Reflecting on Shakespeare's Hamlet

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is somewhat mystical and a very sad story.   It is mystical in that Young Hamlet’s father’s ghost was seen by guards in the first scene three nights in a row.   One of the guards is Horatio and is a friend to Prince Hamlet.  He decides to go tell Prince Hamlet what he has seen.  As this story unfolds it is revealed that King Hamlet has only been dead for two months and his wife Queen Gertrude has married King Hamlet’s brother who became the king.  Prince Hamlet is still mourning his father’s death and is disgusted that his mother has remarried so quickly.  Horatio comes to Prince Hamlet and brings the other two guards as witnesses that they have seen the ghost of his father the king.  Hamlet meets with them later that night to see if the ghost comes back and he does.  The ghost reveals only to Hamlet that his brother Claudius has actually murdered him with poison and wants revenge for his death.  This knowledge appears to make Hamlet crazy, but noone knows why he is acting this way.  

 

Hamlet seems to be in love with Ophelia the daughter of Polonius, but she does not return his love as she has been told by her brother and father to pretty much leave him alone. This leads Polonius and others to think that Hamlet's crazy behavior is about love.  The king and queen have sent two friends of Hamlets to try and find out why he is acting crazy, but Hamlet knows why they are there.  Then Polonius decides to get his daughter Ophelia to talk to him to see if she can get answers from him.  Hamlet is also suspicious of her and reveals nothing.  Meanwhile, Hamlet wants to make sure that King Claudius is guilty and decides to put on a play.  He has actors do a play about another king's death from poison to test how Claudius reacts.  The play upsets Claudius and Hamlet is now sure of the king’s guilt.  Queen Gertrude sends for Hamlet to come to her room to speak with her.  Before Hamlet gets there Polonius hides behind her drapery to listen in.   As the queen begins to scold Hamlet for the play and turns the guilt back on her for marrying King Claudius.  His anger scares her and Polonius makes a sound and Hamlet stabs him with a sword thinking it was a rat and kills him. At this point one is only lead to believe if he thought the sound was a real rat or that he knew Polonius was behind the drapery calling him a rat.  Hamlet drags his body somewhere and hides it and will not tell anyone what he did with it.

Ophelia has heard of the death of her father and loses her mind.  Most of her conversations with anyone is like a crazy song.  She leaves the palace to get word to her brother of their father’s death.  Meanwhile, King Claudius is making plans to send Hamlet to England where he is supposed to meet his death.   Hamlet sends his two friends that were spying on him on the boat to England in his place.  Polonius' son Laertes returns and threatens to kill the king, but the queen told him that the king had nothing to do with it.  While the king is calming Laertes down letter from Hamlet was brought in stating that he has been captured by Pirates.  They also got word that Ophelia has drowned in a stream. 

Hamlet also sent a letter to Horatio to meet with him.  They meet in the cemetery where two gravesmen were digging a new grave.   Hamlet tells Horatio how he had escaped his death in England by sending the other two spies in his place and they were killed after their arrival in England.  While Hamlet and Horatio are talking Ophelia's funeral possession comes into the cemetery and Hamlet learns of Ophelia's death.  Laertes jumps in her grave and so does Hamlet confessing that he loved her more than Laertes did.  Later Hamphlet meets Laetes for a dual with swords during their battle Hamlet's mother drinks a cup of poison meant for Hamlet and dies.  Laertes stabs Hamlet with a poisoned tip sword and somehow Hamlet gets it from him and stabs Laertes and King Claudius and they both die.  Before Hamlet dies he tells Horatio to write this story and appoints the Young Fortinbras to be the next King of Denmark and the play ends as Horatio agree's.  

(This is my version of the play I have read of Shakespeare's Hamlet)
image taken from:
http://www.shakespeare-literature.com/Hamlet/index.html