Hamlet

                                 Hamlet

William Shakespeare 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616)was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet, and the "Bard of Avon".His extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

PLOT OVERVIEW 

The play begins with the recent death of King Hamlet, who was Prince Hamlet's father. Following his death, the king's brother Claudius, who was the uncle of the young prince, was crowned the King of Denmark. After assuming position as the new king, Claudius married Queen Gertrude, Prince Hamlet's mother. The young prince is outraged by the actions of Claudius and vows revenge. Not long after the death of his father and marriage of his mother and uncle, the ghost of King Hamlet appears to the prince. Previously, others in the kingdom believed that the king died because of a snake bite, but the ghost reveals that the king was murdered by Claudius. Hamlet then puts on a play for Claudius that reenacts the death of the king. The play concludes with Gertrude drinking from a poisoned cup, Hamlet stabbing Claudius and Hamlet being stabbed by a poisoned blade.

SYMBOLS  

Yorick’s Skull

In Hamlet, physical objects are rarely used to represent thematic ideas. One important exception is Yorick’s skull, which Hamlet discovers in the graveyard in the first scene of Act V. As Hamlet speaks to the skull and about the skull of the king’s former jester, he fixates on death’s inevitability and the disintegration of the body. He urges the skull to “get you to my lady’s chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come”—no one can avoid death (V.i.178–179). He traces the skull’s mouth and says, “Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft,” indicating his fascination with the physical consequences of death (V.i.174–175). This latter idea is an important motif throughout the play, as Hamlet frequently makes comments referring to every human body’s eventual decay, noting that Polonius will be eaten by worms, that even kings are eaten by worms, and that dust from the decayed body of Alexander the Great might be used to stop a hole in a beer barrel.

Ophelia’s Flowers

In Act 4, Scene 5, Ophelia has gone mad because of her father, Polonius’ death. She enters the scene, carrying many different types of flowers (however some editors believe that the flowers were just imaginary), and begins to give different flowers to different people. Each of the flowers represents something, and there is a reason behind why Ophelia gives certain flowers to certain people. First, she gives the rosemary to Laertes, which is a symbol of remembrance. She also gives pansies to Laertes, as they represent a symbol of thoughts – particularly thoughts of love. Although she gives both to Laertes, Ophelia most likely has Hamlet in her mind when she says,

“There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray you, love, remember; and there is pansies, that’s for thoughts" (IV.v.173-175).

Poison

Poison plays a big role in Hamlet. It is a symbol of betrayal, corruption, deceit, revenge and death. In Act 1 Scene 5, Hamlet follows the ghost of his father, King Hamlet and learns the entire story of how Claudius kills him. King Hamlet says,

“…Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole
With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,
And in the porches of my ears did pour…" (I.v.61-63).

When Claudius pours the poison into Hamlet’s ear and murders him, it demonstrates how much the need for power can corrupt someone. In this case, the need for power motivated Claudius to poison his own brother. Later, when Laertes and Claudius are planning to kill Hamlet for revenge, they also decide to use poison. When the poison actually comes into play, it ends up killing Queen Gertrude (thus betrayal), and eventually leads to the death of Laertes, King Claudius and Hamlet.