Hamlet

Hamlet is one of the most famous tragedies written by Shakespeare.

The main character of this play is Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, whose father, the king of Denmark, was murdered while he was sleeping. One day Hamlet sees his father’s ghost who asks him to revenge his death because his own brother (Claudius) is responsible for his death and he has married Gertrude his own wife. Hamlet is in love with Ophelia, Polonius’s daughter and Laertes’s sister. Polonius is the Lord Chamberlain. Hamlet’s best friend is Horatio who helps him all along the play. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern used to be Hamlet’s friends but they now work for Claudius. Hamlet decides to kill Claudius. One day, while talking to his mother, Hamlet kills Polonius thinking it was Claudius. Then Claudius sends him to England accompanied by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern who have a letter for the king of England asking him to kill Hamlet. But Hamlet discovers the letter and manages to have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern killed in his place. So Hamlet comes back to Denmark and he is told Ophelia has become mad and got drowned. As Laertes thinks Hamlet is responsible for his sister’s death he wants to have a duel with swords with Hamlet. While they are fighting Gertrude dies because she has drunk a glass of vine prepared by Claudius for Hamlet and which was in fact poisoned. In the end Laertes and Hamlet die after Hamlet has killed Claudius.

The first scene of the third act is the most famous part where Hamlet’s famous soliloquy can be found and particularly with the famous sentence “To be, or not to be, that is the question”. In this soliloquy Hamlet associates death to sleep where dreams allow the symbolic realization of what you can’t do in real life. In this scene Hamlet tells Ophelia he doesn’t really love her in spite of his love letters and his promises. He even accuses her of being sent by Claudius to spy him. In this act we can see the difference between Shakespeare’s English