HAMLET

When Hamlet’s father, the old King of Denmark, died, his brother Claudius became the new king. After only a few weeks, Claudius married Gertrude, the old king’s wife. Hamlet was angry with his mother because she remarried so quickly. He also hated Claudius, his stepfather.

One cold, dark night on the walls of Elsinore Castle, a friend of Hamlet’s saw the ghost of the Hamlet’s father. The friend told Hamlet about the ghost and that night, they both went up into the castle walls. It was another very cold night, and as the clock struck midnight, the ghost suddenly appeared.

He took Hamlet aside and said to him that he was killed by Claudius who put poison into his ear.

Hamlet was full of anger and hatred. He wanted to kill Claudius, but he was indecisive. He started behaving strangely and Claudius began to suspect that Hamlet knew something. He asked Polonius, his chief minister, to find out about Hamlet’s strange behavior.

Polonius knew that Hamlet was in love with his daughter, Ophelia. He sent her to look for Hamlet to find out what was wrong. When Ophelia found Hamlet, he was thinking about life and death:”To be, or not be-that is the question…”. Ophelia tried to comfort Hamlet but he became angry and told her get out of his life. Ophelia was very upset and believed Hamlet was mad.

A few days later, Hamlet went to his mother’s room. She looked sad, while they were talking, Hamlet heard a noise behind a curtain. He was suspicious and thought it was Claudius. He took out his sword and killed the person behind the curtain. But it was not Claudius, it was Polonius!

The situation in Elsinore was getting worse. Claudius sent Hamlet to England. While he was there, Ophelia went mad and killed herself. When Hamlet returned, he was more depressed, now both his father and Ophelia were dead while the evil Claudius was still alive!

Soon, Laertes, Ophelia’s brother, arrived in Elsinore. He blamed Hamlet for the deaths of his father and sister, and challenged him. Claudius wanted Hamlet to lose and so he poisoned Laerte’s sword. He also prepared a glass of poisoned wine to give to Hamlet in case he won.

The fight began. During the fight, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, drank some of the poisoned wine from Hamlet’s cup.  Laertes told Hamlet that his sword and the wine were poisoned and that it was Claudius, and then died himself. Then Hamlet forced Claudius to drink the poisoned wine, and Claudius died. Hamlet had only the time to name Fortinbras, a friend of him as heir. The drama ends with Hamlet's funeral.