Hamlet

First performed in 1609, Hamlet is a classic play and one of the best known and most influential works of the playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616). This summary refers to the 2001 Pelican edition of the play.

Plot Summary

On a dark night, sentinels see a ghost stalking the battlements of Elsinore Castle, the royal seat of Denmark. It is the dead king, who has returned to tell his son Hamlet to avenge him. He was murdered by his brother, Claudius, who then married his wife, Gertrude, and claimed the throne. The young prince, already deep in mourning and disgusted by his mother’s speedy remarriage to his uncle, takes this visitation to heart. Swearing his friend Horatio to secrecy, he decides that, in order to find a way to kill Claudius, he will pretend to be mad.

Meanwhile, the king’s councilor, the pompous Polonius, and his son Laertes are trying to persuade his daughter Ophelia not to trust Hamlet’s declarations of affection. They fear that Hamlet’s love is fleeting, and that Ophelia will lose her honor to him. Ophelia listens to their warnings and agrees to stop spending so much time with Hamlet.