The Tragedy Of Hamlet Prince Of Denmark

The Tragedy Of Hamlet, Prince Of Denmark Essay, Research Paper

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

I.

a) Time: Sixteenth Century

b) Place: Denmark

c) Preliminary situation: King Hamlet, King of Denmark is killed. Hamlet the

Prince’s uncle,

Claudius, receives the throne and marries Queen Gertrude.

II.

a) Initial Incident: A ghost appears to Marcellus and another guard who decide

to inform Hamlet of

it’s presence.

b) Rising Action:

1.2 Claudius, the new King, is holding court and thanks his subjects

for their support. He then sends an ambassador to Norway to protect from an

invasion from Fortinbras, Hamlets second cousin. He gives Laertes permission to

return to France but will not allow Hamlet to go to Wittenburg. Hamlet feels

alone and is upset that his mother married so shortly after her husband’s death.

The guards arrive and tell Hamlet about the ghost and Hamlet agrees to join them

that night in search of the ghost, his father.

1.3 At Polonius’s room, Laertes says good-bye to his sister Ophelia and

tells her not to trust Hamlet. Polonius arrives and says good-bye Laertes and

offers him advice. He then talks to Ophelia about not seeing Hamlet and then

orders her stay away from him.

1.4 Claudius is drinking the night and Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus

see the ghost again. The ghost signals to Hamlet to come, but the others try

and hold him back. Hamlet struggles free and moves towards the apparition.

1.5 The ghost tells Hamlet that he is the spirit of his father and that

he was not poisoned, but murdered. He demands that Hamlet avenge his death by

murdering the killer, King Claudius. Hamlet promises to get revenge and orders

the other to swear they haven’t seen anything with the help of the ghost.

2.1 Polonius sends his servant, Reynaldo, to Paris to spy and ask about

Laertes. Ophelia then enters the room and tells her father that Hamlet was

visiting and was completely mad. Polonius believes that Hamlet has gone crazy

due to the rejection from Ophelia and rushes off to inform the king.

2.2 King and Queen send Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, old school

buddies, to spy on Hamlet and determine why he has gone crazy. Polonius tells

everyone that Hamlet is crazy because of unreturned love. Claudius isn’t quite

convinced that Hamlet really is crazy but agrees to help Polonius spy on him.

Hamlet, when confronted by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, pretends to be mad so

no one will find out about the ghost and what Hamlet knows. Then, a group of

touring actors enters the scene and Hamlet makes one of them recite a speech he

likes. When finished, Hamlet realizes that the actor read the speech with more

emotion than Hamlet had for avenging his fathers death. Hamlet then convinces

the actors to put on a play similar to his father’s death so he could tell by

Claudius’s reaction whether he was guilty or not.

3.1 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern return and tell Polonius and Claudius

that they couldn’t find a reason for Hamlets madness. Polonius then decides to

place Ophelia where he and Claudius can listen in on their conversation, hers

and Hamlets. Hamlet is nice to her at first, but when he suspects someone is

listening, he becomes abusive and cruel to her. Claudius, who is no fool,

realizes that Hamlet is not crazy because of Ophelia, so decides to send Hamlet

away to England because he is starting to fear his own life. Polonius persuades

Claudius not to send Hamlet away until after he has talked with Gertrude.

3.2 Hamlet and Horatio watch as the actors do the play. Hamlet is mean

again to Ophelia, but all is sudden when Claudius gets upset and cancels the