Shakespeare's Hamlet

Shakespeare's Hamlet

Background & Resources

Type of Work

Hamlet, Prince of Denmarkis a tragedy. A tragedy is a dignified work in which the main character undergoes a struggle and suffers a downfall. In Shakespeare's plays, the main character of a tragedy is usually a person of noble heritage. A flaw in his personality, sometimes abetted by fate, brings about his downfall.Hamlet, Prince of Denmarkis also sometimes characterized as a "revenge play"that includesthe grisly horror of murder and revenge.

Composition and Publication Dates

Shakespeare wroteHamletbetween 1599 and1601. It first appeared in print in 1603 in a pirated, unreliable version. What happened was that the publisher or a person acting on his behalf copied the play hurriedly (perhaps during a performance). The copyist made many mistakes and omitted some passages. The play was republished within the next two years. In 1623, friends of Shakespeare (deceased by this time) published an authentic version ofHamletand thirty-five other Shakespeare plays. The 1623 version is the one that appears in modern publications ofHamlet, with minor editorial changes in some editions. No reliable record exists of the date and place of the first performance of the play. There is a good chance that it debuted at London's Globe Theatre, completed in 1599. Shakespeare was a part-owner of the Globe.

Settings

The main setting is Elsinore Castle in eastern Denmark. Elsinore is a real town. Its Danish name is Helsingør. In Shakespeare's time, Elsinore was an extremely important port that fattened its coffers by charging a toll for ship passage through the Øresund strait.Within the city limits of Elsinore is Kronborg Castle, said to be the model for the Elsinore Castle of Shakespeare's play. Construction on the castle began in 1574, when Shakespeare was ten, and ended in 1585, when Shakespeare was twenty-one. It is believed that actors known to Shakespeare performed at Kronborg Castle. Other settings inHamletare a plain in Denmark, near Elsinore, and a churchyard near Elsinore. Offstage action in the play (referred to in dialogue) takes place on a ship bound for England from Denmark.

Tone

The tone of the play is somber and foreboding. The tone becomes clear at the outset of the play in the exchange between Bernardo and Francisco as they stand watch on the castle:

BERNARDO: ’Tis now struck twelve; get thee to bed, Francisco.
FRANCISCO: For this relief much thanks; ’tis bitter cold,
And I am sick at heart. (1.1.9-11)

Note that it is midnight, that it is bitter cold, and that Francisco is "sick at heart." Moments later, when Horatio enters, Marcellus tells him of a "dreaded sight" that he and Bernardo saw on two nights while standing watch. Horatio is skeptical. But when Bernardo begins to report what they saw, using unsettling nature imagery, Marcellus interrupts him when the sight appears again:
Having established a dark, ominous tone or mood, Shakespeare then proceeds to unfold his tale. Revenge and death are in the air.

Record any notes, thoughts, or questions you may have below.

Special Character Designations

Protagonist: Hamlet is the protagonist, or main character. The play centers on him and his effort to avenge the murder of his father.

Antagonists: Claudius is the flesh-and-blood antagonist (an opponent of the protagonist). He spends much of his time plotting against Hamlet.

Another antagonist is an abstract one: Hamlet's indecisiveness in acting against Claudius.

Foil of Hamlet: Laertes is the main foil of Hamlet. A foil is a character who contrasts sharply with another character. Laertes is decisive and even headstrong whereas Hamlet is indecisive and procrastinating.

Characters

Hamlet: Son of a murdered Danish king (who was also named Hamlet) and nephew and stepson of the present king, Claudius. Hamlet suffers great mental anguish over the death of his father, the marriage of his mother to the suspected murderer, his uncle Claudius (the brother of the dead king/Hamlet's father), and the clash between his moral sense and his desire for revenge against his father's murderer. To ensnare the killer, Hamlet pretends madness. Some Shakespeare interpreters contend that he really does suffer a mental breakdown. Hamlet is highly intelligent and well liked by the citizens, although at times he can be petty and cruel. The play centers on Hamlet and his effort to avenge the murder of his father.

Claudius: The new king of Denmark, Hamlet's uncle and stepfather. He becomes king after Hamlet's father, the previous king, is found dead in his orchard. Hamlet suspects that Claudius murdered him.

Gertrude: Hamlet's mother and widow of the murdered king. She continues as queen of Denmark after she marries her husband's brother, Claudius. The marriage took place within two months after the late king's funeral, which deeply disturbs Hamlet.

Ghost of Hamlet's Father: An apparition ofold King Hamlet.

Polonius: Lord chamberlain of King Claudius. (A lord chamberlain managed a royal household.) He often kisses up and is a big flatterer.

Ophelia: Daughter of Polonius. She loves Hamlet, but his pretended madness—during which he rejects her—and the death of her father trigger a pathological reaction in her.

Horatio: Hamlet's best friend. Horatio never wavers in his loyalty to Hamlet.

Laertes: Son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia. Circumstances make him an enemy of Hamlet. As a man who reacts to circumstances quickly, with a minimum of reflection on the meaning and possible outcome of his actions, Laertes contrasts sharply with the pensive and indecisive Hamlet and, thus, serves as his foil.

Rosencrantz, Guildenstern: Courtiers and friends of Hamlet who attended school with him. They turn against him to act as spies for Claudius and agents in Claudius's scheme to have Hamlet murdered in England. Hamlet quickly smells out their deception and treachery.

Marcellus, Bernardo: Officers who are the first to see the ghost of Hamlet's father.

Francisco: Another officer.

Voltimand,Cornelius,Osric: Courtiers who bear messages for the king. Osric informs Hamlet of the fencing match arranged for him and Laertes. A courtier is an attendant at the court of a monarch.

Reynaldo: Servant of Polonius.

Fortinbras: Prince of Norway, who is on the march with an army. In battlefield combat (referred to in the play but not taking place during the play), old King Hamlet slew the father of Fortinbras and annexed Norwegian territory. Fortinbras seeks revenge.

Players: Actors who arrive at Elsinore to offer an entertainment. Hamlet directs one of them, referred to as the First Player, to stage a drama calledThe Mouse-trap, about a throne-seeker who murders a king. Hamlet hopes the play will cause Claudius to react in a way that reveals his guilt as the murderer of old King Hamlet. AsThe Mouse-trapunfolds on a stage at Elsinore, the actors are referred to as the following:

Clowns(Gravediggers): Two peasants who dig Ophelia's grave. The wordclownin Shakespeare's time often referred to a peasant or rustic.

Yorick: Court jester of old King Hamlet. He amused and looked after the younger Hamlet when he was a child. Yorick is dead during the play, but his skull, which one of the gravediggers exhumes in Act 5, Scene 1, arouses old memories in Hamlet that provide a glimpse of his childhood. The skull also feeds Hamlet's morbid preoccupation with death.

Claudio: Man who relays messages for the king and queen from Hamlet after he escapes from a ship carrying him to England.

Minor Characters: Ship captain, English ambassadors, lords, ladies, officers, soldiers, sailors, messengers, attendants.

Conflicts

Conflicts drive the action in the play.

The main external conflict is between Hamlet and the killer of his father, Claudius.

While Hamlet is attempting to confirm Claudius's guilt, Claudius is plotting and executing a plan to murder Hamlet.

Hamlet is also in conflict with (1) his mother, whom he believes betrayed the memory of his father by marrying so soon after King Hamlet's death;

(2) Ophelia, whom Hamlet treats with perplexing and sometimes insulting behavior; and

(3) Laertes, whom Hamlet outraged by killing his father. Laertes also believes that Hamlet indirectly caused Ophelia's death. Finally, Hamlet is in conflict with himself.

Themes

Hesitation

Hamlet has an obligation to avenge his father’s murder, according to the customs of his time. But he also has an obligation to abide by the moral law, which dictates, “Thou shalt not kill.” Consequently, Hamlet has great difficulty deciding what to do and thus hesitates to take decisive action. While struggling with his conscience, Hamlet time and again postpones carrying out the ghost's decree. In the meantime, he becomes cynical, pessimistic, depressed. He tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern,

I have of late,—but wherefore I know not,—lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory; this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave o’erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to me but a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form, in moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not me; no, nor woman neither. . . . (2.2.250)

In his famous critiques of Shakespeare’s works, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) has written:

He [Hamlet] is all dispatch and resolution as far as words and present intentions are concerned, but all hesitation and irresolution when called upon to carry his words and intentions into effect; so that, resolving to do everything, he does nothing. He is full of purpose but void of that quality of mind which accomplishes purpose. . . . Shakespeare wished to impress upon us the truth that action is the chief end of existence—that no faculties of intellect, however brilliant, can be considered valuable, or indeed otherwise than as misfortunes, if they withdraw us from or rend us repugnant to action, and lead us to think and think of doing until the time has elapsed when we can do anything effectually. (Lectures and Notes on Shakspere [Shakespeare] and Other English Poets. (London: George Bell and Sons, 1904, page 164)

Inherited Sin and Corruption

Humans are fallen creatures, victims of the devil’s trickery as described in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Allusions or direct references to Adam, the Garden of Eden, and original sin occur throughout the play. In the first act, Shakespeare discloses that King Hamlet died in an orchard (Garden of Eden) from the bite of a serpent (Claudius). Later, Hamlet alludes to the burdens imposed by original sin when he says, in his famous “To be, or not to be” soliloquy, that the “flesh is heir to” tribulation in the form of “heart-ache” and a “thousand natural shocks” (3.1.72-73). In the third scene of the same act, Claudius compares himself with the biblical Cain. In Genesis, Cain, the first son of Adam and Eve, kills his brother, Abel, the second son, after God accepts Abel’s sacrifice but not Cain’s. Like Cain, Claudius kills his brother (old King Hamlet). Claudius recognizes his Cain-like crime when he says:

O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven;
It hath the primal eldest curse upon ’t,
A brother’s murder. (3.3.42-44)

In Act 5, the second gravedigger tells the first gravedigger that Ophelia, who apparently committed suicide, would not receive a Christian burial if she were a commoner instead of a noble. In his reply, the first gravedigger refers directly to Adam: "Why, there thou sayest: and the more pity that great folk should have countenance in this world to drown or hang themselves more than their even Christian. Come, my spade. There is no ancient gentlemen but gardeners, ditchers, and grave-makers: they hold up Adam’s profession" (5.1.13). After the gravedigger tosses Yorick’s skull to Hamlet, the prince observes: “That skull had a tongue in it, and could sing once: how the knave jowls it to the ground, as if it were Cain’s jaw-bone, that did the first murder!” (5.1.34). All of these references to Genesis seem to suggest that Hamlet is a kind of Everyman who inherits “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”—that is, the effects of original sin.

Sons Seeking Revenge

Young Fortinbras seeks revenge against Elsinore because King Hamlet had killed the father of Fortinbras, King Fortinbras. Hamlet seeks to avenge the murder of his father, King Hamlet, by Claudius, the king’s brother and Hamlet’s uncle. Laertes seeks revenge against Hamlet for killing his father, Polonius, the lord chamberlain.

Deception

Deception is a major motif inHamlet. On the one hand, Claudius pretends to be cordial and loving toward Hamlet to conceal his murder of Hamlet’s father. On the other, Hamlet conceals his knowledge of the murder. He also wonders whether the Ghost is deceiving him, pretending to be old King Hamlet when he is really a devil. Polonius secretly tattles on Hamlet to Claudius. Hamlet feigns madness. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern pretend to have Hamlet’s best interests at heart while attempting to carry out Claudius’s scheme to kill Hamlet. After that scheme fails, Claudius and Laertes connive to kill Hamlet during the fencing match. However, that scheme also goes awry when Gertrude drinks from a poisoned cup secretly prepared for Hamlet.

Ambition

Claudius so covets the throne that he murders his own brother, King Hamlet, to win it. In this respect he is like Macbeth and Richard III in other Shakespeare plays, who also murder their way to the throne. Whether Claudius’s ambition to be king was stronger than his desire to marry Gertrude is arguable. But both were factors, as he admits to himself in when he reflects on his guilt: “I am still possessed / Of those effects for which I did the murder, / My crown, mine own ambition and my queen. . .” (3.3.60-61).

Loyalty

Hamlet is loyal to his father’s memory, as is Laertes to the memory of his father, Polonius, and his sister, Ophelia. Gertrude is torn between loyalty to Claudius and Hamlet. Horatio remains loyal to Hamlet to the end. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, school pals of Hamlet, betray Hamlet and spy on him.

Mischance and Serendipity

Hamlet “just happens” to kill Polonius. Pirates “just happen” to rescue Hamlet. Hamlet “just happens” to come across Ophelia’s funeral upon his return to Denmark. Hamlet and Laertes “just happen” to exchange swords—one of them with a poisoned tip—in their duel. Gertrude “just happens” to drink from a poisoned cup meant for Hamlet. Fate, or unabashed plot contrivance, works its wonders in this Shakespeare play.

Christ-like Hamlet

Hamlet is like Christ, Irish dramatist George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) has observed, in that he struggles against the old order, which requires an eye for and eye. Christ preached against revenge.

Madness: Pretended and Real

In his attempt to prove Claudius’s guilt, Hamlet puts on an “antic disposition" (1.5.194)—that is, he pretends to be mad. In so doing he is able to say and do things that confuse and perplex others while he conducts his murder investigation. But, in the process, does he really become mentally unbalanced? That is a question for debate. But there is no question that he suffers deep mental anguish characterized by indecision and depression.
Nor is there any doubt that Ophelia suffers a mental breakdown. Like other young ladies of her time, she has to accept the will of the men around her: her father, her brother, the king, and of course Hamlet. She is not allowed to have a mind of her own. Consequently, she does not know what to do after circumstances isolate her. Laertes goes off to school, Hamlet rejects her, and then her father dies. Meanwhile, the king centers his attention on ridding Elsinore of Hamlet. It is Hamlet's rejection of Ophelia and her father's death that are the biggest blows to her sanity. Hamlet, disgusted with his mother's marriage (making her, in his mind, a wanton who yields her body to her late husband's brother), seems to transfer his disgust to delicate Ophelia, telling her, "Get thee to a nunnery: Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?" (3.1.125). Hamlet is saying that Ophelia is unworthy to marry and bear children, who would be sinners. Instead, she should enter a nunnery, a convent for nuns.Nunnerywas also used in Shakespeare's time as a slang term for a brothel. So it could be that Hamlet is telling Ophelia that she is no better than a common whore or prostitute. Ophelia's presence in the play helps to reveal Hamlet's thinking, in particular his detestation of women as a result of his mother's hasty marriage to vile Claudius.

Serpentine Satan

Imagery throughout the play dwells on Satan’s toxic influence on Elsinore and its inhabitants. Particularly striking are the snake metaphors. It is the venom of a serpent (in the person of Claudius) that kills old King Hamlet. Claudius, remember, had poured poison into the king’s ear as reported by the Ghost of the old king: While “sleeping in mine orchard,” the Ghost says, “A serpent stung me” (1.5.42-43). It is a sword—a steel snake, as it were—that kills Polonius, Hamlet, Laertes, and Claudius. (The sword that kills Hamlet and Laertes is tipped with poison.) Moreover, it is a poisoned drink that kills Gertrude. As for Ophelia, it is poisoned words that undo her. The wordpoisonand its forms (such aspoisons,poisoner, andpoisoning) occur thirteen times in the play.Serpentoccurs twice,venomorenvenomsix times,devilnine times, andhellorhellisheleven times.Garden(as a symbol for the Garden of Eden) orgardeneroccurs three times.Adamoccurs twice.