Hamlet Essay - 754 Words

Prince Hamlet is depressed. Having been summoned home to Denmark from school in Germany to attend his father’s funeral, he is shocked to find his mother Gertrude already remarried. The Queen has wed Hamlet’s Uncle Claudius, the dead king’s brother. To Hamlet, the marriage is â€Å"foul incest.† Worse still, Claudius has had himself crowned King despite the fact that Hamlet was his father’s heir to the throne. Hamlet suspects foul play. When his father’s ghost visits the castle, Hamlet’s suspicions are confirmed. The Ghost complains that he is unable to rest in peace because he was murdered. Claudius, says the Ghost, poured poison in King Hamlet’s ear while the old king napped. Unable to confess and find salvation, King Hamlet is now†¦show more content†¦Hamlet calls the revised play The Mousetrap, and the ploy proves a success. As Hamlet had hoped, Claudius’ reaction to the staged murder reveals the King to be conscience-stricken. Claudius leaves the room because he cannot breathe, and his vision is dimmed for want of light. Convinced now that Claudius is a villain, Hamlet resolves to kill him. But, as Hamlet observes, â€Å"conscience doth make cowards of us all.† In his continued reluctance to dispatch Claudius, Hamlet actually causes six ancillary deaths. The first death belongs to Polonius, whom Hamlet stabs through a wallhanging as the old man spies on Hamlet and Gertrude in the Queen’s private chamber. Claudius punishes Hamlet for Polonius’ death by exiling him to England. He has brought Hamlet’s school chums Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to Denmark from Germany to spy on his nephew, and now he instructs them to deliver Hamlet into the English king’s hands for execution. Hamlet discovers the plot and arranges for the hanging of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern instead. Ophelia, distraught over her father’s death and Hamlet’s behavior, drowns while singing sad love songs bemoaning the fate of a spurned lover. Her brother, Laertes, falls next. Laertes, returned to Denmark from France to avenge his father’s death, witnesses Ophelia’s descent into madness. After her funeral, where he andShow MoreRelatedHamlet Madness In Hamlet1293 Words   |  6 Pages When reading Shakespeare’s Hamlet as a class, the first thing that most teachers or professors point out is the argument/idea of sanity, specifically Hamlets sanity. I believe that Hamlet is, in fact, feigning his madness. What I do not know is if I believe this because it is what I was taught or if I came up with the idea myself based on my own interpretation. When I was taught Hamlet there was no argument it was just fact that he was faking his madness. Because of my confusion, I came to findRead MoreHamlet1304 Words   |  6 Pagesunderlying themes of revenge, incest, and suicide, William Shakespeare’s Hamlet was remembered by many Elizabethan Era viewers as both a philosophical and oft-debated masterpiece (Dickson). 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