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Summary English Literature - Drama and Poetry Pre-1900 (Hamlet Part I)
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For an A/A*, as it includes language analysis for each scene in Hamlet along with summaries of what happens.
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Hamlet quotes by theme
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Zusammenfassung Hamlet
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Model Hamlet Part A and B essay
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1HAMLET
A05: DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS
THEMES:
- Action and inaction
- Appearance vs reality
- Religion and honour
- Loyalty and revenge
- Poison, corruption and death
- Attitudes towards women
- Tragedy and mental illness
A03: CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION:
- Renaissance: Shakespeare wrote the play during the time of a cultural revival whereby
people began challenging traditional ideas and believing that everyone was responsible
for their own salvation hence Hamlet’s inner conflict and the play continuously making a
fool of authority figures while commoners appeared intelligent.
- Religion: The play is set in the Protestant nation of Denmark where they believed God
controlled everything otherwise known as predestination.
- The Great Chain of Being: The belief that the King was the only one beneath God and
chosen by God himself and so if this chain was broken by regicide then tragedy would
come causing unrest across the nation hence what occurs in Hamlet.
- Gender roles: Women were to be dependent on their father and husband and the men
would often look down on women as it was a patriarchal society.
- Oedipus Complex: Refers to a son being possessive of his mother due to having a strong
attachment towards her which can link to Hamlet’s relationship with Gertrude.
- Purgatory: The state between heaven and hell where a person’s soul must receive
punishment for their sin before admittance into heaven. This occurred to King Hamlet as
he was not prepared for death to being murdered in his sleep, so he could not ask for
forgiveness to God beforehand preventing this state of purgatory.
- Hamlet’s act of madness reflects historical figure, Brutus, who feigned madness to buy
time when he was trying to avenge his cousin Lucretia who was raped and murdered.
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, 2
Table of Contents:
Part 1 Breakdown of the Play
Act 1 ………………………………… 1
Act 2 ………………………………… 6
Act 3 ………………………………… 11
Act 4 ………………………………… 18
Act 5 ………………………………… 22
Part 2 Character Profiles
Hamlet ……………………………… 27
Claudius ……………………………. 29
Gertrude …………………………… 31
Polonius ……………………………. 32
Ophelia …………………………….. 34
Laertes ……………………………... 36
Horatio …………………………….. 38
The Ghost ………………………….. 39
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern …… 40
Fortinbras ………………………….. 40
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ACT ONE
SCENE ONE: Guardsmen tell Horatio that they have spotted the Ghost twice whilst Horatio
doesn’t believe them. The Ghost of Hamlet’s father arrives later. As Horatio attempts to talk to
the Ghost, they decide it is best to tell Hamlet.
Setting: Dark, cold night mirrors the darkness of the play and the tragedy to come providing an
uneasy and tense atmosphere,
“Who’s there?”
“Not a mouse stirring.”
Introduction to the Ghost foreshadows the tragedy to come.
Perception of the Ghost differs from the beginning, foreshadowing the complications that will
occur as there is a lack of knowledge on what the intentions of the Ghost are.
Marcellus: “We do it wrong, being so majestical.”
Horatio: “It started like a guilty thing.”
The Ghost is “In the same figure like the king that’s dead.”
Marcellus describes it as a “dreaded sight.”
“And even the like precursor of feared events.”
“Then no planets strike.” - Folklore in those days stated that it was common for people to suffer
when the planets were misaligned.
“The moist star upon whose influence Neptune’s empire stands was sick almost to doomsday
with eclipse.” The moist star refers to the sun and how it controls the sea until the last day.
The Ghost is compared to the assasination of Julius Caesar where corpses ‘rose out of their
graves and ran through the streets, ’ heavily implying the Great Chain of Being.
Introduction of Fortinbras:
“Young Fortinbras of unimproved mettle hot and full.”
The mettle speaks of his bravery as he attempts to avenge his father.
“This bodes some eruption to our state.”
“In which the majesty of buried Denmark.” Implies that Denmark died along with the King.
Horatio is shown as the educational character so the audience will trust his perspective more.
SCENE TWO: The new king Claudius discusses the grievance of his brother’s death, his joy
of marrying Gertrude and the political tension with young Fortinbras threatening Denmark. He
does not allow Hamlet to return to university and criticises him for his grief. Hamlet is told about
the Ghost by Horatio, he resolves to join the others on watch that night.
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