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Act I Scene 1 The tragedy begins in front of Elsinore’s castle, in Denmark. it’s midnight and Francisco is on watch and waits for the shift change. Barnardo enters, as well Marcellus and Horatio. The latter is not a regular sentinel, but he was invited to go there to be witness of a supernatural event that occurs for two days. While Marcellus is telling about the apparition, the ghost enters. Horatio certify that it’s the ghost of the deceased King Hamlet and Marcellus invites the ghost to speak. So Horatio asks for the ghost identity, but he goes away. O and B start talking about the politic situation and the young Fortinbras, prince of Norway, who want to reconquer the lands that were stolen from her father by King Hamlet. Horatio reminds that in the ancient Rome such phenomenons were predictions of important politic revolutions and thinks that maybe the situation of the country is going to change in a negative way. At this point the ghosts enter and Horatio invites him to say secrets about the country’s future or the place where an important treasury is buried. But at the cockcrow the ghost disappears. It’s morning and Horatio proposes to report the event to Hamlet, hoping that the spirit wants to talk with him.
Scene 2 Claudius and other people of the court enter. The king address an official speech about important state deals: his recent marriage, his brother’s death, Fortinbras’ threats who claims his lands. Then he receives a special request from Laertes, Polonius’ son, who wanted to return in Paris, after the coronation. The king asks Polonius to answer for him and the latter gives the permission to leave. The last topic is the desire of Hamlet, his nephew and now stepson, to return to his studies in Wittemberg. The queen requests to Hamlet to put aside his grief, but he replies that he doesn’t believe he pitied his father enough. Finally the King and the Queen beg him to stay in Denmark and accept Claudius as his father. Hamlet wants to obey, so the King shows the willingness to drink to this new familiar bond. The Court go out and Hamlet is left alone. His first monologue starts, when he finishes Horatio, Marcellus and Barnard enter. Hamlet is happy to see his best friend and he comment on his mother’s wedding. Horatio reveals about the ghost and the prince decides to meet him, imploring the soldiers to not say nothing.
Scene 3 The scene takes place in Polonius’ bedroom in the castle. Laertes is about to return to Paris and he’s say goodbye to his sister Ophelia. In a long speech he advises her to take caution to Hamlet’s words, because of his young age, and it could be only the fire of desire, not love. Moreover, he reminds her about the prince’s position, he’s not free to choose his wife and his condition is too elevate for her, so Laertes invites his
sister to maintain her chastity. She replies that she has intention to taking advice of his advice (also because his brother and his father are her authorities, she never expresses her will), but she asks him to do the same. At this point Polonius enters and, surprised to see Laertes still there, exhorts him to leave, but with a series of clichés he delays his son’s departure. Laertes leaves reminding to her sister about their speech and Polonius wants to know what was he talking about. When he knows they were talking about Hamlet, he says he heard about their meeting and he asks the nature of them. Ophelia tells about the affection Hamlet shows and Polonius says that she shouldn’t give in to the prince, because he only wants to seduce her. Rather he comes to the conclusion that she shouldn’t see him anymore. Ophelia agrees and leaves the scene. Scene 4 Hamlet, Horatio and Marcellus are in the place where the ghost appeared. It’s midnight and they hear trumpets and cannons. Hamlet explains that Claudius is toasting. They speak about the fact that Danish people have the reputation of drunkards. The ghost enters and Hamlet says that he’ll talk to him, both he’s an angel or a damned soul. The ghost signal to follow him and Hamlet, even though Horatio and Marcellus try to persuade him, get away with him. The two friends don’t want to abandon him and they follow him. *custom, abitudine. The custom of drinking is considered smoothing negative, because it stains people. A person who drinks is judged only in connection to this “guilt”. Scene 5 The ghost reveals to Hamlet that Claudius killed his father, after seducing his mother when he was still alive: C poured venom in his ear in his sleep, whitout giving him the possibility of confess. The ghost describes the murder in detail and he says that soon Gertrude will notice that she’s in a dirty bed. So the ghost wants that Hamlet lays claim to his death, but leaving his mother dealing with her conscience. Hamlet doesn’t like to use weapons. At the idea of the murder he loses control and started behaving in an irrational way with his friends. He asks them to promise that they will not reveal to anyone what they saw that night. He comments his contact with supernatural with the famous sentence “there are more thing in heaven and earth Horatio than are dreamt of in your philosophy”, begging them to not saying nothing about the ghost and his fake madness.
Act 2 Scene 1 Polonius is in his room and he’s sending Reynald to Paris, with money and a letter, recommending him to find out about his son conduct, spying on him. Ophelia enters,
Act Scene 1 To understand the reason of Hamlet's madness, the king and queen decide to compare it to Ophelia. Polonius invites Ofelia to pretend to be alone while the king and himself wait, hidden behind a curtain. Enter Hamlet, who pronounces the famous monologue «To be or not to be». When he sees Ophelia, Hamlet denies his love for her and advises her not to marry but to enter a convent. He defined himself ambitious, proud, but he’s not avenger, he’s been forced by his father. He criticize women who wear make up and change the face they received from God, he accuses them of falsity, because they want to appear in a different way. Women are provocative and they made him mad. Claudio, who is now convinced that his nephew's madness is not due to a sorrow of love, begins to see Hamlet as a danger to the crown. He decides to get rid of him and sends him to England. Scene 2 Hamlet becomes a director and he gives instructions to the actors. Shakespeare's voice suggests how to act. Hamlet wants to seek the truth and also hypothesizes that the guilt of the king does not emerge and that the ghost belongs to the devil. Hamlet instructs Horatio to spy on the king's reactions during the performance. The king, the queen and their court come to watch the performance. Hamlet, the head on Ofelia's knees, prepares to comment on the pièce which is preceded by an abbreviated summary of the action (dumb-show) and, followed by some words addressed to the public by a character called "Prologue". The pièce begins. Ophelia comments that Hamlet already knows everything. Hamlet asks to her mother what she thinks about the show, and she replies that the Queen makes too much promises (She promises to the King that, if she could be widow, she will never marry again). Then the prince says to his mother that the title is “The Mousetrap” The show emphasizes the issues of betrayal, murder and incest. When Lucianus pours poison into the king's ear, Claudio gets up and leaves the room, although Hamlet has assured him that it was a play focused on the murder of Duke Gonzaga in Vienna. But Hamlet is in fact sure that he has thus obtained confirmation of his father's murder. The king sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, then Polonius, to communicate to Hamlet the desire of the mother to have a meeting with him in her room (Closet scene) In a brief monologue, Hamlet declares his intention to take revenge on his father's death but decides to proceed to his mother only with verbal acts. He doesn’t want to lost his nature. The monologue is full of passion and he turns in a vampire, he invokes witches and the darkness. “Light, light, light” metaphor of the conscience. “I will speak daggers to her, but use none” Non avrò altri pugnali che le parole. Double level of representation: Lucianus, the nephew of the King, kills him.
Scene 3 Claudio instructs Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to accompany Hamlet to England, because he is afraid of his safety. Polonius prepares to spy Hamlet during the conversation with the queen, he puts himself behind the tapestry. Left alone, the king feels remorse. He kneels to pray and obtain the forgiveness of his sins, but he knows that his heart is as black as night. Enter Hamlet. He could easily kill the king, but he decides to spare him because killing his uncle in prayer would result in him gaining heaven. The king confirms that he has not repented. " My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. Words without thoughts never to heaven go.” P hidden behind a curtain, attends Hamlet's meeting with his mother. Hamlet wants to put it forward in the mirror to show her true nature. The brutal behavior of Hamlet scares the queen who calls for help. Polonius intervenes and Hamlet kills him, believing that he is king. as if nothing had happened he reports the speech on the mother. He reproaches his unworthy conduct and his lack of virtue to his mother. Then he puts the two portraits in front of him, his father and his uncle, he divinizes his father and says that his uncle is a musty ear that ruins the healthy one. The words of Hamlet enter her ears like daggers, forcing her to look inside. The ghost of the deceased king appears then (only Hamlet sees it and the queen is convinced of the madness of the son) and asks Hamlet to take revenge on Claudio but not to add to his many sufferings even those of his mother, then invites him to speak. Hamlet asks his mother not to go to bed with Claudio. He abandons the scene by dragging Polonius's body behind him. There is the call of his departure in England. Hamlet knows he can not trust R and G, in fact C gave them a letter to give to the king of England in which he asked to kill Hamlet. In reality the two subjects are not aware of the contents of the letter. With their killing Hamlet is stained with another fault and actually becomes a killer. Scene 4 Fortinbras enters with his army. Hamlet asks who are these troops, the captain explains that is the Norwegian army that is going to conquer a worthless piece of land. So Hamlet asks himself why so much people are involved for an insignificant thing. He’s left alone and starts the monologue known as “Fortinbras monologue” in which he says that every event seems to be against him and encouraging his revenge. Then there is a philosophical reflection about man and the gift of intellect, criticizing people that all they do is sleep and eat, as beasts. Once more the thoughts stops the action, unlike the army he’s got good motivation to act and he doesn’t do it. Here Fortinbras is described as a valid governor, that driven from ambition, risks also for a nut shell. He says that is not important how big is the undertaking, but the motivation, and his is strong. Scene 5
when Hamlet was born, even if he already knows, asks him for the audience). Then Hamlet asks for the identity of another skull, and it is Yorick, the king's buffoon, whom Hamlet knew and played with during his childhood. Then comes the whole court with the coffin of Ophelia. Hamlet calls Laerte a "very noble young man". The priest states that he can not do more than what he is already doing, given the causes of his death. Laerte calls her sister an angel, and Hamlet understands that it is Ophelia. At a certain point Laerte throws himself on the coffin asking to be buried with his sister. Meanwhile, Hamlet expresses his love and his sorrow, asking who he is to rant. Laerte throws himself into Hamlet, who tells him to take his hands off him. In the face of death, Hamlet expresses all his love. There is a verbal duel between the two. The queen then warns Laert of Hamlet's madness.
Scene 2 Hamlet tells Orazio about the trip. Hamlet knew the contents of the letter that wanted him dead. He carries the royal seal with him, opens the letter and writes that those who must be killed are R and W, his childhood friends. Follow comments on the malice of Claudius who made the mother a whore.Enter Osric, a dandy. He speaks with an artificial rhetoric and puns, Hamlet teases him by answering him in tone. He offers him the challenge with Laerte and he accepts. Horace, knowing Laert's swordsman skills, is worried. But Hamlet has trained and, with the advantage of the three hits, he is sure to win.Scene of the duel. Hamlet wants to make peace with Laertes and asks him for forgiveness, saying that he is already quite punished by madness, and that he is a victim of this. Laerte would like to forgive him, but he must defend his honor. We see a Hamlet a little liar because he says he is ignorant in the art of fencing. They prepare for the challenge and enter the carafes of wine, the king poisons the cup. After two shots from Hamlet, the queen decides to drink to his fortune. Gertrude drinks, against the wishes of the king, who admits to having poisoned the cup. Laerte thinks to hit him when he's back. He wounds him and, in turn, Hamlet injures Laerte with the same weapon, so they do the same end. The king tries to justify himself with the queen's illness, but she claims to have been poisoned. Hamlet closes the door and asks who the guilty is. Laert confesses and Hamlet hits the king, with the same weapon, and forces him to drink the poisoned wine. Laerte asks Hamlet to exchange forgiveness. Hamlet asks Orazio to tell the truth, Orazio says he would like to drink wine too. The prince tells him to wait for happiness, which would be death. Osric announces that Fortinbras is coming and Hamlet assumes that F will become king and gives him his crown. The curtain closes.Horace asks that the bodies can be put on the stage. F explains his rights to the public to the
public and recognizes the qualities of Hamlet, who would undoubtedly have been an excellent king. The procession goes out.
