Hamlet
Summary and analysis
T.e erasmus
Resources : andre lemmer “hamlet William shakespeare home language , achieve literature
study guide “ Pearson south africa Ltd 2015 .
Introduction
The story is set in Denmark , based on the story of prince Amleth .
SETTING :taking place within or near the the castle of Elsinore in Denmark .
The opening scene sets the tone for the story , its cold and dark there is mention
of an eerie disturbance in the heavens and a potential war in Norway .
1
, There is a lot of imagery within the text of the story many to do with death .ie
dark, mist , skulls . Either to foreshadow the death to take place in the end or to
touch on the unsteadiness the kingdom faces after the kings death and the
murder
The characters
HAMLET : hamlet is a sensitive and intelligent thinker ,an observer and clever with his
words having a broad vocabulary . He too is unsettled with the position of Denmark .
Notably that he is upset that his mother married his uncle Claudius and sees this as a betrayal
. Throughout the play we see him struggle with the idea of avenging his father from being
hesitant to motivated . He loses control with his emotions due to the pressure of this great
task . He rejects the woman he loves Ophelia ( after she is forced to break up with him ) . He
impulsively kills Polonius . He wrecks his own mission to vengeance due to his indecisiveness
and his out of control emotions form cool and calm , to sadness to rage , to contemplating
suicide in his to be or not to be speech .
Hamlet comes up with many plans to con rm his actions . Firstly to see if the ghost is not a
daemon . He then pretends to be mad(which in turn results him in Claudius planning ti be rid
of him ,sending him to England ) to deter Claudius from thinking he knows the truth , creates
a plan for a play to see if Claudius is really guilty . He then further procrastinates by not
killing Claudius while he prays as to not send him to heaven .
Hamlet also in a way loses his sanity along the way in a scene where he apologises to Laertes
for his madness that was “poor hamlets enemy “ ( although this theory is for dispute). After his
voyage in England after escaping his captors he arrives changed trusting in fate , and trusting
his duty to avenge his father .
OPHELIA : seemingly sweet woman who is loyal . She is warned by both her brother
Laertes and her father Claudius that hamlet may not have the purest intentions for her
heart . As he is the future king and could only marry a royal , of which ophelia is not . She
then insists that his intentions are pure and that her brother should be concerned with his
own affairs . Although there is little she could do when her father forbids her from continuing
the relationship with hamlet .
She is then later in the play used as bait to prove hamlets madness . Hamlet aware of spies
begins to verbally attack her . She responds graciously but lies to hamlet of her fathers
whereabouts . Hamlet continues his harshness toward ophelia of which she responds again
graciously in the play within the play scene ( Murder of Gonzago ) . But when her father is
murdered by the man she loves she cannot contain her composure and goes into madness .
She sings hymns and love songs about her grief /betrayal and do display her want for love .
Further along the line she hands out owers to the other characters each with their own
2
Summary and analysis
T.e erasmus
Resources : andre lemmer “hamlet William shakespeare home language , achieve literature
study guide “ Pearson south africa Ltd 2015 .
Introduction
The story is set in Denmark , based on the story of prince Amleth .
SETTING :taking place within or near the the castle of Elsinore in Denmark .
The opening scene sets the tone for the story , its cold and dark there is mention
of an eerie disturbance in the heavens and a potential war in Norway .
1
, There is a lot of imagery within the text of the story many to do with death .ie
dark, mist , skulls . Either to foreshadow the death to take place in the end or to
touch on the unsteadiness the kingdom faces after the kings death and the
murder
The characters
HAMLET : hamlet is a sensitive and intelligent thinker ,an observer and clever with his
words having a broad vocabulary . He too is unsettled with the position of Denmark .
Notably that he is upset that his mother married his uncle Claudius and sees this as a betrayal
. Throughout the play we see him struggle with the idea of avenging his father from being
hesitant to motivated . He loses control with his emotions due to the pressure of this great
task . He rejects the woman he loves Ophelia ( after she is forced to break up with him ) . He
impulsively kills Polonius . He wrecks his own mission to vengeance due to his indecisiveness
and his out of control emotions form cool and calm , to sadness to rage , to contemplating
suicide in his to be or not to be speech .
Hamlet comes up with many plans to con rm his actions . Firstly to see if the ghost is not a
daemon . He then pretends to be mad(which in turn results him in Claudius planning ti be rid
of him ,sending him to England ) to deter Claudius from thinking he knows the truth , creates
a plan for a play to see if Claudius is really guilty . He then further procrastinates by not
killing Claudius while he prays as to not send him to heaven .
Hamlet also in a way loses his sanity along the way in a scene where he apologises to Laertes
for his madness that was “poor hamlets enemy “ ( although this theory is for dispute). After his
voyage in England after escaping his captors he arrives changed trusting in fate , and trusting
his duty to avenge his father .
OPHELIA : seemingly sweet woman who is loyal . She is warned by both her brother
Laertes and her father Claudius that hamlet may not have the purest intentions for her
heart . As he is the future king and could only marry a royal , of which ophelia is not . She
then insists that his intentions are pure and that her brother should be concerned with his
own affairs . Although there is little she could do when her father forbids her from continuing
the relationship with hamlet .
She is then later in the play used as bait to prove hamlets madness . Hamlet aware of spies
begins to verbally attack her . She responds graciously but lies to hamlet of her fathers
whereabouts . Hamlet continues his harshness toward ophelia of which she responds again
graciously in the play within the play scene ( Murder of Gonzago ) . But when her father is
murdered by the man she loves she cannot contain her composure and goes into madness .
She sings hymns and love songs about her grief /betrayal and do display her want for love .
Further along the line she hands out owers to the other characters each with their own
2
