Act Scene Summaries and Key Quotes Key moments Feigned madness vs real madness?
ACT 1
1.1
▪ Bernardo and Francisco on night watch + Marcellus and Horatio appear
▪ Marcellus and Bernardo have been seeing a ghost – Horatio = skeptical
▪ Ghost appears
▪ Disappears + Horatio tells the story of the battle
▪ Ghost reappears – Horatio says they should tell Hamlet
1.2
▪ Claudius holds court with Gertrude – thanks everyone, mentions OKH’s death + new
marriage
▪ Justifies marriage due to Young Fortinbras – he may attack Denmark if it is weak – says he
wrote to his uncle to deter him
▪ Laertes asks to return to school in France – Claudius agrees
▪ Hamlet, depressed, asked by Gertrude and Claudius to stay instead of going back to school
▪ Hamlet’s 1st soliloquy (O that this too too solid flesh would melt)
▪ Interrupted by Horatio, Marcellus and Bernardo who tell him of the ghost
1.3
▪ Before Laertes departs for France, Laertes and Ophelia talk
▪ Turns to Ophelia and Hamlet’s relationship – Laertes disapproves
▪ Polonius says the same
▪ Ophelia says Hamlet’s love is sincere, but Polonius forbids her to see him
1.4
▪ Hamlet and Horatio go on watch with Marcellus
▪ Hamlet criticises Claudius’ behaviour
▪ Ghost appears – beckons Hamlet to follow, Horatio advises against it
▪ Hamlet follows (his friends follow)
1.5
▪ Hamlet follows the ghost who tells him to avenge his murder
▪ Explains the people of Denmark thing he died from a snake bite in his orchard but in reality,
Claudius poured poison into his ear
▪ Tells Hamlet not to harm his mother
▪ Hamlet's 2nd soliloquy (O villain, villain, smiling, damned, villain)
▪ Horatio and Marcellus find him and ask what the ghost said
▪ Hamlet says he will pretend to be mad
, ▪ Hamlet swears them to secrecy – ghost cries out ‘swear’ - they promise
ACT 2
2.1
▪ Polonius sends his servant Reynaldo to France to spy on Laertes
▪ Ophelia enters distraught – Hamlet is acting mad
▪ Polonius thinks he is mad with lust
▪ Ophelia has not contacted him as Polonius said not to
2.2
▪ Claudius and Gertrude hire Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet (find out why
he has been acting strangely)
▪ Fortinbras has agreed to leave Denmark alone but wants passage through to Poland
▪ Polonius tells Claudius and Gertrude that he thinks Hamlet’s love for Ophelia is driving
him mad
▪ Polonius reads them a love letter from Hamlet proclaiming his love
▪ Polonius, Claudius and Gertrude conspire a plan where Hamlet and Ophelia will meet to
see what is driving him mad
▪ Rosencrantz and Guildenstern appear – Hamlet asks why they are here – tell him of the
players
▪ Hamlet arranges for them to perform The Murder of Gonzago and to add some lines
▪ Hamlet's 3rd soliloquy (O what a rogue and peasant slave am I)
▪ Hamlet believes if Claudius reacts guiltily to the play, the ghost is honest
ACT 3
3.1
▪ Claudius and Gertrude interrogate Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about their talk with
Hamlet
▪ Claudius sends Gertrude off so that he, Polonius and Ophelia can plan the “chance”
meeting
▪ Ophelia is told to stroll the hall reading a book while they hide
▪ Hamlet contemplates suicide
▪ Hamlet’s 4th soliloquy (To be or not to be)
▪ Interrupted by Ophelia – denies the gifts she attempts to return and that he ever loved her
▪ ‘Get thee to a nunnery’ scene – his outburst is logical – reveals his disgust towards
women/sexuality/corruption/mixed with self-hatred that has just been established
▪ Polonius insists it is Hamlet’s love for Ophelia that is making him mad
ACT 1
1.1
▪ Bernardo and Francisco on night watch + Marcellus and Horatio appear
▪ Marcellus and Bernardo have been seeing a ghost – Horatio = skeptical
▪ Ghost appears
▪ Disappears + Horatio tells the story of the battle
▪ Ghost reappears – Horatio says they should tell Hamlet
1.2
▪ Claudius holds court with Gertrude – thanks everyone, mentions OKH’s death + new
marriage
▪ Justifies marriage due to Young Fortinbras – he may attack Denmark if it is weak – says he
wrote to his uncle to deter him
▪ Laertes asks to return to school in France – Claudius agrees
▪ Hamlet, depressed, asked by Gertrude and Claudius to stay instead of going back to school
▪ Hamlet’s 1st soliloquy (O that this too too solid flesh would melt)
▪ Interrupted by Horatio, Marcellus and Bernardo who tell him of the ghost
1.3
▪ Before Laertes departs for France, Laertes and Ophelia talk
▪ Turns to Ophelia and Hamlet’s relationship – Laertes disapproves
▪ Polonius says the same
▪ Ophelia says Hamlet’s love is sincere, but Polonius forbids her to see him
1.4
▪ Hamlet and Horatio go on watch with Marcellus
▪ Hamlet criticises Claudius’ behaviour
▪ Ghost appears – beckons Hamlet to follow, Horatio advises against it
▪ Hamlet follows (his friends follow)
1.5
▪ Hamlet follows the ghost who tells him to avenge his murder
▪ Explains the people of Denmark thing he died from a snake bite in his orchard but in reality,
Claudius poured poison into his ear
▪ Tells Hamlet not to harm his mother
▪ Hamlet's 2nd soliloquy (O villain, villain, smiling, damned, villain)
▪ Horatio and Marcellus find him and ask what the ghost said
▪ Hamlet says he will pretend to be mad
, ▪ Hamlet swears them to secrecy – ghost cries out ‘swear’ - they promise
ACT 2
2.1
▪ Polonius sends his servant Reynaldo to France to spy on Laertes
▪ Ophelia enters distraught – Hamlet is acting mad
▪ Polonius thinks he is mad with lust
▪ Ophelia has not contacted him as Polonius said not to
2.2
▪ Claudius and Gertrude hire Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet (find out why
he has been acting strangely)
▪ Fortinbras has agreed to leave Denmark alone but wants passage through to Poland
▪ Polonius tells Claudius and Gertrude that he thinks Hamlet’s love for Ophelia is driving
him mad
▪ Polonius reads them a love letter from Hamlet proclaiming his love
▪ Polonius, Claudius and Gertrude conspire a plan where Hamlet and Ophelia will meet to
see what is driving him mad
▪ Rosencrantz and Guildenstern appear – Hamlet asks why they are here – tell him of the
players
▪ Hamlet arranges for them to perform The Murder of Gonzago and to add some lines
▪ Hamlet's 3rd soliloquy (O what a rogue and peasant slave am I)
▪ Hamlet believes if Claudius reacts guiltily to the play, the ghost is honest
ACT 3
3.1
▪ Claudius and Gertrude interrogate Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about their talk with
Hamlet
▪ Claudius sends Gertrude off so that he, Polonius and Ophelia can plan the “chance”
meeting
▪ Ophelia is told to stroll the hall reading a book while they hide
▪ Hamlet contemplates suicide
▪ Hamlet’s 4th soliloquy (To be or not to be)
▪ Interrupted by Ophelia – denies the gifts she attempts to return and that he ever loved her
▪ ‘Get thee to a nunnery’ scene – his outburst is logical – reveals his disgust towards
women/sexuality/corruption/mixed with self-hatred that has just been established
▪ Polonius insists it is Hamlet’s love for Ophelia that is making him mad
