Scene one
Elsinore. The square in front of Kronberg Castle. Soldier Francisco stands guard. He is replaced by Officer Bernardo. Hamlet's friend Horatio and officer Marcellus appear in the square. The latter asks Bernardo if he has encountered a ghost already seen twice by the castle guards?
Horatio, who does not believe in spirits, sees a ghost resembling the late king. With his question about who is in front of him, he insults the spirit and it disappears. Horatio sees what happened as “a sign of strange unrest for the state.” Marcellus wonders why ammunition is being bought up and guns are being cast all over the country? Horatio explains that during his lifetime the king signed a treaty with Fortinbras, according to which the lands of both states were put on the battlefield. Hamlet, who won the battle, brought new territory to Denmark, but young Fortinbras turned to mercenaries to regain what was lost, which plunged the country into preparations for war. Bernardo believes that the appearance of the ghost is connected with the disasters awaiting Denmark. Horatio agrees with him, citing as an example the signs that preceded the death of Julius Caesar, and, noticing the returning ghost, tries to find out from him how he can be useful to him? The king does not answer and disappears with the rooster crowing. Horatio decides to tell Hamlet everything.
Scene two
The main hall in the castle. The royal family and courtiers enter to the sound of trumpets. Claudius notifies everyone of the wedding with his sister and the queen. To stop Fortinbras' military plans, the king sends a letter to his uncle, the Norwegian. The message is carried by the courtiers - Voltimand and Cornelius.
The son of Polonius, Laertes, asks Claudius for permission to return to France. The Queen tries to persuade Hamlet to stop mourning for his father. Claudius rejects his nephew's request to return to study in Wittenberg. The Queen asks her son to stay in Elsinore. Hamlet agrees. When everyone leaves, the young man talks to himself about the vile betrayal of his mother, who got married a month after her husband’s funeral.
Hamlet asks Horatio why he is not in Wittenberg. The friend replies that he sailed to the king’s funeral. Hamlet ironically remarks that it’s more likely to go to the queen’s wedding. Horatio, Marcellus and Bernardo tell the prince about the appearance of the ghost. Hamlet asks them to keep what happened a secret.
Scene three
A room in Polonius's house. Laertes says goodbye to Ophelia and warns his sister not to believe Hamlet’s feelings, like all royals, who are not in control of their desires.
Polonius blesses his son on the road, bequeathing to him how to behave correctly in France. Ophelia tells her father about the prince's love confessions. Polonius orders his daughter to stop communicating with Hamlet.
Scene four
Claudius feasts to the roar of cannons. At twelve at night the ghost of the old king appears in the square in front of the castle. Hamlet asks him about the reasons for this. The ghost beckons the prince to follow him. Horatio and Marcellus ask Hamlet not to follow the spirit.
Scene five
The Ghost tells Hamlet the story of his murder. Contrary to the story spread throughout Denmark that the king died from a snake bite, the death of old Hamlet came at the hands of Claudius, who poured poisonous henbane juice into his sleeping ears. Some time before this, the queen cheated on her husband with his brother. The ghost calls out to Hamlet for retribution, but his mother asks him not to touch him.
Left alone, Hamlet swears that he will forget about everything except revenge. Horatio and Marcellus approach him and ask him to tell him what the ghost told him. The prince refuses. He forces his friends to swear on his sword to remain silent about what they saw and calmly accept any eccentricities he throws out. The ghost echoes his son with the word: “Swear.”
Act two
Scene one
Polonius sends his servant Reynaldo with a letter to Laertes, but at the beginning he asks him to find out everything possible about his son’s behavior. Frightened Ophelia tells her father about Hamlet's crazy behavior. Polonius decides that the prince is crazy with love for his daughter.
Scene two
The king summons Hamlet's childhood friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to the court so that they can help find out the reason for the prince's madness. Voltimand brings the Norwegian's answer: the latter forbids his nephew to fight with Denmark and allows him to use hired troops to march on Poland. Polonius tells the royal couple about Hamlet's love for Ophelia.
In a conversation with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet calls Denmark a prison. The prince realizes that his friends did not come of their own free will.
The capital's tragedians arrive in Elsinore. Hamlet warmly welcomes the actors and asks one of them to read Aeneas’s monologue to Dido, in which the ancient hero talks about the murder of Priam by Pyrrhus. Polonius places the tragedians in the castle. Hamlet asks the first actor to act out “The Murder of Gonzago”, inserting into it a soliloquy he wrote.
Left alone, the prince admires the actor’s passionate performance and mourns his own powerlessness. Hamlet is not completely sure that the ghost that appeared to him was not the Devil, therefore, before passing a death sentence on his uncle, he wants to make sure that the latter is guilty.
Act three
Scene one
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern tell the king that they have been unable to determine the cause of the prince's madness. Claudius and Polonius arrange a meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia.
Hamlet tries to understand what stops a person from committing suicide, pronouncing his famous monologue: “To be or not to be?” Ophelia wants to return the prince's gifts. Hamlet tells the girl that he never loved her and orders her to go to a monastery.
Claudius understands that Hamlet is not mad and, especially not from love. He decides to send the prince to England to collect the lost tribute, hoping to protect himself from the danger posed by his nephew.
Scene two
Hamlet gives instructions to the actors and asks Polonius to invite the royal couple to the performance, and Horatio to carefully monitor the impression that the play will make on Claudius.
The king and queen, along with their courtiers, prepare to watch the performance. Hamlet lays his head on Ophelia's lap. Actors act out the scene of the murder of the old king in pantomime. In the next episode, the actor-queen swears to the actor-king that after his death she will never marry another. In the scene in which Lucian poisons Gonzago, the king and his retinue leave the hall.
Rosencrantz conveys a request to Hamlet to appear to his mother and once again tries to find out the reason for his friend’s madness. Polonius again calls the prince to the queen.
Scene three
The king orders Rosencrantz and Guildestern to take Hamlet to England. Polonius informs Claudius that he is going to hide behind the carpet to eavesdrop on the prince’s conversation with his mother.
The king tries to pray, but does not know whether repentance can atone for the sin of fratricide? Finding his father's murderer on his knees, Hamlet does not dare to pierce him with a sword, since Claudius' soul will go straight to heaven.
Scene four
Polonius asks the queen to behave more strictly with her son and hides behind the carpet. Hamlet is rude to his mother. Frightened Gertrude decides that her son wants to kill her. She calls for help. Polonius joins her. Hamlet stabs the carpet, thinking that the king is hiding behind it. Polonius dies. The prince tells his mother that he wants to pierce her heart, if this is still possible.
Hamlet shames his mother for betrayal. The queen, conscious of her guilt, asks to be spared. Hamlet sees a ghost. Gertrude is horrified, deciding that her son is truly insane. The ghost explains to Hamlet that he came to strengthen his resolve and asks him to calm his mother down. The prince tells the queen about the ghost.
Gertrude confesses to her son that he cut her heart. Hamlet asks his mother to take the path of virtue, but at the same time, succumbing to the king’s caresses, to tell him that he is not mad, but simply very cunning. The Queen says she will never be able to do this.
Act Four
Scene one
The Queen tells Claudius about the murder of Polonius. The king asks Rosencrantz and Guildestern to get along with the prince, take his body and take it to the chapel.
Scene two
Rosencrantz tries in vain to find out where Hamlet hid Polonius' body.
Scene three
Hamlet makes fun of the king, saying that Polonius is at dinner, where worms eat him, and in heaven, where the king's servants can go to find what the king needs. In the end, the prince admits that he hid the body in the area of the gallery stairs.
Claudius sends servants to search for Polonius and explains to Hamlet that he, for his own good, must leave for England. Left alone, the king argues that the grateful Briton should repay the debt by killing the Danish prince.
Scene four
Fortinbras sends soldiers to inform the King of Denmark about the passage of the Norwegian army through local lands. The Norwegian captain tells Hamlet about the purpose of his military commander’s campaign - for a meaningless piece of Polish land. The prince is amazed that twenty thousand people will die for someone else's ambition, while he, the son of a murdered father, is unable to decide on righteous revenge.
Scene five
The first nobleman tells the queen about Ophelia's madness. Horatio believes that it is better to accept the girl so that she does not sow confusion in the minds of people. Ophelia comes and sings strange songs and grieves for her father. The king asks Horatio to look after Polonius's mad daughter.
Laertes, who secretly returned from France, leads the mob, who proclaim him king. Claudius swears that he is innocent of the death of Polonius. The sight of the mad Ophelia arouses in Laertes an even greater thirst for revenge. The girl gives flowers to everyone present.
The king invites Laertes to gather the wisest of his friends to judge how guilty Claudius is for the death of Polonius.
Scene six
The sailors give Horatio a letter from Hamlet. The prince notifies his friend that he has been captured by pirates, asks him to convey the letters he sent to the king and immediately rush to his aid.
Scene seven
The king explains to Laertes that he did not punish Hamlet out of love for the queen and fear of the crowd, which could make a martyr out of the Danish prince.
The messenger brings Claudius a letter from his nephew, in which he writes that he was landed naked in the Danish kingdom and wants to come to him for an audience. Laertes asks the king to allow Hamlet to return to punish him for killing his father. The king wonders how ready Laertes is to do this? The son of Polonius promises to kill Hamlet by moistening the tip of his sword with poisonous ointment. The king decides to play it safe and also prepare a poisoned cup for the duel.
The Queen brings news of the death of Ophelia, who drowned in the river where she fell while hanging wreaths on a coastal willow.
Act five
Scene one
The gravediggers dig Ophelia's final resting place and discuss her death. The first gravedigger considers it wrong to bury a suicide according to Christian custom. The second believes that this is being done because Ophelia is a noble lady. The first gravedigger sends the second one for vodka. Seeing how the cemetery attendant throws skulls out of the ground, Hamlet wonders who they belonged to during life?
The prince asks the gravedigger for whom the grave is intended, but cannot get a clear answer. The cemetery attendant says that the skull he dug out of the ground belongs to the royal jester Yorick, who lay in the ground for twenty-three years. Hamlet talks about the frailty of life.
The first priest explains to Laertes that they cannot bury Ophelia entirely according to church rites. Laertes jumps into the grave to say goodbye to his sister for the last time. Hamlet joins him. Laertes attacks the prince. Royal servants separate the young people.
Scene two
Hamlet tells Horatio how he found Claudius’ letter, rewrote it (with the order to immediately kill the donors) and sealed it with his father’s signet. Osric notifies the prince that the king has placed a large bet on him. Hamlet agrees to take part in the battle with Laertes. Horatio invites his friend to abandon the competition.
The pinnacle of world drama is Shakespeare's tragedy “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.” For several centuries now, the play has been a programmatic work of literature and a permanent performance in theater repertoires around the world. Such popularity of the work speaks of the urgency of the problems raised in the work, which are relevant at all times in the development of society.
The tragedy takes place in Denmark, in the royal residence of Elsinore. The other day, the whole country was shrouded in a sad event - the king passed away. After the death of the monarch, his brother Claudius takes the throne. Having gathered his subjects, he announces two news: that he will be crowned, and also that he will marry the current queen, that is, the widow of his late brother. The son of the deceased king, Hamlet, is extremely upset by the death of his father and the fact that his mother and uncle so quickly forgot their grief.
The night watchmen noticed that at the same hour a ghost appeared that looked very much like the late king. They are frightened and call Horatio, who recognizes the former king in the night image. He understands that the deceased wants to tell about something, and decides to report everything to Hamlet. The next night, the prince sees the ghost of his father, who told him that his brother Claudius poisoned him by pouring poison into his ear in order to gain the state and the queen. Hamlet's father convinces him to avenge his death.
Seeing Hamlet's strange state, Claudius tries to understand the reasons. The king's closest confidant and adviser, Polonius, learns of Hamlet's love for his daughter Ophelia. He convinces his daughter not to believe his words and take care of her honor. The girl returns all the gifts and letters to the prince. Why does Hamlet realize that his feelings were not mutual. Polonius explains Hamlet's strange behavior to the royal couple as the suffering of a lover and offers to keep an eye on the prince to make sure of this. Realizing this, Hamlet pretends to be crazy. Eavesdropping, the king understands the prince's belligerent attitude and realizes that the hidden reason is not love.
To distract the prince, the king invites Hamlet's university friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to the court, who bring a theater troupe with them. Hamlet is tormented by doubts whether his uncle is really a murderer and must pay for his act, and what if the ghost is a demon that confuses Hamlet’s thoughts and leads him to sin. In order not to make a mistake and to be convinced of the king’s guilt, Hamlet asks the actors to perform the play “The Murder of Gonzago.” In the plot of the play, a nephew kills his uncle and seduces his wife. Hamlet adds his poems to it and gives instructions to the actors on how to play, and also asks Horatio, the only person he trusts, to observe the king’s reaction. The latter cannot stand it and leaves the hall before the end of the performance. Now Hamlet is confident in the veracity of the ghost's words.
The king begins to fear Hamlet and asks the queen mother to influence him. Polonius helpfully offers to eavesdrop on their conversation and hides behind the carpet. During the conversation, Hamlet appeals to his mother's conscience, condemning her marriage to a traitor. Polonius gives himself away, and Hamlet, believing that this is the king, in his anger hits the carpet with his sword and kills the adviser. Hamlet feels sorry for the wise old man, but he himself chose his fate and died the fate he deserves. After the murder of Polonius, the king is completely frightened and decides to send the prince to England under the supervision of his imaginary friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, giving them a covering letter with the royal seal, in which he demands to kill Hamlet.
Polonius is buried in secret and without honors, so as not to attract attention. The news of his father's death reaches Polonius's son, Laertes. He explains the mystery of his father’s death by saying that the king committed a heinous act, and begins to turn the Danes against Claudius. Upon learning of this, the king reveals to Laertes the real murderer and supports his desire to avenge his father's death.
At this time, Hamlet, having opened the royal letter and learned of Claudius’s intentions, replaced it with another, in which he orders the execution of his traitorous friends, and he himself leaves the ship and returns to Denmark. The grief of her father's death led Ophelia to lose her mind and she drowned in the lake. Hiding in the cemetery, Hamlet and Horatio are placed as witnesses to Ophelia's funeral. Hamlet, unable to bear it, approaches the grave, where a conflict occurred between him and Laertes. Hamlet cannot understand Laertes' belligerence. The king, meanwhile, invites Laertes to take revenge on Hamlet so that in the eyes of the queen and society it does not look like murder. They decide to challenge the prince to fight with rapiers for a bet. To absolutely guarantee Hamlet's death, Laertes smears the rapiers with poison, and the king poisons the wine.
During the fight, Queen Gertrude, worried about her son, drinks wine and dies. Laertes and Hamlet wound each other by exchanging weapons. Laertes dies. The prince, having understood everything, wounds Claudius with a poisonous rapier and gives him wine to drink. Before his death, Hamlet asks Horatio to tell the people everything he knows and to vote for Fortinbras as the future king. The Norwegian prince Fortinbras became king, burying Hamlet with great honors.
Analysis of the work
The social and philosophical tragedy was created by Shakespeare based on the medieval legend of Prince Amleth. Folk works have repeatedly been subject to literary adaptations. However, it was Shakespeare’s creation that became immortal.
Historical facts and character of the hero
The time period of the play is not clearly indicated. By depicting the past, the author raises in the work actuarial problems both during Shakespeare’s life and in our days. Historical authenticity and eventfulness in the work fade into the background, allowing the plot to focus all its attention on the personal tragedy of Prince Hamlet.
The composition of the tragedy is based on two storylines: Hamlet’s path to revenge for the death of his father and the honor of his mother; treacherous actions, full of intrigue and intrigue, on the part of King Claudius. A striking example of Shakespeare’s author’s style is such a feature of the composition of the tragedy as its saturation with Hamlet’s monologues, the role of which is in summing up certain phenomena and events, their understanding by both the hero and the reader. The monologues of the main character add a peculiar philosophical character to the general style of the tragedy and give the work a touch of subtle lyricism.
The time periods of the work cover only a few days, but the system of characters in the tragedy is quite developed. All heroes can be divided according to their ideological significance into three groups: main characters: Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude; images influencing the course of action: the ghost of Hamlet's father, Polonius, Ophelia, Laertes, Horatio, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Fortinbras; minor characters: watchmen, gravediggers, captain, sailors, nobles and others. Conventionally, the author himself divides the characters into two categories with the ability to see a ghost. After all, only those who were pure in soul and heart could see him.
The main character is Hamlet - a controversial and complex character. The peculiarity of this character is revealed in Shakespeare's extraordinary skill in showing the hero in development. Since Hamlet at the beginning of the work and at the end are completely different images. Split consciousness, attempts to analyze one’s capabilities, the desire to live according to conscience, doubts and reproaches - all this tempers and shapes an effective character from a thinking hero. In a philosophical and humanistic vein, the image of Hamlet is a talisman of universal human values: morality, truth, honor and justice.
In the work, the author raises the main problem of the Renaissance - the collapse of the ideals of morality, humanism, honor, which are replaced by the power of money and power. In the tragedy, the author tries to solve the main philosophical question - why does a person live, what is the meaning of his existence, if everything in this world is perishable.
This universal, eternal problem is embodied in the famous phrase: “To be or not to be, that is the question.” That is why Hamlet’s remarks are filled with thoughts about death, about the meaning of existence. The answer to this question is the idea of the value of human morality, the ability to comprehend the past and present, to feel, to love. Hamlet sees the meaning of human life in this.
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The square in front of the castle in Elsinore. On guard are Marcellus and Bernard, Danish officers. They are later joined by Horatio, the learned friend of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. He came to verify the story about the nightly appearance of a ghost similar to the Danish king who had recently died. Horatio is inclined to consider this a fantasy. Midnight. And a menacing ghost in full military garb appears. Horatio is shocked and tries to talk to him. Horatio, reflecting on what he saw, considers the appearance of the ghost a sign of “some kind of unrest for the state.” He decides to tell Prince Hamlet about the night vision, who interrupted his studies in Wittenberg due to the sudden death of his father. Hamlet's grief is aggravated by the fact that his mother soon after his father's death married his brother. She, “without wearing out the shoes in which she followed the coffin,” threw herself into the arms of an unworthy man, “a dense clot of meat.” Hamlet’s soul shuddered: “How tiresome, dull and unnecessary, / It seems to me, everything that is in the world! O abomination!
Horatio told Hamlet about the night ghost. Hamlet does not hesitate: “Hamlet’s spirit is in arms! Things are bad; / There's something here. It would be night soon! / Be patient, soul; evil will be revealed, / At least it will go from the eyes into the underground darkness.”
The ghost of Hamlet's father told about a terrible crime.
While the king was resting peacefully in the garden, his brother poured the deadly juice of henbane into his ear. “So in a dream, from a brotherly hand, I lost my life, my crown and my queen.” The ghost asks Hamlet to avenge him. "Bye Bye. And remember about me” - with these words the ghost leaves.
The world has turned upside down for Hamlet... He swears to avenge his father. He asks his friends to keep this meeting secret and not to be surprised at the strangeness of his behavior.
Meanwhile, the king's close nobleman Polonius sends his son Laertes to study in Paris. He gives his brotherly instructions to his sister Ophelia, and we learn about Hamlet’s feelings, from which Laertes warns Ophelia: “He is a citizen of his birth; / He does not cut his own piece, / Like others; The life and health of the entire state depend on his choice.”
His words are confirmed by his father, Polonius. He forbids her to spend time with Hamlet. Ophelia tells her father that Prince Hamlet came to her and he seemed out of his mind. Taking her hand, “he let out a sigh so mournful and deep, / As if his whole chest had broken and life was extinguished.” Polonius decides that Hamlet's strange behavior in recent days is due to the fact that he is "mad with love." He is going to tell the king about this.
The king, whose conscience is burdened with murder, is concerned about Hamlet's behavior. What lies behind it - madness? Or something else? He calls upon Rosencrantz and Guildestern, Hamlet's former friends, and asks them to find out his secret from the prince. For this he promises “the royal mercy.” Polonius arrives and suggests that Hamlet's madness is caused by love. To confirm his words, he shows Hamlet’s letter, which he took from Ophelia. Polonius promises to send his daughter to the gallery where Hamlet often walks in order to make sure of his feelings.
Rosencrantz and Guildesterne try unsuccessfully to find out the secret of Prince Hamlet. Hamlet understands that they were sent by the king.
Hamlet learns that actors have arrived, the capital's tragedians, whom he liked so much before, and an idea comes to his mind: to use the actors to make sure of the king's guilt. He agrees with the actors that they will play a play about the death of Priam, and he will insert two or three verses of his composition into it. The actors agree. Hamlet asks the first actor to read a soliloquy about the murder of Priam. The actor reads brilliantly. Hamlet is excited. Entrusting the actors to the care of Polonius, he reflects alone. He must know exactly about the crime: “The spectacle is a noose to lasso the king’s conscience.”
The king questions Rosencrantz and Guildestern about the success of their mission. They admit that they were unable to find out anything: “He does not allow himself to be questioned / And with the cunning of madness he slips away...”
They report to the king that traveling actors have arrived, and Hamlet invites the king and queen to the performance.
Hamlet walks alone and utters, reflecting, his famous soliloquy: “To be or not to be, that is the question...” Why do we hold on to life so much? In which “the mockery of the century, the oppression of the strong, the mockery of the proud.” And he answers his own question: “The fear of something after death - / An unknown land from where there is no return / For earthly wanderers” - confuses the will.
Polonius sends Ophelia to Hamlet. Hamlet quickly realizes that their conversation is being overheard and that Ophelia has come at the instigation of the king and father. And he plays the role of a madman, gives her advice to go to a monastery. The straightforward Ophelia is killed by Hamlet’s speeches: “Oh, what a proud mind is slain! Nobles, / Fighter, scientist - gaze, sword, tongue; / The color and hope of a joyful power, / An emboss of grace, a mirror of taste, / An exemplary example - fallen, fallen to the end! The king makes sure that love is not the cause of the prince’s upset. Hamlet asks Horatio to watch the king during the play. The show begins. Hamlet comments on it throughout the play. He accompanies the poisoning scene with the words: “He poisons him in the garden for the sake of his power. / His name is Gonzago Now you will see how the murderer wins the love of Gonzaga’s wife.”
During this scene, the king could not stand it. He got up. There was a commotion. Polonius demanded that the game be stopped. Everyone leaves. Hamlet and Horatio remain. They are convinced of the king's crime - he gave himself away completely.
Rosencrantz and Guildestern return. They explain how upset the king is and how perplexed the queen is about Hamlet's behavior. Hamlet takes the flute and invites Guildestern to play it. Guildesterne refuses: “I do not master this art.” Hamlet says with anger: “You see what a worthless thing you are making of me? You are ready to play me, it seems to you that you know my modes...”
Polonius calls Hamlet to his mother, the queen.
The king is tormented by fear and tormented by a bad conscience. “Oh, my sin is vile, it stinks to heaven!” But he has already committed a crime, “his chest is blacker than death.” He kneels down, trying to pray.
At this time, Hamlet passes - he goes to his mother’s chambers. But he does not want to kill the despicable king during prayer. “Back, my sword, find out the terrible girth.”
Polonius hides behind the carpet in the queen's chambers to overhear Hamlet's conversation with his mother.
Hamlet is full of indignation. The pain that torments his heart makes his tongue bold. The Queen gets scared and screams. Polonius finds himself behind the carpet, Hamlet, shouting “Rat, rat,” pierces him with his sword, thinking that it is the king. The Queen begs Hamlet for mercy: “You directed my eyes straight into my soul, / And in it I see so many black spots, / That nothing can remove them...”
A ghost appears... He demands to spare the queen.
The Queen does not see or hear the ghost; it seems to her that Hamlet is talking to the void. He looks like a madman.
The queen tells the king that in a fit of madness, Hamlet killed Polonius. "He's crying about what he did." The king decides to immediately send Hamlet to England, accompanied by Rosencrantz and Guildestern, who will be given a secret letter to the Briton about the death of Hamlet. He decides to bury Polonius secretly to avoid rumors.
Hamlet and his traitorous friends rush to the ship. They meet armed soldiers. Hamlet asks them whose army is and where it is going. It turns out that this is the Norwegian army, which is going to fight with Poland for a piece of land, which “for five ducats” it would be a pity to rent. Hamlet is amazed that people cannot “settle the dispute about this trifle.”
For him, this incident is a reason for deep reflections about what is tormenting him, and what is tormenting him is his own indecision. Prince Fortinbras, “for the sake of whim and absurd glory,” sends twenty thousand to death, “as if to bed,” since his honor is hurt. “So what about me,” Hamlet exclaims, “I, whose father is killed, / whose mother is in disgrace,” and I live, repeating “this must be done.” “Oh my thought, from now on you must be bloody, or dust will be your price.”
Having learned about the death of his father, Laertes secretly returns from Paris. Another misfortune awaits him: Ophelia, under the burden of grief - the death of her father at the hands of Hamlet - has gone crazy. Laertes seeks revenge. Armed, he breaks into the king's chambers. The king calls Hamlet the culprit of all Laertes' misfortunes. At this time, the messenger brings the king a letter in which Hamlet announces his return. The king is at a loss, he understands that something has happened. But then he hatches a new vile plan, in which he involves the hot-tempered, narrow-minded Laertes.
He proposes to arrange a duel between Laertes and Hamlet. And to ensure that the murder takes place, the end of Laertes’ sword should be smeared with deadly poison. Laertes agrees.
The Queen sadly reports the death of Ophelia. She “tried to hang her wreaths on the branches, the treacherous branch broke, she fell into a sobbing stream.”
Two gravediggers are digging a grave. And they make jokes.
Hamlet and Horatio appear. Hamlet talks about the vanity of all living things. “Alexander (Macedonian - E. Sh.) died, Alexander was buried, Alexander turns to dust; dust is earth; clay is made from earth; and why can’t they plug up a beer barrel with this clay into which he turned?”
The funeral procession is approaching. King, queen, Laertes, court. Ophelia is buried. Laertes jumps into the grave and asks to be buried with his sister; Hamlet cannot stand the false note. They grapple with Laertes. “I loved her; forty thousand brothers / with all the multitude of their love would not be equal to me,” - in these famous words of Hamlet there is a genuine, deep feeling.
The king separates them. He is not happy with the unpredictable fight. He reminds Laertes: “Be patient and remember yesterday; / We will move things to a quick end.”
Horatio and Hamlet are alone. Hamlet tells Horatio that he managed to read the king's letter. It contained a request to immediately execute Hamlet. Providence protected the prince, and, using his father’s signet, he replaced the letter in which he wrote: “The donors must be killed immediately.” And with this message, Rosencrantz and Guildestern sail towards their doom. The ship was attacked by robbers, Hamlet was captured and taken to Denmark. Now he is ready for revenge.
Osric, a close associate of the king, appears and reports that the king has bet that Hamlet will defeat Laertes in a duel. Hamlet agrees to the duel, but his heart is heavy and he anticipates a trap.
Before the duel, he asks for an apology from Laertes: “My act, which hurt your honor, nature, feeling, / - I declare this, - was insane.”
The king prepared another trap for loyalty - he placed a goblet of poisoned wine to give it to Hamlet when he was thirsty. Laertes wounds Hamlet, they exchange rapiers, Hamlet wounds Laertes. The Queen drinks poisoned wine for Hamlet's victory. The king was unable to stop her. The queen dies, but manages to say: “Oh, my Hamlet, drink! I was poisoned." Laertes confesses his betrayal to Hamlet: “The king, the king is guilty...”
Hamlet hits the king with a poisoned blade and dies himself. Horatio wants to drink the poisoned wine so he can follow the prince. But the dying Hamlet asks: “Breathe in the harsh world, so that my / Tell the story.” Horatio informs Fortinbras and the English ambassadors about the tragedy that has occurred.
Fortinbras gives the order: “Let Hamlet be raised to the platform like a warrior...”
The square in front of the castle in Elsinore. On guard are Marcellus and Bernard, Danish officers. They are later joined by Horatio, a learned friend Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. He came to verify the story of the nightly appearance of a ghost similar to the Danish king who had recently died. Horatio is inclined to consider this a fantasy. Midnight. And a menacing ghost in full military garb appears. Horatio is shocked and tries to talk to him. Horatio, reflecting on what he saw, considers the appearance of the ghost a sign of “some kind of unrest for the state.” He decides to tell Prince Hamlet about the night vision, who interrupted his studies in Wittenberg due to the sudden death of his father. Hamlet's grief is aggravated by the fact that his mother soon after his father's death married his brother. She, “without wearing out the shoes in which she followed the coffin,” threw herself into the arms of an unworthy man, “a dense clot of meat.” Hamlet’s soul shuddered: “How tiresome, dull and unnecessary, / It seems to me, everything that is in the world! O abomination!
Horatio told Hamlet about the night ghost. Hamlet does not hesitate: “Hamlet’s spirit is in arms! Things are bad; / There's something here. It would be night soon! / Be patient, soul; evil will be revealed, / At least it will go from the eyes into the underground darkness.”
The ghost of Hamlet's father told about a terrible crime.
While the king was resting peacefully in the garden, his brother poured the deadly juice of henbane into his ear. “So in a dream, from a brotherly hand, I lost my life, my crown and my queen.” The ghost asks Hamlet to avenge him. "Bye Bye. And remember about me” - with these words the ghost leaves.
The world has turned upside down for Hamlet... He swears to avenge his father. He asks his friends to keep this meeting secret and not to be surprised at the strangeness of his behavior.
Meanwhile, the king's close nobleman Polonius sends his son Laertes to study in Paris. He gives his brotherly instructions to his sister Ophelia, and we learn about Hamlet’s feelings, from which Laertes warns Ophelia: “He is a citizen of his birth; / He does not cut his own piece, / Like others; The life and health of the entire state depend on his choice.”
His words are confirmed by his father, Polonius. He forbids her to spend time with Hamlet. Ophelia tells her father that Prince Hamlet came to her and he seemed out of his mind. Taking her hand, “he let out a sigh so mournful and deep, / As if his whole chest had broken and life was extinguished.” Polonius decides that Hamlet's strange behavior in recent days is due to the fact that he is "mad with love." He is going to tell the king about this.
The king, whose conscience is burdened with murder, is concerned about Hamlet's behavior. What lies behind it - madness? Or something else? He calls upon Rosencrantz and Guildestern, Hamlet's former friends, and asks them to find out his secret from the prince. For this he promises “the royal mercy.” Polonius arrives and suggests that Hamlet's madness is caused by love. To confirm his words, he shows Hamlet’s letter, which he took from Ophelia. Polonius promises to send his daughter to the gallery where Hamlet often walks in order to make sure of his feelings.
Rosencrantz and Guildesterne try unsuccessfully to find out the secret of Prince Hamlet. Hamlet understands that they were sent by the king.
Hamlet learns that actors have arrived, the capital's tragedians, whom he liked so much before, and an idea comes to his mind: to use the actors to make sure of the king's guilt. He agrees with the actors that they will play a play about the death of Priam, and he will insert two or three verses of his composition into it. The actors agree. Hamlet asks the first actor to read a soliloquy about the murder of Priam. The actor reads brilliantly. Hamlet is excited. Entrusting the actors to the care of Polonius, he reflects alone. He must know exactly about the crime: “The spectacle is a noose to lasso the king’s conscience.”
The king questions Rosencrantz and Guildestern about the success of their mission. They admit that they were unable to find out anything: “He does not allow himself to be questioned / And with the cunning of madness he slips away...”
They report to the king that traveling actors have arrived, and Hamlet invites the king and queen to the performance.
Hamlet walks alone and utters, reflecting, his famous soliloquy: “To be or not to be, that is the question...” Why do we hold on to life so much? In which “the mockery of the century, the oppression of the strong, the mockery of the proud.” And he answers his own question: “The fear of something after death - / An unknown land from where there is no return / For earthly wanderers” - confuses the will.
Polonius sends Ophelia to Hamlet. Hamlet quickly realizes that their conversation is being overheard and that Ophelia came at the instigation of the king and father. And he plays the role of a madman, gives her advice to go to a monastery. The straightforward Ophelia is killed by Hamlet’s speeches: “Oh, what a proud mind is struck down! Nobles, / Fighter, scientist - gaze, sword, tongue; / The color and hope of a joyful power, / An emboss of grace, a mirror of taste, / An exemplary example - fallen, fallen to the end! The king makes sure that love is not the cause of the prince’s upset. Hamlet asks Horatio to watch the king during the play. The show begins. Hamlet comments on it throughout the play. He accompanies the poisoning scene with the words: “He poisons him in the garden for the sake of his power. / His name is Gonzago […] Now you will see how the murderer wins the love of Gonzaga’s wife.”
During this scene, the king could not stand it. He got up. There was a commotion. Polonius demanded that the game be stopped. Everyone leaves. Hamlet and Horatio remain. They are convinced of the king's crime - he gave himself away completely.
Rosencrantz and Guildestern return. They explain how upset the king is and how perplexed the queen is about Hamlet's behavior. Hamlet takes the flute and invites Guildestern to play it. Guildesterne refuses: “I do not master this art.” Hamlet says with anger: “You see what a worthless thing you are making of me? You are ready to play on me, it seems to you that you know my modes...”
Polonius calls Hamlet to his mother, the queen.
The king is tormented by fear and tormented by a bad conscience. “Oh, my sin is vile, it stinks to heaven!” But he has already committed a crime, “his chest is blacker than death.” He kneels down, trying to pray.
At this time, Hamlet passes - he goes to his mother’s chambers. But he does not want to kill the despicable king during prayer. “Back, my sword, find out the terrible girth.”
Polonius hides behind the carpet in the queen's chambers to overhear Hamlet's conversation with his mother.
Hamlet is full of indignation. The pain that torments his heart makes his tongue bold. The Queen gets scared and screams. Polonius finds himself behind the carpet, Hamlet, shouting “Rat, rat,” pierces him with his sword, thinking that it is the king. The Queen begs Hamlet for mercy: “You directed my eyes straight into my soul, / And in it I see so many black spots, / That nothing can remove them...”
A ghost appears... He demands to spare the queen.
The Queen does not see or hear the ghost; it seems to her that Hamlet is talking to the void. He looks like a madman.
The queen tells the king that in a fit of madness, Hamlet killed Polonius. "He's crying about what he did." The king decides to immediately send Hamlet to England, accompanied by Rosencrantz and Guildestern, who will be given a secret letter to the Briton about the death of Hamlet. He decides to bury Polonius secretly to avoid rumors.
Hamlet and his traitorous friends rush to the ship. They meet armed soldiers. Hamlet asks them whose army is and where it is going. It turns out that this is the Norwegian army, which is going to fight with Poland for a piece of land, which “for five ducats” it would be a pity to rent. Hamlet is amazed that people cannot “settle the dispute about this trifle.”
For him, this incident is a reason for deep reflections about what is tormenting him, and what is tormenting him is his own indecision. Prince Fortinbras, “for the sake of whim and absurd glory,” sends twenty thousand to death, “as if to bed,” since his honor is hurt. “So what about me,” Hamlet exclaims, “I, whose father is killed, / whose mother is in disgrace,” and I live, repeating “this must be done.” “Oh my thought, from now on you must be bloody, or dust will be your price.”
Having learned about the death of his father, Laertes secretly returns from Paris. Another misfortune awaits him: Ophelia, under the burden of grief - the death of her father at the hands of Hamlet - has gone crazy. Laertes seeks revenge. Armed, he breaks into the king's chambers. The king calls Hamlet the culprit of all Laertes' misfortunes. At this time, the messenger brings the king a letter in which Hamlet announces his return. The king is at a loss, he understands that something has happened. But then he hatches a new vile plan, in which he involves the hot-tempered, narrow-minded Laertes.
He proposes to arrange a duel between Laertes and Hamlet. And to ensure that the murder takes place, the end of Laertes’ sword should be smeared with deadly poison. Laertes agrees.
The Queen sadly reports the death of Ophelia. She “tried to hang her wreaths on the branches, the treacherous branch broke, she fell into a sobbing stream.”
...Two gravediggers are digging a grave. And they make jokes.
Hamlet and Horatio appear. Hamlet talks about the vanity of all living things. “Alexander (Macedonian - E. Sh.) died, Alexander was buried, Alexander turns to dust; dust is earth; clay is made from earth; and why can’t they plug up a beer barrel with this clay into which he turned?”
The funeral procession is approaching. King, queen, Laertes, court. Ophelia is buried. Laertes jumps into the grave and asks to be buried with his sister; Hamlet cannot stand the false note. They grapple with Laertes. “I loved her; forty thousand brothers / with all the multitude of their love would not be equal to me,” - in these famous words of Hamlet there is a genuine, deep feeling.
The king separates them. He is not happy with the unpredictable fight. He reminds Laertes: “Be patient and remember yesterday; / We will move things to a quick end.”
Horatio and Hamlet are alone. Hamlet tells Horatio that he managed to read the king's letter. It contained a request to immediately execute Hamlet. Providence protected the prince, and, using his father’s signet, he replaced the letter in which he wrote: “The donors must be killed immediately.” And with this message, Rosencrantz and Guildestern sail towards their doom. The ship was attacked by robbers, Hamlet was captured and taken to Denmark. Now he is ready for revenge.
Osric, the king's close associate, appears and reports that the king has made a bet that Hamlet will defeat Laertes in a duel. Hamlet agrees to the duel, but his heart is heavy and he anticipates a trap.
Before the duel, he asks for an apology from Laertes: “My act, which hurt your honor, nature, feeling, / - I declare this, - was insane.”
The king prepared another trap for loyalty - he placed a goblet of poisoned wine to give it to Hamlet when he was thirsty. Laertes wounds Hamlet, they exchange rapiers, Hamlet wounds Laertes. The Queen drinks poisoned wine for Hamlet's victory. The king was unable to stop her. The queen dies, but manages to say: “Oh, my Hamlet, drink! I was poisoned." Laertes confesses his betrayal to Hamlet: “The king, the king is guilty...”.
Hamlet hits the king with a poisoned blade and dies himself. Horatio wants to drink the poisoned wine so he can follow the prince. But the dying Hamlet asks: “Breathe in the harsh world, so that my / Tell the story.” Horatio informs Fortinbras and the English ambassadors about the tragedy that has occurred.
Fortinbras gives the order: “Let Hamlet be raised to the platform like a warrior...”.
Shakespeare's Hamlet, act one - summary
Scene one. Danish city of Elsinore. Officers Marcellus and Bernardo take guard in front of the royal castle. Prince Hamlet's friend, the young courtier Horatio, comes to their post: Marcellus and Bernardo told him that last night they saw the ghost of the recently deceased king of Denmark here. Before their eyes, the ghost appears again. Horatio tries to talk to him, but at that moment the morning rooster crows - and the dead man leaves without having time to answer anything.
Scene two. After the sudden death of the former king, the Danish throne was taken by his brother, Claudius, who married the widow of the deceased, Queen Gertrude. The morning after the appearance of the ghost, Claudius, the queen, her son from the deceased king, Prince Hamlet, and the courtiers gather in the castle hall. Laertes, the son of the butler Polonius, asks the king for permission to return to study in Paris. In the dialogues of this scene, Shakespeare makes it clear to the audience: Prince Hamlet hates his uncle Claudius and is indignant that his mother hastened to enter into a new, almost incestuous marriage, unable to withstand decent mourning for his late father. When the royal couple leaves, Horatio, Marcellus and Bernardo come to Hamlet, informing him about the appearance of a ghost at night. The prince decides to come to the castle post the following night and ask his father why he rose from the grave.
Scene three. Polonius' son, Laertes, says goodbye to his sister, Ophelia, before leaving for Paris. Ophelia tells him that Hamlet has been trying to woo her lately. Laertes points out to Ophelia that the prince is no match for her, and advises his sister to carefully guard her maiden honor. The same advice is given to Ophelia by her father, Polonius.
Scene four. That same night, Hamlet, Horatio and two officers, standing on guard at the castle, see the ghost again. The father gives Hamlet a sign to follow him.
Scene five. Having moved away from the witnesses, the deceased king tells his son that he did not actually die a natural death, but was poisoned by the ambitious Claudius: while he was sleeping in the garden, he poured strong poison into his ear. The murderer took the throne of the murdered man, seduced his wife and married her. Hamlet's father asks him to avenge himself. Returning to his friends, Hamlet asks them not to tell anyone about what happened and warns that in the future he may behave strangely. In order to more accurately carry out his revenge, the prince decides to pretend to be insane.
Hamlet, Horatio and the Ghost. Illustration for Shakespeare's play by artist G. Fusli. 1796
Shakespeare's Hamlet, act two - summary
Scene one. Polonius sends his servant Reynaldo to France to monitor the behavior of the departed Laertes. In the dialogue with the servant, the petty, vain, selfish nature of Polonius is revealed, who does not even trust his own son. Ophelia enters and tells her father that Prince Hamlet has gone crazy: he ran into her with a wild look and behaved as if possessed. Polonius decides that Hamlet’s illness is caused by a love shock: after all, Ophelia, according to the order given to her by her father, has recently almost stopped meeting with the prince. [Cm. full text of act 2.]
Scene two. King Claudius and the Queen receive at the castle their school friends Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, whom they have summoned from afar. Claudius is alarmed by Hamlet's unexpected madness. He is overwhelmed by vague premonitions: the prince could find out the secret of his father's murder. The king instructs Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find out what is troubling Hamlet, and they obsequiously agree to act as spies for their comrade of youth. Polonius, who entered, reports his assumption: the cause of the prince’s illness is unrequited love for Ophelia. Polonius proposes to confirm his guess by arranging a meeting between Ophelia and Hamlet, which he and the king can secretly observe.
After the king and queen leave, Hamlet appears on stage. In his seemingly incoherent conversation, first with Polonius, and then with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, subtle, clever hints slip through every now and then, which do not go unnoticed by his interlocutors. The Prince realizes that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been assigned to spy on him. Polonius brings news of the arrival of a traveling theater in Elsinore. Hamlet asks the comedians to perform the play “The Murder of Gonzago” in front of the king and queen tomorrow. The prince is still not sure that the ghost that appeared to him was really his father, and not an insidious devil. To obtain proof of the ghost’s words, he asks the actors to act out a scene in front of Claudius similar to the murder described to him by the dead man. Hamlet wants to see how the new king will perceive her.
Shakespeare's Hamlet, act three - summary
Scene one. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern inform the king and queen that they were unable to find out the reason for Hamlet's madness. Claudius is becoming more and more worried. The calculating Ophelia agrees, as if by chance, to catch the prince’s eye in a place where the king and Polonius can monitor their meeting. Claudius and Polonius are hiding. Hamlet enters, thoughtfully pronouncing the famous philosophical monologue “To be or not to be.” [Cm. full text of act 3.]
Vladimir Vysotsky. Hamlet's monologue "To be or not to be"
Ophelia approaches him. Hamlet starts a conversation with her that is outwardly extravagant, but filled with deep hidden meaning. Apparently, guessing about Ophelia’s insidious role, the prince advises her to go “to a monastery or marry a fool.” Claudius, having listened to this conversation, is strengthened in the idea that Hamlet is not mad, but is playing the role of a madman for some hidden purpose. He decides to send the prince “on a diplomatic mission” to England.
Scene two. Actors perform the play “The Murder of Gonzago” in front of the royal couple. Hamlet and Horatio watch how the climax of the play will affect the king. At the beginning of the performance, the actress portraying the queen character pledges her eternal love to the actor playing the king. Then the actors present the murder of Gonzago: on stage, poison is poured into his ear as he sleeps. Claudius jumps up in great excitement and runs out. Hamlet now has no doubt about his guilt. After the performance, Polonius informs the prince that his mother is calling him.
Scene three. Claudius instructs the same spies, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to accompany Hamlet to England. Polonius informs the king that the prince is going to his mother, and offers to be a spy at this meeting, hiding behind the carpet. Left alone, the king tries to pray, but realizes that there is no forgiveness for his grave sins. Hamlet, passing by, notices him on his knees praying. The prince can stab Claudius with one blow of his sword, but does not want to do this at the moment when the murderer has felt fleeting repentance. He decides to put an end to the king when he is plunged into the abyss of sin - so that he immediately falls head over heels into hell.
Scene four. Hamlet comes to his mother, who previously hides Polonius behind the carpet. Hamlet begins to make bitter reproaches to Gertrude for betraying her father’s memory for the sake of a new insignificant husband. The explanation becomes so harsh that Polonius tries to come out from behind the carpet. The prince, hearing the rustling, pierces the carpet with his sword and kills Polonius. Hamlet tells his mother how her ex-husband was poisoned by her current husband, and reproaches her with even greater fury. Hamlet does not hide from the queen that he is not mad at all. She promises not to hand him over to his uncle. The prince leaves, dragging Polonius' corpse with him.
Shakespeare's Hamlet, act four - summary
Scene one. Gertrude tells the king that Hamlet killed Polonius (hiding all the revelations his son made to her). Excited, Claudius decides to send the prince to England with the first ship. [Cm. full text of act 4.]
Scene two. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, sent by Claudius, try to find out from Hamlet where he put Polonius’ body. He answers them with mocking sarcasms.
Scene three. Claudius announces to Hamlet that he must immediately sail to England. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who accompany him, receive a sealed letter from the king. Claudius asks in it that the English authorities execute the prince immediately upon his arrival.
Scene four. Before leaving, Hamlet meets the army of the Norwegian prince Fortinbras, following through Denmark to the war with the Poles. The soldier's captain explains to him that the war broke out over a worthless piece of land. The prince admires the courage of Fortinbras and the soldiers, who go into battle not for the sake of greed, but for reasons of honor alone. This example revives his thirst for revenge on Claudius.
Hamlet. Feature film 1964
Scene five. Ophelia, mentally damaged after the news of her father’s death, gives incoherent speeches to the king and queen. Then Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, who has returned from Paris, bursts into the palace. He threatens to stir up a popular revolt against Claudius if the murderer of Polonius is not named and punished.
Scene six. Horatio receives a letter from Hamlet. The prince reports in it that on the way to England, during a battle with pirates, he jumped onto their ship and managed to return back to Denmark.
Scene seven. Claudius tells Laertes that Hamlet killed his father. At this time, a letter is brought in where the prince notifies the king of his return to Denmark. Knowing that Laertes is an excellent swordsman, Claudius invites him to challenge Hamlet to a competitive duel with blunt rapiers, but during the fight he quietly replaces his rapier with a sharp one. Thirsty to avenge his father, Laertes decides to smear his rapier with poison for greater fidelity. The king also offers to store a poisoned cup, which during the duel the prince will be given as if to refresh himself. The queen enters, telling that Ophelia drowned in the river - either by accidentally falling there from a willow tree, or by committing suicide.
Ophelia. Artist John Everett Millais. Illustration for Shakespeare's Hamlet. 1852
Shakespeare's Hamlet, act five - summary
Scene one. Two gravediggers are digging a hole in a cemetery for a new dead person. Hamlet and Horatio approach, looking at the work of the diggers, and talk about the frailty of life. The gravediggers find in the ground the skull of the former royal jester Yorick, whom the prince knew well in childhood. A funeral procession appears, led by the king, queen and Laertes. Hamlet now understands: Ophelia will be buried. Laertes and Hamlet moan loudly over the coffin, even jumping into the grave after Ophelia. At the same time, a hostile skirmish occurs between them. [Cm. full text of act 5.]
Scene two. Hamlet privately tells Horatio that on the ship he read in a letter sent to England by Claudius an order to kill him. Having his father's royal seal with him, he replaced this letter with another - with an order to execute the corrupt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Hamlet speaks of his desire to make peace with the noble Laertes, but at this time the courtier Osric enters and brings a challenge from Laertes to the prince to a fencing competition. Hamlet vaguely realizes that they want to kill him in this competition, but, nevertheless, accepts the challenge.
Hamlet and Laertes begin to fight with rapiers. He is watched by the king, queen and retinue. After several blows, Claudius offers the prince to “refresh himself” from a glass that already contains poison. Hamlet refuses. The glass is sipped by the unsuspecting Gertrude. Laertes wounds Hamlet with a poisoned rapier, but then in the heat of battle they exchange weapons, and the prince wounds Laertes with it. The queen is affected by the poison from the glass and falls dead. The wounded Laertes tells Hamlet about the king’s treachery and that they both have only a few minutes left to live. The prince stabs Claudius with a poisoned rapier. They all die. Before his death, Hamlet instructs Horatio to tell the Danes what the ghost told him.
Ambassadors returning from England enter with news of the execution of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Prince Fortinbras also appears, passing nearby with his army. Fortinbras orders Hamlet to be buried with military honors and prepares to assume the Danish throne.