Hamlet

Hamlet’s most celebrated soliloquy is particularly full of metaphors and arresting visual images. We have the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,” taking arms against a sea of troubles (a...

In act 2, scene 2 of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet decides that the best way to test the truth of the ghost of his father's accusation against Hamlet's uncle Claudius—that Claudius murdered...

In act 2, scene 2 of Shakespeare's Hamlet, it's not until very near the end of this very long scene that Hamlet's intentions regarding the troupe of travelling players (actors) becomes clear. It's...

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two of Hamlet's friends who agree to work for King Claudius but become the unfortunate victims of his wicked plot to kill the prince. When Rosencrantz and...

One should understand that Ophelia, at this point, is experiencing a mental breakdown. She has been confused by Hamlet's ambiguous words and actions and has been admonished by both her father and...

In act 5, scene 1 of Shakespeare's Hamlet, often referred to as the "gravedigger scene" or the "Alas, poor Yorick" scene, not only does Shakespeare provide the audience with a scene of comic...

Hamlet is in a rough spot all the way around. His father is dead. His uncle Claudius has assumed the kingship of Denmark and married Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, only a short time into her widowhood....

Towards the end of act two, scene two, Hamlet reveals that he is highly critical of his inability to act upon his emotions and the Ghost's instructions to murder King Claudius. Hamlet begins his...

The literal meaning of this quotation from Hamlet is that people are often hypocrites. We use an appearance of religious devotion and piety to cover the evil in ourselves. This sounds like one of...

When Hamlet's father, King Hamlet, dies suddenly and unexpectedly, Hamlet comes home for the funeral. Close on the heels of the funeral—so close that Hamlet can darkly joke that Claudius uses...

After Hamlet sees the ghost of his father in act 1, scene 5 of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet tells Horatio and Marcellus that he intends "To put an antic disposition on" (1.5.192). The common...

Hamlet has been, up to this point, a relatively sane individual. He seemed to do all the expected things for a young prince. I think that the clues in this passage are about his royalty and...

In act 2, scene 2, of Shakespeare's Hamlet, when Hamlet asks the player to recite a speech about Priam's death from a play about Dido and Aeneas (2.2.440–443), it's clear that Hamlet has been...

As always when examining a quotation, it's important to know the precise context in which it was uttered. In the case of this particular quotation from Act 1, Scene 5 of Hamlet, the title character...

When Hamlet's father, the king of Denmark, dies suddenly, supposedly of a snakebite in his garden, Hamlet is devastated but also suspicious. Two months have passed since the death, and Hamlet still...

Hamlet impulsively stabs Polonius, who is hiding behind an arras in Gertrude's room, because he believes that Polonius is Claudius. Hamlet unintentionally kills Polonius, and the accident is...

Hamlet pretends to be mad to keep others from knowing what he is really planning. He is trying to find a way to kill his Uncle Claudius. As mentioned above, regicide is not to be taken lightly....

Hamlet's tragic flaw, his hamartia in Greek tragedy, is hesitation. When Hamlet hears from the ghost of his father that he was murdered by Claudius, Hamlet immediately vows revenge, as most people...

Hamlet’s speech about Hecuba as represented by the Player is a soliloquy at the end of act II, scene ii. Hamlet first calls himself “a rogue and peasant slave” (line 543). By this, he means that he...

In Act II, scene ii, of Hamlet, Polonius approaches Hamlet to incite a display of Hamlet's madness to be able to give confirmation and explanation of it to Queen Gertrude and King Claudius. When...

The most important quote revealing that Hamlet is only pretending to be insane comes after Hamlet meets with the ghost. Horatio is with him, and knows all about the various sightings of the ghost,...

Giving unsolicited advice seems to be a character trait of the people in Polonius's family. In act 1, scene 3 of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Laertes is preparing to board a ship to France, which is the...

I'll just add a bit to sfwriter's excellent answer above, concerning Shakespeare's Hamlet. When Hamlet decides not to kill Claudius while the king is at prayer because he doesn't want to send the...

Hamlet tells the audience in act 2, scene 2 that he will have the players, who arrive at Elsinore in this scene, "Play something like the murder of my father / Before mine uncle." He intends, in...

The first of Hamlet's three attempts to kill Claudius takes place in act 3, scene 3. Claudius is kneeling down at prayer, seeking forgiveness for the murder of his brother, old King Hamlet. Hamlet...

By the time Hamlet gives his speech in Act 2, Scene 2, it's clear that he's completely disillusioned with the world. And this is clearly a by-product of his depression. As he readily admits to...

Effectively, what Claudius is saying here is that he has not been praying in earnest, and therefore God will not hear his words. Claudius says that his "words fly up," as he offers them to heaven,...

The end of Hamlet is a pretty grim affair, with Hamlet, Laertes, Claudius, and Gertrude all dying. The first to go is Gertrude, who drinks the poisoned cup of wine that the wicked Claudius had...

During the course of the play, Hamlet grows and changes. Early in the play, he is filled with anguish about whether God is real (he questions whether death id oblivion or there is an afterlife). He...

Hamlet is comparing humanity to the things growing in an unweeded garden that grows to seed. Such neglected gardens are commonly seen where houses have been standing vacant for a long time. Hamlet...

Hamlet's "madness" is one of the central concerns of the play. Hamlet says in asides throughout the play that he is not, in fact insane, but sometimes his performance is so convincing that it is...

Hamlet's feelings in his most famous soliloquy are despairing, and his despair is deeper than is often acknowledged, despite the detail in which this speech is generally studied. To appreciate the...

Well, let us look at the actual text. In this way, we can see the ghost's description of his death first proclaimed as "murder most foul." First, the ghost sets the scene and gets right to the...

Hamlet treats Polonius with contempt because Polonius is a sycophant and a meddler. The older man's motivations center around gaining favor in high places. He tries to present the love of Ophelia...

Claudius first decides to send Hamlet to England because he's afraid of what Hamlet knows about his murdered father, and because Claudius thinks that a change of scenery might help cure his...

As an audience, we tend to identify strongly with Hamlet and his anguish over his father's death. We feel even more sympathy for him when we find out that his father was murdered by his own brother...

In act 3, scene 3, Polonius leaves Claudius by himself to pray at his altar, where Claudius admits his motivation for killing his King Hamlet. Interestingly, Claudius mentions that he will not ask...

In act one, Hamlet interacts with his father's ghost, which informs him that Claudius is responsible for his death while he was sleeping in the orchard. The Ghost proceeds to instruct Hamlet to...

The character of Polonius, in Shakespeare's Hamlet, proves himself to be a questionable parent at best when he asks "his man" Reynaldo to search out Laertes in France in order to examine Laertes'...

Hamlet feels betrayed by everyone around him, and this causes great internal conflict. His greatest fear is that the Ghost's words are true and that his uncle has actually murdered his father. If...

Hamlet's first reason for calling Polonius a fishmonger is probably to make the old man think he is insane--i.e. that he really doesn't recognize him but thinks he is a complete stranger. Hamlet...

In the final scene of the play, Hamlet and Laertes fence one another in front of Claudius, Gertrude, and the other royal members of the court. Hamlet scores the first point in the match but refuses...

In act three, scene two, Hamlet has the players reenact his father's assassination during the play The Murder of Gonzago in order to unveil Claudius's innocence or guilt in the death of his father....

It is important to first consider the societal context of Elizabethan England to appreciate how Shakespeare's audiences would have reacted to suicide. In this era, suicide was seen vile; those who...

In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Ophelia is the daughter of the king's counselor, Polonius, and the woman Hamlet loves. Whether or not Hamlet's love for Ophelia is real, it is clear that Ophelia...

The key to understanding the meaning of this line is the word "method." In this case, it should be taken to mean "purpose" or "artfulness." Read this way, what Polonius is saying is more like...