William Shakespeare's Hamlet, act summaries

1. William
Shakespeare
Dr. Mohammed Fahmy
Raiyah

2. ACT I

3. Scene i
On a dark winter night, a ghost walks the
walls of Elsinore Castle in Denmark. Discovered
first by a pair of watchmen, they urge Horatio to
stand watch with them. Horatio is skeptical at
first, but then the ghost suddenly appears before
the men and disappears immediately. The ghost
appears another time and when Horatio tries to
speak to him, he vanishes. The ghost resembles
King Hamlet, whose brother Claudius has
inherited the throne and married his widow,
Queen Gertrude. Horatio suggests that they
have to tell Prince Hamlet.

4. Horatio

5. King Hamlet is dead

6. Gertrude, the queen

7. Claudius, the king

8. Prince Hamlet

10. Scene ii
King Claudius and Queen
Gertrude try to speak to Hamlet out
of his sadness, encouraging him to
end his excessive grieving. Hamlet
accuses Gertrude of pretending grief
and rejoicing in the old king's death.
Claudius reminds Hamlet that he is
next in line to the throne, and asks
him not to return to school in
Wittenberg.

11. GERTRUDE
Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color off,
And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark.
Do not forever with thy vailèd lids
Seek for thy noble father in the dust.
Thou know’st ’tis common. All that lives must die,
Passing through nature to eternity.
HAMLET
Ay, madam, it is common.
GERTRUDE
If it be,
Why seems it so particular with thee?

12. HAMLET
“Seems,” madam? Nay, it is. I know not “seems.”
'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,
Nor customary suits of solemn black,
Nor windy suspiration of forced breath,
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye,
Nor the dejected 'havior of the visage,
Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief,
That can denote me truly. These indeed “seem,”
For they are actions that a man might play.
But I have that within which passeth show,
These but the trappings and the suits of woe.

17. Alone, Hamlet laments the fact
that he cannot commit suicide
because his religion prohibits suicide
and claims that he would rather die
than continue watching his mother
engage in her new marriage. Horatio
tells Hamlet about the Ghost of the
old king. Hamlet agrees to watch that
night in case the Ghost walks again.

18. HAMLET
Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,
Or that the Everlasting had not fixed
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God, God!
How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world!
Fie on ’t, ah fie! 'Tis an unweeded garden
That grows to seed. Things rank and gross in
nature

19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , within a month—
Let me not think on ’t. Frailty, thy name is woman!—
A little month, or ere those shoes were old
With which she followed my poor father’s body,

22. Scene iii
Polonius talks to his son, Laertes who
prepares to return to school in Paris. Laertes
advises his sister Ophelia to keep away from
Prince Hamlet. He explains that, to Hamlet,
she can never be anything more than a
plaything. Hamlet, Laertes tells Ophelia, is of
a higher rank than and will never marry her.
Polonius repeats the same advise to her to
reject Hamlet’s advances. Ophelia promises
to obey her father and break off her
relationship with the prince.

25. Scene iv
Hamlet keeps watch outside the
castle with Horatio and Marcellus,
waiting in the cold for the ghost to
appear. Then the ghost appears, and
Hamlet calls out to it. The ghost signals
to Hamlet to follow it out into the night.
His companions urge him not to follow,
begging him to consider that the ghost
might lead him toward harm.

26. Hamlet is unsure whether the
apparition is truly the king’s spirit or
an evil demon, but he declares that
he cares nothing for his life. He
follows after the apparition and
disappears into the darkness.

27. Scene v
The ghost speaks to Hamlet, declaring
that it is his father’s spirit, and that he was
murdered by Claudius. He orders Hamlet to
take revenge on the man who took his throne
and married his wife.. Hamlet is shocked at
the revelation that his father has been
murdered. The ghost tells him that as he
slept in his garden, a villain poured poison
into his ear—the very villain who now wears
his crown, Claudius. Hamlet’s worst fears
about his uncle are confirmed

28. The ghost tells Hamlet that
Claudius has corrupted Denmark and
corrupted Gertrude. But the ghost
urges Hamlet not to act against his
mother in any way, telling him to
“leave her to heaven” and to the
pangs of her own conscience. The
ghost then disappears. Hamlet
swears to remember and obey the
ghost.

37. BRIEF SUMMARY OF ACT I
• The king is dead.
• Claudius marries Queen Gertrude.
• The ghost of the dead king appears.
• In a soliloquy, Hamlet expresses his anger against
his mother for her hasty remarriage.
• The king asks Hamlet to stay in Denmark.
• Laertes and Polonius warn Ophelia against Hamlet.
• The ghost tells Hamlet that he must avenge his
father’s murder.

38. QUIZ
Hamlet is set in -------------------.
a. Denmark
b. Scotland
c. Sweden

39. How much time passes between the
death of King Hamlet and the
remarriage of Gertrude to Claudius?
a. three months
b. six months
c. two months

40. Who marries King Hamlet’s wife?
a. Polonius
b. Claudius
c. Laertes
d. Cornelius

41. Hamlet's stepfather is also his ------
a. uncle
b. brother
c. grandfather

42. Where does Hamlet go to university?
a. Luxembourg
b. Germany
c. France

43. What does Prince Hamlet think of
doing because he is so sad?
a. Killing himself
b. Running away
c. stopping his studies

44. What does Laertes want Ophelia to
do?
a. Take care of Polonius
b. Keep away from Hamlet
c. pray for him

45. How did Hamlet’s father die?
a. He was stabbed.
b. He was poisoned.
c. He died in battle.

46. Who does the ghost of Hamlet’s
father say killed him?
a. Polonius
b. Fortinbras
c. Claudius

47. What does the Ghost tell Hamlet to do?
a. to forget about this meeting
b. to kill his mother
c. to take revenge

48. What does the ghost of King Hamlet
say about Gertrude, his wife?
a. He wants Hamlet to kill her
b. He wants her to leave Claudius.
c. He tells Hamlet to leave her alone.

49. What does Hamlet tell Horatio and
Marcellus about his plan?
a. That he may pretend to be crazy
b. That he intends on killing Claudius
c. That he hopes to marry Ophelia

50. Of whom does Hamlet say, "Frailty,
thy name is woman"?
a. Ophelia
b. Gertrude
c. Rosencrantz

51. ACT II

52. Scene i
Ophelia obeys her father and rejects
Hamlet's advances and returns his
letters. She tells her father that she has
been horrified by Prince Hamlet, who
came to her trembling, his jacket askew,
his face pale, and looking pitiful.
Polonius diagnoses Hamlet's condition
as madness due to his love of Ophelia.
Polonius decides to take his information
to the king.

53. Polonius’s conversation with Ophelia
illustrates Hamlet’s behavior since his
meeting with the ghost: he is behaving as a
madman as he has told Horatio before. His
strange treatment of Ophelia could be part of
his plan to pretend insanity, and it could also
be the result of his real distress at seeing
Ophelia, who has recently rejected him. In
addition, his mother’s marriage to Claudius
seems to have shattered his opinion of
women in general. •

54. Scene ii
Claudius and Gertrude welcome
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two of
Hamlet’s friends from Wittenberg.
Concerned about Hamlet’s strange
behavior and his inability to recover from
his father’s death, the king and queen
have summoned his friends in the hope
that they might be able to discover the
cause of it.

55. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

56. Polonius tells Claudius and
Gertrude that he has forbidden
Ophelia to accept any advances
from the Prince, which has led poor
Hamlet into madness.

57. Polonius then suggests that he
and Claudius hide themselves
behind a curtain so they can
eavesdrop on the couple when
Ophelia meets with Hamlet to
return his love gifts.

58. Hamlet enters reading and
Polonius asks the King and Queen
to leave so that he may speak to
Hamlet. Hamlet’s answers to
Polonius are very strange, which
convinces Polonius that he is
really made.

66. A group of actors arrive to
perform to the King. Hamlet meets
the actors and knows from them what
play they are going to play. He also
tells them that he will provide them
with a scene that he wants them to
add to the play. They agree, and they
leave.

67. The scene that Hamlet wants the actors to
add to their play closely resembles the murder
of Hamlet’s father. Hamlet thinks that if the
king is guilty, he will surely show some visible
sign of guilt when he sees his sin reenacted on
stage. Then, Hamlet reasons, he will have a
definitive proof of Claudius’s guilt. “The
play’s the thing,” he declares, “wherein I’ll
catch the conscience of the king.”

68. Brief Summary of Act II
• Ophelia says that Hamlet acts strangely.
• Claudius employs Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
to find out why Hamlet is acting odd.
• Polonius suggests that Hamlet is mad because
Ophelia rejects him.
• A group of actors arrive and Hamlet meets them
and asks them to perform a certain scene similar
to the murder of his father.

69. Quiz
Who are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?
a. Hamlet’s friends
b. Hamlet’s cousins
c. Claudius’s generals

70. What does Ophelia give Hamlet?
a. A birthday gift
b. A letter
c. The gifts he has given her

71. According to Polonius, why has
Hamlet gone mad?
a. He's angry at Gertrude for marrying
Claudius.
b. He's angry at Claudius for stealing
the throne.
c. He's in love with Ophelia.

72. ACT III

73. Scene i
Hamlet enters, speaking to himself about the
question of whether to commit suicide to end the pain
of experience: “To be, or not to be: that is the
question.” He says that the miseries of life are such that
no one would bear them, except that they are afraid of
“something after death.”
Hamlet notices Ophelia reading. Hamlet,
assuming that she is reading prayers, asks her to pray
for him. She tells him she wishes to return to him gifts
he has given her. He responds that he has given her no
gifts. She insists that he did give her gifts, and she
claims that he gave the gifts to her with love words.
Again he denies having given her the gifts at all and
further denies having ever loved her. Ophelia believes
that Hamlet has become mad.

74. Scene ii
Hamlet has a group of players perform a play
which is similar in action to the way the ghost told
him about how his uncle have murdered his
father. If Claudius is guilty, he will react in a way
that reveals his guilt. When the moment of the
murder arrives, Claudius hurriedly leaves the
room. Hamlet and Horatio agree that this proves
his guilt.

75. Scene iii
Hamlet goes to kill Claudius but finds him
praying. Since he believes that killing Claudius
while in prayer would send his soul to heaven,
Hamlet decides to wait.

76. Scene iv
Hamlet confronts his mother, in whose
bedchamber Polonius has hidden behind a
curtain. Hearing a noise from behind the
curtain, Hamlet thinks it is the king who is
hiding there. He stabs through the curtain,
killing Polonius. The ghost of King Hamlet
appears to Hamlet, telling him to be kind to his
mother. Gertrude does not see the ghost and
thinks Hamlet is mad.

88. Hamlet Confronts his Mother
and Kills Polonius

89. Hamlet confronts his mother, in whose
bedchamber Polonius has hidden behind a
curtain. Hearing a noise from behind the
curtain, Hamlet thinks it is the king who is
hiding there. He stabs through the curtain,
killing Polonius.

90. The ghost reminds Hamlet that he mustn't hurt his mother.

93. BRIEF SUMMARY of ACT III
• Hamlet asks a group of actors to act a play that
shows events similar to the killing of King Hamlet
in front of Claudius and Gertrude.
• Hamlet becomes sure of what the ghost told him.
• He wants to kill the king, but finds him praying.
• He confronts his mother and kills Polonius who
was hiding behind the curtain.

94. ACT IV

95. Scene i
After her confrontation with Hamlet,
Gertrude hurries to Claudius, telling him how
mad Hamlet was and about his killing of Polonius.
Claudius becomes afraid of Hamlet and
orders that he be sent to England at once. He
sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to bring
Hamlet.

96. Scene ii-iii
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern meet Hamlet
and convince him to go with them to the king.
Claudius asks Hamlet about Polonius’ body and
Hamlet gives obscure answers. Claudius knows
that he cannot punish Hamlet for killing Polonius
because he is loved by all people. Instead, he
tells Hamlet that he must leave to England. The
king sends to the English king asking him to kill
Hamlet when he arrives there.

97. Scene iv
In his way to England, Hamlet sees
Fortinbras’ Norwegian army at the borders of
Denmark, marching to Poland to capture a small
piece of disputed land. Hamlet contemplates
how these men are ready to risk their lives for a
worthless piece of land, while he, who has every
reason to risk his life in the cause of revenge,
delays and fails to act.

98. Scene v-vi
Ophelia has gone mad. She is seen singing
strange songs that refer to her father’s death and
Hamlet’s betrayal of her after he promised to marry
her.
Laertes arrives at the court with a mob of
followers. He accuses the king of killing his father.
The king denies and explains that Polonius' death is
not his fault.
Hamlet is back to Denmark after a pirates’
ship takes him prisoner.

99. Scene vii
Claudius explains to Laertes that he buried Polonius
secretly and did not punish Hamlet because people and the
queen love him so much. News come that Hamlet will
come the next day. Laertes is happy because his revenge
will not be delayed. Claudius encourages Laertes to take his
revenge and he prepares a plan.
Claudius arranges a fencing match between Laertes
and Hamlet. Claudius suggests that Laertes be given a
sharp sword while Hamlet’s remains blunt. Laertes will also
dip his sword in poison so that the least scratch will kill
Hamlet. Claudius says he will also prepare a poisoned cup
and give it to Hamlet during the fight.
Ophelia drowns herself.

105. Ophelia drowns in a pond

106. BRIEF SUMMARY of ACT IV
• The king sends Hamlet to England and sends
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with him, giving
them orders to kill the prince.
• Ophelia becomes mad.
• Hamlet returns to Denmark.
• Claudius puts a plan to kill Hamlet by the
poisoned sword in a duel with Laertes.
• Ophelia drowns in a pond.

107. ACT V

108. Scene i
Hamlet is passing by the church graveyard and
finds two gravediggers preparing a grave for a lady.
Hamlet converses with one of them about death. –
Claudius, Gertrude, and Laertes come marching
toward the grave along with a priest and a group of
people bearing a body. Hamlet discovers that this is
Ophelia’s funeral. In his intense grief, Laertes leaps
into his sister’s grave to hold her body again and
orders the gravediggers to bury him alive. Hamlet
appears and declares that he loved Ophelia more
than forty thousand brothers could.

109. Scene ii
The king, queen and other figures of state
gather to watch the duel. Hamlet begs Laertes’
pardon both for his outburst at Ophelia’s grave and
for his rash killing of Polonius. Laertes appears to
accept this apology but declares that his honor will
not be satisfied until they have had their duel.
Hamlet and Laertes choose their swords. Laertes
chooses the sharp sword with the poisoned blade.
As they prepare to fight, Claudius proposes a drink
to Hamlet.

110. Hamlet wins the first point and the king offers him
the poisoned drink but Hamlet declines. They play
another round and Hamlet wins another point.
Gertrude toasts to Hamlet’s health, drinking from the
poisoned cup.
While Hamlet is unguarded, Laertes wounds him
with the poisoned sword. They fight and Hamlet takes
Laertes’ poisoned sword. He wounds Laertes with it.
Just then, the queen collapses. She declares that she
has been poisoned by the drink and then dies. Hamlet
asks for the treachery to be found out and Laertes
confesses the plan. He says that they are both going to
die, having been wounded by the poisoned blade.
Hamlet takes the poisoned sword and wounds Claudius,
then forces the king to drink from his poisoned cup.
Claudius dies.

111. Laertes asks Hamlet’s forgiveness and then
dies. Hamlet, knowing that he is about to die, asks
Horatio to explain the truth to people. Horatio, on
the contrary, wishes to die with his friend, but
Hamlet convinces him to live a while and clear his
name. Hamlet declares that Fortinbras should
become King of Denmark. He then dies.
Fortinbras orders that Hamlet be given
military honors. He orders his soldiers to carry the
bodies out, and the play ends.

112. The Graveyard

114. The gravedigger

115. Ophelia’s Funeral

127. The Conspiracy

132. THE DUEL

155. BRIEF SUMMARY of ACT V
• Hamlet and Horatio are at the graveyard.
• A funeral comes and Hamlet discovers that it is Ophelia’s
coffin.
• Hamlet and Laertes fight.
• Hamlet accepts the fencing contest with Laertes.
• The king offers Hamlet the poisoned drink, but he does not
take it. The Queen drinks it.
• Hamlet is wounded with the poisoned sword, and Hamlet
wounds Laertes with the same sword.
• As Laertes is dying, he tells Hamlet that the king is to blame
for the poisoned sword and the poison in the cup. Hamlet
stabs the king and forces him to drink from the cup.

156. • Fortinbras, the king of Norway, arrives with his
army to conquer Denmark.
• Hamlet urges Horatio to tell his story. He says
that he wishes Fortinbras to be made King of
Denmark; then he dies.
• Fortinbras orders for Hamlet to be carried
away like a brave soldier.