User:DionysosProteus/HamletSnipped

Act one


On a cold winter night, Horatio, a student, listens sceptically to the ghost-story of two castle watchmen, when a ghost appears resembling the recently-deceased King Hamlet. Horatio proposes to tell Prince Hamlet.

With great ceremony, Claudius (having inherited the throne from his brother and taken the Queen, Gertrude, as his wife) decrees an end to mourning. Prince Hamlet, however, remains stubbornly grief-stricken. Claudius insists that Hamlet should not return to university and Gertrude concurs; Hamlet begrudgingly acquiesces. Alone, Hamlet vents his frustration at Claudius' usurpation of the throne and his mother's hasty remarriage. He is interrupted by Horatio and the watchmen, who inform him of the portentous apparition.

The ghost appears to Hamlet and speaks as his father, revealing that he was poisoned by Claudius. It commands Hamlet to avenge his murder. Hamlet vows to do so and swears his companions to secrecy. He decides to disguise his true intents by feigning madness.

Act two
Ophelia reports to her father, the King's counsellor Polonius, how Hamlet came to her bedroom in a fit of madness. Polonius deduces an "ecstasy of love" is to blame.

Claudius feigns ignorance of the possible cause of Hamlet's transformation. He enlists two of Hamlet's school-friends (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) to inform on him. Claudius arranges with Polonius to spy on Hamlet, to ascertain whether the latter's theory is correct.

Hamlet greets Rozencrantz and Guildenstern warmly, but soon discerns their duplicitous intent. He professes a disaffection with the world, for which Rozencrantz recommends a troupe of actors, who soon arrive. Hamlet solicits a passionate performance from one of them. Alone, he reflects on the feigned passion of the actor and his own failure to act. Uncertain whether the ghost was genuine, he resolves to confirm his uncle's guilt by observing his response to the staging of a play, The Mousetrap.

Act three
Encouraged to hear of Hamlet's interest in the play, Claudius agrees to attend. He and Polonius withdraw to observe Hamlet's behaviour with Ophelia. Hamlet, thinking he is alone, reflects on his predicament, until Ophelia alerts him to her presence. He berates her immodesty and dismisses her to a nunnery, causing her great distress. The king concludes that Hamlet is not mad but malcontent and orders him sent to England. Polonius persuades him first to allow the Queen to attempt to discover the cause of Hamlet's distemper.

Hamlet directs the players in their preparations. The court assembles and the play begins; Hamlet offers a running commentary throughout. When the action shows a king poisoned, Claudius rises abruptly and leaves. Hamlet is summoned to his mother's bedchamber. Alone, Hamlet tries to temper the fury of his desire for vengeance.

Claudius searches his guilty conscience; he prays just as Hamlet arrives, seeking his revenge. Poised to kill, Hamlet hesitates. He reasons that to kill Claudius in prayer would send him to heaven (since prayer absolves sin); he vows to act at a more apposite moment.

Hamlet confronts his mother in her chamber. Gertrude panics and cries out. Polonius, who had been hiding, responds, prompting Hamlet to stab wildly in that direction. Hoping it was the king, he discovers Polonius' corpse. Forcing Gertrude to remain seated, Hamlet directs a sustained accusation at her. She concedes some guilt, yet he does not relent, until the ghost enters to bid him treat her gently and to spur him on to his revenge. Unable to see the apparition, Gertrude takes Hamlet's behaviour for a sign of madness. Hamlet drags the corpse away.

Act four
Claudius deports Hamlet to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who carry a secret request for his execution. Having watched the army of Fortinbras (nephew to the Norwegian King) pass through, Hamlet reflects on his own inaction.

Ophelia wanders the court in grief-induced madness, singing incoherently. Laertes (Polonius’s son recently returned from abroad), seeking revenge for his father's murder, bursts into the royal chamber at the head of a rabble that clamours for him to be King. The sight of his sister, Ophelia, in her distracted state further incenses him. Claudius convinces Laertes that Hamlet is to blame and excuses his own leniency. Learning of Hamlet's escape and return to Denmark, Claudius proposes a rigged fencing-match as a surreptitious vehicle for Laertes' revenge. Gertrude interrupts to report that Ophelia has drowned.

Act five


Two clowns debate the legality of Ophelia's apparently suicidal action whilst digging her grave. Hamlet arrives with Horatio and banters with a gravedigger, who unearths the skull of a jester from Hamlet's childhood, Yorick. A funeral procession approaches, which Hamlet observes from a distance. On hearing that it is Ophelia's and seeing Laertes leap into her grave, Hamlet advances and the two grapple. They are separated and Hamlet leaves, pursued by Horatio.

Hamlet relates to Horatio the events of his escape and outlines his case against Claudius; Horatio encourages haste. A courtier informs Hamlet of the King's wager on a fencing match with Laertes. Hamlet agrees to participate.

The court enters, ready for the match. Claudius orders cups of wine prepared, one of which he has poisoned. During the bout, Gertrude drinks from the poisoned cup. Laertes succeeds in piercing Hamlet with a poisoned blade, but, in the struggle, is wounded by it himself. Gertrude dies, and with his dying breath Laertes reveals the king’s plot. Hamlet kills Claudius and names Fortinbras, the Norwegian prince, as heir before succumbing to the poison. As Fortinbras arrives, Horatio promises to recount the tale. Fortinbras orders Hamlet’s body borne off in honour.