Hamlet: Prince of Denmark

Background: Shakespeare's most famous tragedy, though this is debated almost as much as Hamlet debates killing Claudius/himself.

A very quick summary of Hamlet, since I really need to get some sleep before this final week of finals begins.

So... the ghost of Hamlet's father appears and tells him that the new King (the old king's brother) killed the old king by pouring "poison hebanon" in his ear. Hamlet is supposed to revenge his father, but instead he goes a little crazy and bursts into his girlfriend Ophelia's closet and freaks her out. She tells her weasel-y father who makes her show her love letters to the king and queen to convince them that Hamlet is mad with love for Ophelia (its all part of  Polonius' plan to put his daughter on the throne). Anyway, this plan doesn't work and just pisses off Hamlet further as he organizes for a play pantomiming King Claudius' bloody deed to be performed before the court, so Hamlet can see if his uncle really  is guilty (either he didn't believe the ghost or he's just stalling). The King stands up during the play (this was a big deal back then), thus proving his guilt (or maybe he just wanted some popcorn) and Hamlet goes to confront...his mother!?!?!? After preaching abstinence to his mother, he stabs Polonius, "Ho! A rat!", thinking it was Claudius spying. This gets him carted off to England with his super fake 'friends' Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. In Hamlet's absence and in light of her father's death, Ophelia goes legitimately crazy and drowns herself. Meanwhile, Hamlet has a run in with the convenient-plot-device-pirates and returns to Denmark, leaving R and G to die. Laertes has returned from France to avenge his father, and now his dead sister, but can't seem to finish Hamlet off while brawling in Ophelia's suicide grave (yeah, its morbid). Finally, Hamlet realizes that he cannot live in Elsinore, and walks to his death, "There is providence in the fall of a sparrow"  (Harry Potter Moment!). During a fatal duel with Laertes, they are both slain with a poisoned sword. Gertrude drinks from the poisoned cup intended for Hamlet, and Hamlet forces Claudius to drink his own poison before dying in Horatio's arms "Good night sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest". Bromance <3 Then, Fortinbraus, who was eluded to once in the very first scene, comes to take over Elsinore and demands that Hamlet be given the king's funeral, "Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage, For he was likely, had he been put on, To have proved most royally." And Denmark is at peace, and old and young Hamlet are at rest.

Characters:

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: Hamlet is faced with the choice to avenge his father and damn his own soul, or to not act, and let his father's soul suffer in purgatory. He feels incredibly alone at Elsinore, and sometimes fears that he is part of the "something rotten in the state of Denmark". He has an intimate relationship with Ophelia, but a more intimate relationship with his mother, and an even more intimate relationship with Horatio, "I am dead Horatio" who he trusts above all others.

Claudius: Hamlets Uncle Scar, who murders his father and marries his mother. His love for Gertrude, more than his desire for power, prompts this. He tries to pray to God for forgiveness, so he is not a one-dimensional evil, but a man overcome with love.

Gertrude: Marries her husband's widow, much to the anger of her son, who frequents her bedroom chamber. She is presented as weak, be that a ploy to survive in a man's world or genuine stupidity, but in the end she is poisoned "The drink! It is the drink!", and gets whats coming to her. When Hamlet's attacks, "Frailty, thy name is woman" are a contrast to her almost flippant attitude towards remarriage, "Methinks the lady doth protest too much."

Ghost: Hamlet's father is more terrifying and demanding than loving "Mark me!". He is accepted as appearing in the opening, when he demands that Hamlet kill Claudius, but appears again (at least in Hamlet's mind) in scene 3. "Let this serve as a remembrance".

Ophelia: Represents the trapped state of Elsinore women. She is defined by her innocence and controlled by her father and brother. When she looses her innocence and becomes pregnant, she looses all sense of identity, all protection, and all control, and drowns herself. This is no secret, for the priest refuses to bury her on consecrate grounds. When she goes crazy, she sings "He is dead and gone...Tommorow is St. Valentine's Day..." with cryptic goodbyes for everyone.

Polonius: Adviser to Claudius; very sneaky but not on Hamlet's level. He will use his own children to get ahead, but just ends up stabbed through a drapery. Yup. 

Laertes: Party boy, further representing the corruption of Elsinore. He is loyal, however, to his sister Ophelia (and there may be some incest there), and brawls in her grave with Hamlet. Before he dies, poisoned by his own sword, he says "Exchange forgiveness with me", and regrets killing Hamlet. 

Fortinbras: Foil to Hamlet. Action guy, very in control and sure of his own desires. What Hamlet might have been had he escaped the disease of Elsinore. He recognizes this, and pays Hamlet respects before assuming the throne and giving Hamlet a fresh start. 

Horatio: Our moral compass- we can trust him absolutely. He is loyal to Hamlet, who dies in his arms. Bromance <3

Themes/Motifs/Useful AP Details

Hamlet is Jesus: cock crows three times, dies for the sins of Elsinore, 30, Holy trinity...

Ophelia is a flower; pure, sweet, delicate, gilded lily? deflowered? "Sweets for the sweet", "Here's rue for you, though we may call it "herb of grace".

Poison motif: "Something's rotton in the state of Denmark", "Poison hebbanon", also, Shakespeare is obsessed with ears, because the secrets and lies are what are rotting Denmark.

Hamlet thinks All The World's a Stage and We are but Players (I know, thats from As You Like It): He wonders if we have free will or if God has already written the script. When the players do "The Murder of Gonzago" he spends about 4 pages coaching the actors on being lifelike. 

Hamlet's relationship with words; he uses wit and elevated speech to put up walls and insult people. Ophelia is uniquely clever, and can work on his level, while Polonius, "Are you a fishmonger", is a victim of this mocking.