hamlet Jr. th


The main way the characters of the story are so well established may be due to the fact that all the events occurring in the play flow together so well. Each event leads right to the next event, each of which grabs the reader's attention. For instance, the main line of events that occur can be traced fairly easily. First, Hamlet Sr. dies, Claudius marries Gertrude a month later, and Hamlet Sr.'s ghost tells Hamlet to get revenge. Hamlet then wants revenge and puts on a play to see the reaction of Claudius, after which Claudius prays and Hamlet speaks to his mom. During the conversation with his mother, Hamlet ends up killing Polonius, his former fiancee's father. After her father's death, Ophelia goes crazy and kills herself. Hamlet shows up at the funeral, and Laertes, Ophelia's brother, challenges Hamlet to a duel. In the duel, the king tries to poison Hamlet's drink, from which Gertrude drinks. Laertes, using a poisonous sword, is eventually stabbed by his own deadly weapon. Gertrude dies, Laertes dies, and Claudius is killed by Hamlet. Hamlet himself then dies which leaves Hamlet's best friend Horatio as the only surviving main character. There is much more detail to the story but that is the basic line of events, each

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Approximate Word count = 836
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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