HAMLET
Prince Hamlet mourns both his father's death and his mother,
Queen Gertrude's remarriage to Claudius.Hamlet's bud Horatio tells Hamlet about the ghost and arranges a meeting. The ghost claims to be his father's spirit, proving it by telling Hamlet that
Claudius is the man who murdered his father by pouring poison in his ear while
he (Old Hamlet) was snoozing in his garden—and then ordering his son to take
revenge. Great, Dad.
Game on. Hamlet's master plan involves him putting on an "antic disposition"
(acting like a madman or, a clown). Sure enough, the next time we hear about
Hamlet, his girlfriend Ophelia declares that Hamlet is crazy. Polonius brings
the news to the King, and they decide to spy on the youngsters to figure out if
Ophelia is the source of Hamlet's "madness." Meanwhile, some Danish ambassadors
return from Norway with the good news that there isn't going to be a war, after
all.
Enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two childhood pals of Hamlet and Horatio.
The King and Queen have called them to Elsinore to spy on Hamlet and find out
why he's gone mad. While the duo fails to do this, some players (actors) come
into town. Hamlet commissions them to perform a play in which a king is murdered
in the same way Claudius murdered Hamlet's father. Hamlet plans to watch
Claudius's reaction to see if the ghost is telling the truth.
The plan's in motion, and Hamlet delivers the big "to be or not to be" speech
about suicide. Instead, he decides to act all creepy and gross with Ophelia
before watching Claudius all but stand up and shout that he's guilty. Hamlet
decides to kill him, obviously, but then … doesn't. Instead, he ends up
accidentally killing Polonius, Ophelia's dad. In front of his mom. Claudius
sends Hamlet off to England, but on, the way, Hamlet sees Prince Fortinbras of
Norway marching across the land to fight for some lost territories. That's all
the inspiration he needs to head back to Denmark to kill Claudius.
Back at the castle, Ophelia has cracked. Meanwhile, her bro Laertes is super
pissed at Hamlet (crazy sister; dead father), so Claudius convinces him to stage
a "friendly" duel and kill the Prince by using a sharpened rather than a blunt
sword. With some poison as backup. The next thing we know, Ophelia is dead, possibly by suicide, which means she doesn't even get a nice burial. There's a big scene between Hamlet and Laertes
when Hamlet randomly stumbles on this funeral, and then Hamlet gets Horatio up
to speed on his return: on the boat to England, Hamlet opened the letter that
his companions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were carrying and found that it
carried instructions to have him (Hamlet) killed. Naturally, Hamlet altered the
letter to say "Please kill Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, thanks," and escaped on
a pirate ship back to Denmark.
Hope you brought your rain gear, because this last scene is going to be a
bloodbath. During the friendly duel between Hamlet and Laertes, everything goes
according to Claudius's evil plan until, uh oh, Gertrude drinks the poisoned
wine. Meanwhile, Laertes cuts Hamlet with the poisoned sword, and Hamlet, ending
up with Laertes's sword, wounds him back. Dying, Laertes yells out, "It's all
Claudius's fault!" So, Hamlet stabs Claudius with the poisoned sword and makes
him drink the poisoned wine. Bloodbath complete.
Queen Gertrude's remarriage to Claudius.Hamlet's bud Horatio tells Hamlet about the ghost and arranges a meeting. The ghost claims to be his father's spirit, proving it by telling Hamlet that
Claudius is the man who murdered his father by pouring poison in his ear while
he (Old Hamlet) was snoozing in his garden—and then ordering his son to take
revenge. Great, Dad.
Game on. Hamlet's master plan involves him putting on an "antic disposition"
(acting like a madman or, a clown). Sure enough, the next time we hear about
Hamlet, his girlfriend Ophelia declares that Hamlet is crazy. Polonius brings
the news to the King, and they decide to spy on the youngsters to figure out if
Ophelia is the source of Hamlet's "madness." Meanwhile, some Danish ambassadors
return from Norway with the good news that there isn't going to be a war, after
all.
Enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two childhood pals of Hamlet and Horatio.
The King and Queen have called them to Elsinore to spy on Hamlet and find out
why he's gone mad. While the duo fails to do this, some players (actors) come
into town. Hamlet commissions them to perform a play in which a king is murdered
in the same way Claudius murdered Hamlet's father. Hamlet plans to watch
Claudius's reaction to see if the ghost is telling the truth.
The plan's in motion, and Hamlet delivers the big "to be or not to be" speech
about suicide. Instead, he decides to act all creepy and gross with Ophelia
before watching Claudius all but stand up and shout that he's guilty. Hamlet
decides to kill him, obviously, but then … doesn't. Instead, he ends up
accidentally killing Polonius, Ophelia's dad. In front of his mom. Claudius
sends Hamlet off to England, but on, the way, Hamlet sees Prince Fortinbras of
Norway marching across the land to fight for some lost territories. That's all
the inspiration he needs to head back to Denmark to kill Claudius.
Back at the castle, Ophelia has cracked. Meanwhile, her bro Laertes is super
pissed at Hamlet (crazy sister; dead father), so Claudius convinces him to stage
a "friendly" duel and kill the Prince by using a sharpened rather than a blunt
sword. With some poison as backup. The next thing we know, Ophelia is dead, possibly by suicide, which means she doesn't even get a nice burial. There's a big scene between Hamlet and Laertes
when Hamlet randomly stumbles on this funeral, and then Hamlet gets Horatio up
to speed on his return: on the boat to England, Hamlet opened the letter that
his companions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were carrying and found that it
carried instructions to have him (Hamlet) killed. Naturally, Hamlet altered the
letter to say "Please kill Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, thanks," and escaped on
a pirate ship back to Denmark.
Hope you brought your rain gear, because this last scene is going to be a
bloodbath. During the friendly duel between Hamlet and Laertes, everything goes
according to Claudius's evil plan until, uh oh, Gertrude drinks the poisoned
wine. Meanwhile, Laertes cuts Hamlet with the poisoned sword, and Hamlet, ending
up with Laertes's sword, wounds him back. Dying, Laertes yells out, "It's all
Claudius's fault!" So, Hamlet stabs Claudius with the poisoned sword and makes
him drink the poisoned wine. Bloodbath complete.