Submitted By:-

KIRAN MISHRA

DESCRIPTION
 SUBTITLE:- THE

TRAGEDIE OF HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK SHAKESPEARE

 WRITTEN BY:- WILLIAM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564; died 23 April 1616) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamlet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, where he died three years later.

Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the 16th century. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. In 1623, two of his former theatrical colleagues published the First Folio, a collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognised as Shakespeare's. Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the 19th century. The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare's genius, and the Victorians worshipped Shakespeare with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called "bardolatry". In the 20th century, his work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular today and are constantly studied, performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world

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Comedies:
The Taming of the Shrew The Tempest The Merchant of Venice The Comedy of Errors The Two Gentlemen of Verona A Midsummer Night's Dream

Tragedies:
King Lear Othello Romeo and Juliet Julius Caesar Macbeth Hamlet

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Poems:
Shakespeare's sonnets Venus and Adonis The Passionate Pilgrim The Phoenix and the Turtle A Lover's Complaint

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Apocrypha:
The Birth of Merlin Edward III The London Prodigal The Puritan The Second Maiden's Tragedy Sir John Oldcastle Thomas Lord Cromwell A Yorkshire Tragedy Sir Thomas More

CHARACTER SKETCH
Hamlet: Son of the late King Hamlet of Denmark and nephew to the present King. Famous for the graveyard scene where holding the skull of deceased jester Yorick, Hamlet realizes man has little lasting control over his fate and also for describing man as the "paragon of animals!" Educated in Wittenburg and introduced to us in Act I, Scene II, Hamlet resents his mother Queen Gertrude marrying King Claudius within two months of his father King Hamlet's death to which she was previously married. Distrustful of King Claudius, Hamlet is equally weary of the King's spies, Guildenstern and Rosencrantz who attempt to know his true intentions. When Hamlet meets King Hamlet's Ghost and learns that King Claudius murdered his father, Hamlet changes from a distrustful, disillusioned young man to one driven to avenge his father's death. To this end, Hamlet distrusts and rejects all those around him whom he believes are spying on him for King Claudius. Cunning and inventive, Hamlet changes the lines of a play performed before King Claudius to divine whether King Hamlet's Ghost told him the truth about his father's death. At the end of the play, Hamlet kills both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (indirectly), Laertes and finally King Claudius before dying himself from a wound inflicted by Laertes.

Horatio: Friend to Hamlet and the one person Hamlet truly trusts. Claudius: The present King of Denmark, King Claudius took Queen Gertrude whom he loves as his queen and wife, much to the consternation of Hamlet who believes his mother has betrayed him and his father's memory by doing so.
Gertrude: Queen of Denmark and mother to Hamlet, Queen Gertrude is resented deeply by Hamlet for marrying King Claudius within two months of his father, King Hamlet's death. Polonius: Lord Chamberlain. The father of Laertes and Ophelia, Lord Chamberlain Polonius dutifully serves King Claudius. Reynaldo: Servant to Polonius, Reynaldo is instructed to spy on his Laertes in Paris in Act II, Scene I. Laertes: Polonius' son, Laertes is held in high esteem for his fencing skills.

Ophelia: The daughter to Polonius, Ophelia is loved by Hamlet. Unfortunately as Queen Gertrude laments at Ophelia's funeral, Ophelia never marries Hamlet. Fortinbras: Prince of Norway. The son of King Fortinbras, who was defeated by King Hamlet. Voltimand, Cornelius, Osric and a Gentleman: Courtiers. Marcellus and Bernardo: Officers who initially spot King Hamlet's Ghost in Act I, Scene I. Francisco: A soldier. Rosencrantz, Guildenstern: Courtiers to King Claudius, both these men grew up with Hamlet. As a result King Claudius recruits them to spy on Hamlet for him.

SUMMARY
Hamlet was the Prince of Denmark who was devastated by his father's death. Meanwhile, he has a relationship with a girl named Ophelia, but they can never marry because she is not of royal blood. Hamlet sees the ghost of his father, who tells him that his uncle, Claudius poisoned him and that is how he died. Hamlet is enraged and seeks revenge on Claudius, who married Hamlets mother in order to get at the crown, which rightfully belonged to Hamlet. One night, Hamlet is talking with his mother when he realizes someone is spying on them and stabs the person through a hanging tapestry. He is unsettled when he finds it to be Ophelia's father, who worked for the king. Ophelia goes mad when she finds that her true love killed her father. She drowns in a river. Hamlet, meanwhile plots revenge against Claudius. One day, he engages in a dual with Ophelia's brother Laertes.

However, Hamlet does not know that Laertes and the king have secretly plotted revenge against Hamlet for killing Laertes' and Ophelia's father. The king poisoned a glass of wine and Laertes poisoned his sword, one of which would surely kill the Prince. However, things go amiss when the Queen drinks the poisoned wine and falls dead. Laertes slices Hamlet's arm with his poisoned sword, leaving Hamlet with just enough time left of his life to fulfill his goal. He slays king Claudius, and also Laertes when he discovers the sword had poisoned him. They all die in the end.

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There are two reasons why enjoy the play: The first is because of how fully developed Shakespeare makes his characters. They fit so perfectly with the themes of the play. A whole essay could be written about one single character: Hamlets doubt and hatred, Horatios loyalty, Gertrudes presumed innocence, the Kings fight against good, Ophelias love. What makes it more interesting is that Shakespeare leaves gaps in the play, so that we are able to analyze and explore different possibilities of why some things are the way they are. He raises many questions that are left to be answered by us. There are no definite answers. The second is how corruption is a very important theme. There are many signs and facts that show that Denmark and its people are corrupt. Then, when studying Hamlet and his response to his uncles killing of his father, we slowly see him falling into this corruption as well.