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From a general summary to chapter summaries to explanations of famous quotes, the SparkNotes Hamlet Study Guide has everything you need to ace quizzes, tests, and essays.
- Gertrude
Hamlet’s most famous comment about Gertrude is his furious...
- Suggestions for Further Reading
Eliot, T. S. “ Hamlet and His Problems.” In The Sacred Wood....
- Shakespeare and Hamlet Background
For instance, whether Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, shares in...
- Act III
A summary of Act III: Scene i in William Shakespeare's...
- Act 1, Scene 2
Take a quiz about the important details and events in of...
- Full Play Analysis
In telling the story of a fatally indecisive character’s...
- Tone
However, once Hamlet erroneously kills Polonius instead of...
- Claudius
Unlike Hamlet, who keeps his rage largely to himself and...
- Gertrude
A ghost resembling the recently-deceased King of Denmark stalks the ramparts of Elsinore, Denmark’s royal castle, over the course of several nights, setting all the castle’s guardsmen on edge. The terrified sentinels Marcellus, Francisco, and Barnardo convince a skeptical nobleman, Horatio, to watch along with them one night.
In telling the story of a fatally indecisive character’s inability to choose the proper course to avenge his father’s death, Hamlet explores questions of fate versus free will, whether it is better to act decisively or let nature take its course, and ultimately if anything we do in our time on earth makes any difference.
The play begins on the battlements at Elsinore Castle in Denmark one night. The ghost of the former king, Hamlet, is seen, but refuses to speak to any of the soldiers on guard duty.
On a dark winter night, a ghost walks the ramparts of Elsinore Castle in Denmark. Discovered first by a pair of watchmen, then by the scholar Horatio, the ghost resembles the recently deceased King Hamlet, whose brother Claudius has inherited the throne and married the king’s widow, Queen Gertrude.
God asks man one thing and he demands another. Read our complete notes on "Hamlet", a famous play by William Shakespeare, covering Hamlet summary, themes, and detailed analysis.
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