Nov 6, 2023

​Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ explained in 10 sentences

Aakanksha Sharma

A gist of Hamlet

‘Hamlet’ is a renowned tragedy by William Shakespeare, written around 1600. The play revolves around the Prince of Denmark, Hamlet, who is deeply affected by his father's sudden death and his mother's hasty marriage to his uncle, Claudius.

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1.

The play starts with the death of the King of Denmark and his wife marrying his brother Claudius. Hamlet, the dead king’s son, is extremely heartbroken over his father’s death and his mother’s quick decision to remarry.

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2.

Hamlet, in sorrow, begins to see his dead father’s ghost, who tells him that it was Claudius (the present king) who killed him and that Hamlet has to seek revenge.

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3.

Hamlet starts acting odd and King Claudius asks his two friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to check upon him and find out the reason for his behaviour.

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4.

Hamlet arranges a play enacting how Claudius killed his father to catch him off-guard and constantly checks on him for his reactions.

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5.

Engulfed in part sorrow, part revenge, Hamlet tells his love interest that he never loved her and then confronts his mother about her quick marriage to another man when her husband died recently.

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6.

While the play commissioned by Hamlet is going on, Claudius storms out and this furthers Hamlet’s belief that he is the killer of Hamlet’s father.

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7.

When Hamlet and Gertrude were arguing, Hamlet accidentally killed Ophelia’s father but did not tell anyone where his body was.

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8.

Angry, Claudius sends Hamlet to England but he de-tours thinking of it as a trap, and sends his two friends instead.

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9.

When Ophelia’s brother, Laertes comes home, he sees his sister torn in grief and eventually kills herself which makes Laertes angry, and plans to kill Hamlet to avenge his sister.

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10.

In the end, Laertes and Claudius plot together to kill Hamlet. Gertrude (the mother) unlives herself with poison, Laertes and Claudius are fatally wounded in a duel and before dying, Hamlet is successful in killing Claudius as well.

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