Hamlet
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
- The geographic definition for a place smaller than a village is at Hamlet (place)
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a play by William Shakespeare. It is one of his best-known plays, and many lines have become famous quotations. The play is often just called Hamlet.
Hamlet was written between 1600 and 1602, and first printed in 1603.
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[change] Story
Hamlet is the son of the King of Denmark. When Hamlet's father dies, his uncle Claudius becomes king and marries Hamlet's mother (Gertrude). Hamlet's father appears as a ghost and tells Hamlet that he was murdered by Claudius. Hamlet is not sure that the ghost is really his father. He acts as if mad, and also gets some travelling actors to act a play which shows the murder of a king in the same way Hamlet's father said he was killed. When Claudius reacts badly to seeing this, Hamlet believes he is guilty.
Hamlet tells his mother that he knows about the murder. While there he kills Polonius, who is the king's advisor, because he thinks he is Claudius. Claudius sends Hamlet to England to have him killed, but his ship is attacked by pirates who take Hamlet prisoner but then return him to Denmark.
Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius. She was going to marry Hamlet, but seeing Hamlet acting mad and killing her father drives her mad. She falls into a river and drowns. Hamlet returns just as her funeral is happening. Laertes, her brother, decides to kill Hamlet in revenge. He challenges Hamlet to a sword fight, and puts poison on his own sword. Claudius makes some poisoned wine for Hamlet to drink in case that does not work.
At first Hamlet wins the sword fight, but his mother drinks the poisoned wine without knowing, and dies. Hamlet is cut with the poisoned sword, but then stabs Laertes with the same sword. Laertes tells Hamlet about the plot and then dies. Hamlet kills Claudius with the poisoned sword. Horatio, Hamlet's friend, tells everyone about the murder of the old king. Hamlet tells everyone that the Norwegian prince, Fortinbras, should be king, and then dies from the poison.
[change] Meaning
Scholars can not agree on what this story is about, even for very simple things, like if Hamlet is a good or bad man, if he loves Ophelia, if Ophelia is a virgin, if Polonius knows about king Hamlet's murder, and so on. Scholars also disagree on why characters do what they do, and what Shakespeare wants to tell us with this story. It is the most written about story of Shakespeare's, and maybe of any story at all.
[change] Characters
The characters in the story are:
- Hamlet, the prince of Denmark
- Ghost, the ghost of king Hamlet
- Gertrude, the Queen, prince Hamlet's mother
- Claudius, the King, brother of dead King Hamlet and now married to Gertrude
- Horatio, Hamlet's trusted friend
- Polonius, the royal advisor
- Laertes, the son of Polonius
- Ophelia, the daughter of Polonius and Hamlet's girl
- Rosencrantz and...
- Guildenstern, two members of Claudius's royal court, who spy on Hamlet for Claudius
- Osric, a dandy who appears at the end of the play
- Fortinbras, the prince of Norway
- Captain, a soldier for Fortinbras
- the Players, the "players" or actors who perform for the court
- the First Player, the leader of the actors
- the Priest, who conducts a funeral
- the Gravedigger, who digs the grave
- a Clown, a foolish man who talks with the gravedigger
- Cornelius and...
- Voltemand, two ambassadors sent on business by Claudius
- Ambassadors from England, who appear at the end of the play
- Gentleman
- Messenger
- Sailor
- Claudio .. very minor characters
[change] Acting Hamlet
Hamlet is one of the most difficult acting parts ever. It is one of the largest of parts written by Shakespeare. There are many disagreements about what Hamlet is really thinking. For many actors, playing Hamlet is one of the most important parts of their career.
[change] Hamlet in the movies
There have been many movies made of the play. Most of them show only part of the play, which is a very long one. Some of the most famous movies include:
- 1948 Hamlet played by Laurence Olivier. Directed by Laurence Olivier.
- 1960 A version made for German television. This version was later an episode of Mystery Science Theatre 3000.
- 1990 Hamlet played by Mel Gibson. Directed by Franco Zeffirelli.
- 1996 Hamlet played by Kenneth Branagh. Directed by Kenneth Branagh. A movie of the entire play.
[change] Other websites
- HyperHamlet - research project at the University of Basel
- Plot summary for Hamlet
