Hamlet

Setting: Hamlet is set in Denmark, in and around the royal palace.

Plot: Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, encounters the ghost of his father, who tells Hamlet that Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, killed him before marrying his wife, Gertrude. Through the rest of the play, Hamlet seeks revenge but debates about taking action. Meanwhile, the "little people" of the play, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Polonius, Laertes, and Ophelia, are killed as they become entangled in the plots of Claudius and Hamlet.

Theme: What is humanity, and what is its role in Fate? Through the play, questions of identity, bravery, defying/accepting Fate, and our role in life are prominent: hunter or hunted? cowardice or courage? who's there? to be or not to be.

Quotes: To be, or not to be. This is said by Hamlet as he debates whether or not to kill himself. He asks whether it is braver to take life's punches and roll with them or to take action against sorrow (end life itself). The question of "what is bravery?" is central throughout the play as Hamlet questions his own cowardice in delaying the inevitable: killing Claudius. Hamlet is impressed by the bravery of sodiers, who march to their death for little gain. Maybe they are just more "little people" caught in a bigger person's net, but they are able to take action where he hides behind words. But is reasoning the same as cowardice? Is it just part of Hamlet's nature? Or does he fight Fate by delaying Claudius's murder?
We know what we are, but not what we may be. This is said by Ophelia after she has gone crazy. The question of identity is another motif throughout the play, beginning, in fact, with the opening line of the play, "Who's there?" It also refers to the clothing symbolism that Hamlet so frequently uses: how much of our identity is built in; how much can we change it? Can you have multiple identities, to be shed and donned like clothing? Or is it all preprogrammed and part of your nature? Yet, as Ophelia says, we cannot know. We know only what we are, not what we could become, should we apply to it. Hamlet may have thought he was pretending to be mad, but by the end, he'd become the clothing he'd put on: he'd gone mad.
We defy augury. This by Hamlet immediately before he goes to bout with Laertes, suspecting he will not come out alive. Throughout the play, Hamlet asserts that you cannot fight Fate, but must accept its workings. Some, like Claudius, try to run from Fate-- Claudius can't accept the bad that must come of his murder and incest. But in the end, Hamlet defies augury and Fate by, not running, but standing up and facing it. He goes to his death knowingly and willingly.

Imagery/Symbolism: The symbols of birds and fish are prominent throughout the play. Polonius in particular is heavy with his use of fish, using words like "hook," "net," "reel," and so on, as well as directly mentioning fish. But in the end, Polonius is not the fisher but the fish, killed by the hawk, Hamlet. Hamlet and other characters constantly mention/allude to birds. After seeing the ghost, Hamlet is even called by the falconer's cry, "Hillo, ho, ho!" The birds vs. fishes serves as yet another divide between the "big" and the "little." Who is predator and who is prey?

Allusions: The play frequently alludes to mythology or the bible. Old Hamlet died when he was "stung by a serpent"-- like the serpent in the Adam and Eve story, where temptation bred sin. Hamlet refers to "eating at the table" when Polonius dies, like the last dinner. And everything is grouped in threes, like the Trinity, as well as the cock crowing sending the ghost away (denial).