The Story of Hamlet
In the book, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, surprisingly laid out many deaths that had occurred throughout the entire book. Some that came to shock and some several that were meant to be. Hamlet is a young man at the time who is seeking revenge towards his uncle. Hamlet’s uncle, King Claudius, was pronounced the king after Hamlet’s father had passed. There are numerous characters throughout the book who not only make the book further enticing, but as well as possess strong meaning to the book. There are a great deal of foil characters that will be showcased throughout the book in addition to many lessons that can be learned.
In the beginning of the book Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet’s passed father appears as a ghost who shares to Hamlet what exactly happened with his passing and how it had occurred. For instance the ghost of Hamlet’s father had said “Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, With juice of cursed hebona in a vial…” (Act 1, Scene 5, Lines 61-62). The ghost of Hamlet’s father assured Hamlet that his own brother had murdered him with poison. King Claudius not only took Hamlet’s father’s life, but Claudius had also taken the role as King and his own wife. Hamlet thus seeks revenge for the murder of his father.
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| A Depiction of King Hamlet and his son Created by SirSuperCaideth December 15, 2019 |
In Act III of Hamlet, Hamlet himself decides to put on a play reenacting how his father was killed. In the audience will be Claudius and the end goal is to see if Claudius will have any reaction to the play negatively. Hamlet was proven right when King Claudius made him stop the play mid way. Claudius had yelled in the middle of the play “Give me some light: away!” (Act 3, Scene 2, Line273). Claudius yelled for all the lights to be turned on and exited. A short while after the play, King Claudius, without knowing that anyone was around, confesses to killing Hamlet’s father. Hamlet overheard everything that King Claudius had stated and decided to try and kill King Claudius with a sword. Hamlet had then decided not to kill him knowing how Claudius was in the middle of praying and could be sent to Heaven instead of where he should belong, which is Hell.
Towards the end of the play is where numerous murders happen. Hamlet initially stabs Polonius after talking with his mother about how she should stop being with King Claudius due to all of the factors of Claudius being a horrible person. The climax scene of the whole play is when the battle between King Claudius and Hamlet occurs. Hamlet proceeds to state “ Drink off this potion; - is thy union here? Follow my mother [King Claudius dies]” (Act V, Scene 2, Lines 330-331). In this one act, major deaths occurred. Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, is killed by drinking poisonous wine, Hamlet, Laertes, and Claudius went into a sword battle in which they all eventually die. Hamlet stabs King Claudius and forces him to drink the poisoned wine. In the end, Horatio is the one to tell all the truth.
Overall, the book itself was somewhat challenging to comprehend due to the different style of wording used within the book. Reading the book has conveyed many lessons about betrayal. Main characters such as Claudius and Gertrude both showed betrayal to others. Claudius and Gertrude both betrayed Hamlet’s father. Claudius had killed Hamlet’s father and Gertrude would then marry him. Claudius had murdered his own brother in order to receive the title as King of Denmark.
At the end of the book I had asked myself a question. Was it worth it? Was everything that led up to their deaths worth it? To sum up my thoughts on the whole book, not knowing too much about the book Hamlet, I was thoroughly impressed on how much I had enjoyed the book. The book had so many symbolic meaning behind things. Also there were many life lessons that could be expressed throughout the whole book. The ending had me taken back, but I do like how the ending played out overall.
The movie clip is from the end of Hamlet
December 25, 1996 (USA)
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Bartelson, Scott. “A Synopsis of Hamlet.” Hartford Stage, Management Associate, 11 Oct. 2016, www.hartfordstage.org/stagenotes/hamlet/synopsis/.
Branagh, Kenneth, director. Hamlet. Hamlet , 1996, www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdiDy8v2G50.
Sagar, Keith. Hamlet (Shakespeare). Blackwell, 1971.
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