Hamlet by William Shakespeare

 Hamlet

by William Shakespeare

 In Elsinore Castle in Denmark two sentinals and Horatio see the ghost of the dead King Hamlet and rush to tell his son, Hamlet, and to bring him to see it for himself. The ghost tells him to avenge his murder, that young Hamlet's uncle, the new King Claudius who married his mother Gertrude, was the one who killed him.

Hamlet delays his revenge as he sinks into sadness and apparent madness. The King and Gertrude try to figure out what is wrong with him, employing two school friends to discover the cause. lord Polonius suggests that Hamlet is mad with love for Ophelia, his daughter, and schemes to discover if this is the case. Hamlet pretends he doesn't love her and looks like he's crazy.

When some actors show up at Elsinore Hamlet uses them to get a reaction out of Claudius by having them perform a play that closely resembles the murder he perpetrated against King Hamlet. Claudius does react and Horation and Hamlet decide he is guilty of the murder. Claudius and Gertrude send Hamlet to England, fearing his madness. When Hamlet visits his mother before leaving for England he kills Polonius, who was hiding in the room. Hamlet doesn't know that his school friends (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) have orders from Claudius to have Hamlet put to death.

Ophelia goes nuts when her father is killed and her brother, Laertes, is sent for in France. Hamlet returns to Elsinore, saying his ship was besieged by pirates. Claudius makes Hamlet a scapegoat and gets Laertes to challenge Hamlet to duel with poison-tipped weapons, while Claudius will poison a cup as a back-up plan. Hamlet admits to having loved Ophelia. Hamlet and Laertes fight, Gertrude (unaware of the poisoned cup) drinks and dies, Hamlet kills Laertes with the poison tip, but he also has been struck by it. Before Hamlet dies he kills Claudius. Then he succumbs to the poison. Fortinbras takes over power.

No rating, of course. Shakespeare is unrateable.