Do you recognize this scene?
How about Hamlet?????
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. When Horatio and the watchmen bring Prince Hamlet, the
son of Gertrude and the dead king, to see the ghost, it speaks to him,
declaring ominously that it is indeed his father’s spirit, and that he was
murdered by none other than Claudius. Ordering Hamlet to seek revenge on the
man who usurped his throne and married his wife, the ghost disappears with the
dawn.
My
favorite part of this play are the characters, why not letting me tell you
about them?
Hamlet - The Prince of Denmark, the title
character, and the protagonist. About thirty years old at the start of the
play, Hamlet is the son of Queen Gertrude and the late King Hamlet, and the
nephew of the present king, Claudius. Hamlet is melancholy, bitter, and
cynical, full of hatred for his uncle’s scheming and disgust for his mother’s
sexuality. A reflective and thoughtful young man who has studied at the
University of Wittenberg, Hamlet is often indecisive and hesitant, but at other
times prone to rash and impulsive acts.
Claudius - The King of Denmark, Hamlet’s
uncle, and the play’s antagonist. The villain of the play, Claudius is a
calculating, ambitious politician, driven by his sexual appetites and his lust
for power, but he occasionally shows signs of guilt and human feeling—his love
for Gertrude, for instance, seems sincere.
Gertrude - The Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s
mother, recently married to Claudius. Gertrude loves Hamlet deeply, but she is
a shallow, weak woman who seeks affection and status more urgently than moral
rectitude or truth.
Polonius - The Lord Chamberlain of
Claudius’s court, a pompous, conniving old man. Polonius is the father of
Laertes and Ophelia.
Horatio - Hamlet’s close friend, who
studied with the prince at the university in Wittenberg. Horatio is loyal and
helpful to Hamlet throughout the play. After Hamlet’s death, Horatio remains
alive to tell Hamlet’s story.
Ophelia - Polonius’s daughter, a beautiful
young woman with whom Hamlet has been in love. Ophelia is a sweet and innocent
young girl, who obeys her father and her brother, Laertes. Dependent on men to
tell her how to behave, she gives in to Polonius’s schemes to spy on Hamlet.
Even in her lapse into madness and death, she remains maidenly, singing songs
about flowers and finally drowning in the river amid the flower garlands she
had gathered.
Laertes - Polonius’s son and Ophelia’s
brother, a young man who spends much of the play in France. Passionate and
quick to action, Laertes is clearly a foil for the reflective Hamlet.
Fortinbras - The young Prince of Norway,
whose father the king (also named Fortinbras) was killed by Hamlet’s father
(also named Hamlet). Now Fortinbras wishes to attack Denmark to avenge his
father’s honor, making him another foil for Prince Hamlet.
The Ghost - The specter of Hamlet’s
recently deceased father. The ghost, who claims to have been murdered by
Claudius, calls upon Hamlet to avenge him. However, it is not entirely certain
whether the ghost is what it appears to be, or whether it is something else.
Hamlet speculates that the ghost might be a devil sent to deceive him
and tempt him into murder, and the question of what the ghost is or where
it comes from is never definitively resolved.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern - Two slightly
bumbling courtiers, former friends of Hamlet from Wittenberg, who are summoned
by Claudius and Gertrude to discover the cause of Hamlet’s strange behavior.
Voltimand and Cornelius - Courtiers whom
Claudius sends to Norway to persuade the king to prevent Fortinbras from
attacking.
Marcellus and Bernardo - The officers who
first see the ghost walking the ramparts of Elsinore and who summon Horatio to
witness it. Marcellus is present when Hamlet first encounters the ghost.
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