What is Hamlet? Hamlet is a play that was written in 1600-1 by William Shakespeare. It was based on an earlier version which was widely told by Saxo Grammaticus (A Danish historian) in the twelfth century. Hamlet was written during the Elizabethan period which has an effect on the story line of Hamlet. At this time, the monarchy was strong and the Head of the church had a large influence on people’s lives and the way they behaved. Hamlet is based in a time when it was believed that there was a chain of being, with God at the top level followed by the King. Thus the death of a King changed the chain of being. The base line of the play goes as such, the king is dead and his son, Hamlet returns from university to deal with his loss. There is a quick marriage between Hamlet’s uncle and his mother to which Hamlet is disgusted. The ghost of the king is then seen by two of the guards and presented to Hamlet at which time it is said that his own brother (Claudius) has killed him. Hamlet in response vows to kill Claudius and as part of the revenge and a way to gain more information he pretends (a still highly debated topic) to be mad. After Hamlet becomes “mad” his two friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are brought in to find the source of his depression/madness. It is believed that Hamlet’s love for Ophelia is the cause of his madness. Hamlet hires a number of players to act out the scene of his father’s death in front of Claudius in an attempt to draw Claudius’ guilt out to the surface. It is soon after this that Hamlet contemplates his death using his famous “To be or not to be” quote, but when Ophelia walks in at the end of his soliloquy, Hamlet unleashes a torrent of anger upon Ophelia. After all of this Claudius wishes to send Hamlet back to England. When Hamlet finds Claudius praying he decides not kill him at that time. Hamlet then tries to prove Claudius’ guilt to his mother but discovers that someone is hiding behind the curtain eavesdropping. Hamlet stabs through the curtain thinking it is Claudius but it ends up being Polonius, the Chief Minister of the State. Ophelia becomes insane as Hamlet is taken back to England and ends up taking her own life whilst Laertes is encouraged by Claudius to challenge Hamlet to a duel which ends with the death of Leartes. At the end of the play, Gertrude dies by drinking from a poisoned cup, Claudius is found to be guilty of his crimes and Hamlet, Claudius and Laertes are dead.
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