... shadow the corruption pervading the recent and future events of the castle. The poison with which Claudius kills King Hamlet spreads in a sense throughout the country, until "something is rotten in Denmark", as Marcellus notes (I.4.90). Shakespeare shades in words of sickness continually during the play, perhaps serving best to illustrate the ill condition of affairs plaguing not only Denmark, but the ... high atop the looming walls of Elsinore, keeping watch for the impending revenge of enemy Fortinbras (I.1). Midnight strikes and Barnardo notes, subtly referring to the sentiment of De...

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• Grade Level: High School

... committing suicide because he is troubled by the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune (III, i, 58). His disinterest for life, and his wishes for death are a definite indications of Hamlet's sickness. Hamlet's sickness is also shown through his strong relationship, bordering on obsession, with his mother. Throughout the play he constantly worries about her, and becomes angry when thinking of her relationship ... , romantic strength, and welfare. (Jump, 125). However, there are a great deal of textual evidence which indicates that this is an incorrect conclusion. When Bernardo and Franc...

• Word Count: 2834
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• Grade Level: High School

... delivering the line, "Stewed in corruption, honeying and making love," with contempt. This not only shocks the audience by the manner in which Hamlet uncharacteristically loses control but also displays his disgust at the incestuous relationship of Gertrude and Claudius as well as his own "lust" for his mother ... her does not necessarily reflect his strength as a character because she is a woman in an era when female opinions counted for little. When Hamlet shows his lust for his mother it is arguably a sign of weakness, for it is doubtful that he would ever want to reveal or ... the...

• Word Count: 1824
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... been seduced by the serpent (cf. 1 Corinthians11:1-3). Thus King Hamlet, "by a brother's hand, of life, of crown, of queen at once dispatch'd" (1.5.74-75). In short, the initial world of the play is a fallen world. Hamlet notes the cosmic dimensions of his predicament with his famous line, "Thetime ... is out of joint" (1.5.189). The question that presses the action forward is whether or not Hamlet should, as he puts it, "set it right" (1.5.190 ... ghost's speeches indicates that he is not what he claims to be. Rather, he has come as a tempter to pour 'poison' into Hamlet's ear. Hamlet ...

• Word Count: 1931
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• Grade Level: High School

... an immediate consequence. Claudius sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, his favorite spies who are next up to the throne, with letters for Hamlet's death with Hamlet to England. They detail instructions to the English King to kill Hamlet. Hamlet changes these notes to ask the English King to kill Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Their deaths were also not necessary, but they served the purpose of ... keeping Hamlet alive to continue his revenge for Lord Hamlet. Also, they lead to Claudius discovering that Hamlet knows that Claudius tried to have Hamlet killed. Ophelia, Polonius's daughter, ...

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... he is cold and tired from the many hours of guarding the castle. Soon after, another watchman named Marcellus joins Bernardo and also Heratio, who is a friend of the prince Hamlet. Bernardo and Marcellus want Heratio to stay on guard with them because they feel that they have something shocking to show him, the ghost of the recently passed away King ... be his father's spirit. The ghost wants Hamlet to avenge his death. The ghost states that he was killed by ear poison when Claudius dumped some in his ear while he was sleeping. ACT 2 SCENE 1 Characters: Polonius, Ophelia, Reynaldo Setti...

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• Grade Level: High School

... he feels morally right in following through on his vengeful task. Looking towards Horatio as a model of the Christian stoicism he needs to pull himself through the play, Hamlet comments on him: '. . .thou hast been / As one, in suffering all, that suffers nothing, / A man that fortune's buffets and rewards / Hast ... become impervious to the blows of fortune, his mission will be accomplished. The impending dark period Hamlet must endure is represented by the sympathetic fallacy of the state of nature in Denmark. Francisco notes, ''tis bitter cold, And I am sick at heart' (I.i. 8-9). Thi...

• Word Count: 1879
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• Grade Level: High School

... Horatio what really happened on the way to England. (He stole the letters that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were taking to the King of England, which instructed the king to kill Hamlet. Hamlet, our hero, immediately wrote out several new letters and sealed them using his signet. The new letters ordered that the two men accompanying him should be put to death). This ... Laertes. Both have been poisoned. As Laertes is dying he tells Hamlet about the poison and blames Claudius. Hamlet is now aware of everything. Hamlet kills the Claudius, finally avenging his father's death! Next Hamlet re...

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... Claudius in his lines to Gertrude, "See what a grace was seated on his brow,/ Hyperion's curls, the front of Jove himself" ( 3,4. 65-66). Here Hamlet compares his father to a god and is trying to prove to Gertrude what she did was wrong. He doesn't know how she could forsake her loving husband when ... speech is about Laertes keeping honor for himself and staying completely loyal to his father and not making the family look bad. "Give him this money and these notes, Reynoldo" (2,1. 1-2). Polonius may not trust his son but he is also somewhat worried about him so he is sending a spy to go ...

• Word Count: 1201
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• Grade Level: High School

Hamlet - Act IV 1. Based on the short initial scene of Act IV, is it unclear if Gertrude truly believes Hamlet is mad or not. What it is clear is that the Queen seems to be more allied to her King than her own son. After her encounter with Hamlet which ends with Polonius' death, Gertrude does not hesitate to tell King Claudius what her son has done, yet she does keep her word by not telling him that Hamlet has just merely been faking madness. With her actions, the Queen has sealed Hamlets faith with the King who decides to send his to England. It should be mentioned that Gertrude still has no ...

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Chapter Summaries with Notes Act One Scene 1: The Coin Spin Summary Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two well-dressed Elizabethan men in the middle of a coin-spinning game. ... smoothly getting them to reveal everything about their purpose at the castle. Rosencrantz derisively points out how useless their practice with the game of Questions had been. They discuss Hamlet's famous statement, "I am but mad north-northwest. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw." They begin to reason that the weather must ... murdering a "Polonius" figure. Throughout the pantomime, he describe...

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• Grade Level: High School

... been successful, he would have stayed safe at home, away from the dangers of war. The idea of feigning madness is also apparent throughout Shakespeare's Hamlet. The tragic character puts on an act after he is told of his father's murder, perhaps to have something on which he can place the ... capture the attention of certain characters so that he may find out exactly what has gone "rotten in Denmark." Though it sounds like a crazy idea, Hamlet is feigning madness in Shakespear's tragic play. It is certainly understandable for someone who has just lost their father, and gained a stepfath...

• Word Count: 736
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School