HAMLET by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

The king of Denmark has recently died. On his death, his son, Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, who is a student at the University of Wittenberg, is summoned to the Danish court. Hamlet feels miserable that his father’s throne has been seized by his uncle, Claudius and his mother has married him. Another shock comes to Hamlet when his beloved, Ophelia, rejects his suit on the advice of his father, Polonius. Hamlet learns from his friend, Horatio, and two officers that they have sighted his father’s ghost. As Hamlet himself encounters the ghost, the latter tells him the reality that his father had been poisoned by his uncle. The ghost also burdens Hamlet with the responsibility of avenging his death. Claudius appoints two spies, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to keep a watch on Hamlet. The latter arranges the staging of a play “The murder of Gonzago” to which the king is also invited. The king’s abnormal behavior while watching the play (in which the murder of a king in a manner similar to that in which Hamlet’s father is killed is staged) convinces Hamlet of Claudius’s guilt. Having been convinced of Claudius’s and his mother’s collusion in the murder of his father, Hamlet scolds his mother in a closed room. But as he hears an echo from behind the curtain, he thrusts his rapier at the person hidden. This is how Polonius who was eavesdropping gets killed. Claudius tries his best to know the real cause of Hamlet’s “madness”, “ecstasy” or distraction, but having failed in his effort, he decides to send him out to England. In the ship with the two spies Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet opens the sealed letter which contains the orders for his execution on his reaching England. He cleverly replaces these orders for the execution of the spies who lose their life in the venture. On learning about the death of her father, Ophelia goes mad, while her brother Laertes burns with the desire for revenge which is sharpened by Claudius. As Ophelia’s dead body is being lowered in the grave, Hamlet grapples with Laertes. The two have a bloody duel in which both of them are badly wounded. When the two fighters are dying the villainy of Claudius is divulged by Laertes and Gertrude, the Queen. Hamlet kills Claudius with his poisoned rapier and soon Fortinbras arrives to be the next ruler of Denmark.