Hamlet - Video Summary

Hamlet is a tragedy written by Shakespeare at the turn of the 16th century. The play’s story, which can be traced back to a 12th-century Latin text, is about a Danish prince named Hamlet who seeks to avenge his father’s murder at the hands of his uncle, Claudius. The play is not only Shakespeare’s longest, but also one of his most iconic.

At the start of the play, the king of Denmark has died, and his brother Claudius has assumed the throne and married his late brother’s wife, Queen Gertrude. Consumed with grief over his father’s sudden death, Prince Hamlet is appalled by his mother’s marriage to Claudius, whose character is, he believes, inferior to that of his deceased father.

Little does Hamlet know, the ghost of his dead father appeared to his skeptical friend Horatio and two castle sentries the previous night. When Horatio tells Hamlet of this sighting, Hamlet decides to watch for the ghost himself that evening. Soon, the ghost appears. Addressing only Hamlet, the ghost says he’s come from purgatory to demand vengeance against his brother Claudius, who murdered him by pouring poison into his ear. Hamlet is shocked and vows to avenge his father’s murder by killing Claudius.

Meanwhile, Claudius’ chief advisor Polonius is concerned about his daughter Ophelia, who loves Hamlet but is confused by his gloomy mood lately. At first, Polonius orders his daughter to stay away from Hamlet, but he later becomes convinced that Ophelia’s lack of affection is the reason for Hamlet’s melancholy. Polonius decides to observe the couple together in secret, hiding behind a tapestry with Claudius. But when Ophelia tries to flirt with Hamlet, his mind is on his father’s murder, and he rebukes her advances, proving Polonius wrong.

Next, Claudius recruits Hamlet’s school friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to discover the reason for Hamlet’s foul mood, but Hamlet quickly realizes that his friends are working against him as spies. Dodging his questions, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern tell Hamlet that they ran into a troupe of actors on their way to the castle and invited them along to perform for the court. Hamlet decides to have these actors perform a play based on the murder of his father, to see how Claudius reacts. If he seems rattled by the performance, it will prove his guilt.

Meanwhile, Claudius learns that Fortinbras, the prince of enemy Norway, has expressed interest in waging war on Denmark, owing to the recent change in the country’s leadership. Claudius is reassured, however, when he learns that Norway’s king has forbade Fortinbras from invading Denmark, and that the Norwegian army intends to invade a small area in Poland instead. To do so, they need Claudius’ permission to march through Denmark, which he grants.

That evening, Claudius indeed seems disturbed by the performance of Hamlet’s play, and even storms out, convincing Hamlet of his guilt. Hamlet decides to tell his mother, but on his way to her chamber, Hamlet overhears Claudius confessing his sins, including the murder, to God. Hamlet nearly kills Claudius, but stops short, realizing that if he killed his uncle while he was praying, Claudius would go straight to heaven.

Hamlet goes to Gertrude’s chamber and tries to convince his mother of Claudius’ evil character. Meanwhile, Polonius is once again spying on their conversation from behind a curtain. At one point, Gertrude misinterprets Hamlet’s words, thinking he intends to kill her. She screams out for help, causing Polonius to scream as well. Assuming it is Claudius behind the curtain, Hamlet stabs at the fabric, killing Polonius.

Following Polonius’ death, Hamlet’s friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern escort Hamlet on a diplomatic mission to England at the request of Claudius. However, Hamlet is unaware that Claudius gave them a letter for the English king, instructing him to have Hamlet killed upon his arrival. Soon, Hamlet discovers this letter in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s possession and secretly replaces it with one asking that his friends be killed instead of him.

Meanwhile, Polonius’ son Laertes, upset over his father’s murder, confronts Claudius and threatens to seize the throne from him with the help of an angry mob. Claudius assures him that Hamlet is responsible, and together, they decide to arrange for a casual duel between Hamlet and Laertes, who is a skilled swordsman. Secretly, they plan to line Laertes’ sword with poison, ensuring that even a small wound will kill Hamlet. As an added precaution, Claudius will prepare a cup of poison to give to Hamlet during the fight.

Returning home from his journey, Hamlet passes through a cemetery, encountering a gravedigger in the midst of preparing a new grave.

[TheEcypse]

A very important thing that you don’t mention is that Hamlet is a tragic hero. He has heroic qualities but has one fatal flaw. He over thinks things which leads to procrastination. Upon careful exampination of the chapel scene, you’ll notice that Claudius isn’t actually asking for forgiveness. He basically is saying that he is already neck deep in all of this and there is no way out now. He wouldn’t have gone straight to heaven if he had been killed right then and there. Hamlet is no killer, and so he looks for any excuse to not do the deed. When Hamlets father says that Claudius murdered him, he doesn’t believe him. He puts on a “mask of antic disposition” and says that he must know for sure if his dad is telling the truth. Deep down he knows he is, but he cannot accept the role he’s given. Even after he finds out that Claudius did in fact kill his father via the play, he STILL puts the killing off. Hamlets procrastination and over thinking brings on his downfall, as well as others around him. He is truly, a tragic hero.

[adiba]

Ophelia did not kill herself due to Hamlet's rejection. She killed herself cuz she couldn't handle her father's death.

[middaymilf]

This is absolutely great, but one thing to add. Some people say that Ophelia’s death was an accident, but others say that it was suicide. So, it’s really up to interpretation.

[vandanamiranda]

excellent. We can actually hear what the person is saying, articulate and no unnecessary background music while the person is communicating. This is for learning not entertainment/learning. Bravo

[william-menco]

Thank god I found this, I have an exam about this story, GREAT VIDEO

[clashwithbunniesandrewsava]

My favorite part of Hamlet was when he said "it's hammin' time" and then hammed all those other guys

[RainbowKittens]

read the whole play in class didn't remember 90% of it thx

[cameronray]

Lmaoo 1:22, “Hamlet is shocked”!

Hamlet: 😐

[uzmetonebaviAAA]

the exam is in 5 minutes, wish me luck

[SkyOo]

Thank you so much for your summary.This is very useful

[alexl]

I’m not sure why we are told Ophelia killed herself? Not according to Shakespeare in Gertrude’s speech: Ophelia went mad, was playing by the river, making flower wreaths. She climbed a willow tree to hang the flower garlands on it, a bow broke and she fell in the water. Floating in the river, like her element, she didn’t understand the danger and her heavy dress sank her. Nothing here tells us she drowns herself by will. More like a death by insanity. The image correlates with an ondine/rusalka - a spirit of a drown beautiful young girl, that lives on in the river.

[laurasmrkolj]

I have an exam tomorrow about this..
This really helped cause i didn’t read the book oops🙂

[rousanarabegam]

Sir, you did a great job, you have written the full story in description box.No other man didn't do this thing in their videos...
Thank you so much sir, for this...

[mattsmoviemagic]

Love The Artwork. Hats Off To Dan Ekis, Esau Figueroa And Claudi Giuliani.

[fuqyoutube]

Thanks for the video easy to digest and understand the overview of the story, I only came here because I heard the director of sons of anarchy modeled his show after hamlet and it’s interesting to see how accurate that is

[skelegunsoooooo]

Star Trek VI the Undiscovered Country referenced some voice lines from Hamlet, especially the Villain Chang feeding those voice lines to taunt James T Kirk

[gamingwhitland]

Dude youre a life saver l have un exam tommorow for this story thank you so much for making this video this helped alot

[redtobertshateshandles]

Great video. Thanks. Now to look up Ophelia.

[gabriellacecchini]

This is an awesome story that I read when I was a senior in high school it made be a tradity it's a fun play to create

[PlatinumGrey]

I owe you so much that you cannot even imagine