Hamlet :: Hamlet Shakespeare Summary Review Analysis

Prince Hamlet devotes himself to avenging his father's death, but, because he is contemplative and thoughtful by nature, he delays, entering into a deep melancholy and even apparent madness. Claudius and Gertrude worry about the prince's erratic behavior and attempt to discover its cause. They employ a pair of Hamlet's friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to watch him. When Polonius, the pompous Lord Chamberlain, suggests that Hamlet may be mad with love for his daughter, Ophelia, Claudius agrees to spy on Hamlet in conversation with the girl. But though Hamlet certainly seems mad, he does not seem to love Ophelia: he orders her to enter a nunnery and declares that he wishes to ban marriages. A group of traveling actors comes to Elsinore, and Hamlet seizes upon an idea to test his uncle's guilt. He will have the players perform a scene closely resembling the sequence by which Hamlet imagines his uncle to have murdered his father, so that if Claudius is guilty, he will surely react. When the moment of the murder arrives in the theater, Claudius leaps up and leaves the room. Hamlet and Horatio agree that this proves his guilt. Hamlet goes to kill Claudius but finds him praying. Since he believes that killing Claudius while in prayer would send Claudius's soul to heaven, Hamlet considers that it would be an inadequate revenge and decides to wait. Claudius, now frightened of Hamlet's madness and fearing for his own safety, orders that Hamlet be sent to England at once. Hamlet goes to confront his mother, in whose bedchamber Polonius has hidden behind a tapestry. Hearing a noise from behind the tapestry, Hamlet believes the king is hiding there. He draws his sword and stabs through the fabric, killing Polonius. For this crime, he is immediately dispatched to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. However, Claudius's plan for Hamlet includes more than banishment, as he has given Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sealed orders for the King of England demanding that Hamlet be put to death. In the aftermath of her father's death, Ophelia goes mad with grief and drowns in the river. Polonius's son, Laertes, who has been staying in France, returns to Denmark in a rage. Claudius convinces him that Hamlet is to blame for his father's and sister's deaths. When Horatio and the king receive letters from Hamlet indicating that the prince has returned to Denmark after pirates attacked his ship en route to England, Claudius concocts a plan to use Laertes' desire for revenge to secure Hamlet's death.

Recount Starter Essay

I woke this morning just like every morning sprawled out on my old mattress on the floor. As I began to wake to what seemed like an ordinary hot summer day. As I was getting changed there was a loud urgent bang on the door of the little tin hut at the edge of the lake I called home. This was unusual as I live alone and don’t usually get any visitors apart from the odd lost hiker. I finished getting changed and opened to door to meet them. â€Å"Please I need your help!† a distressed teenager pleaded â€Å"My boyfriend and I were camping down the track and he’s missing!, there’s blood everywhere I, I just ran and ran and found a little track which lead me here†. Realising the extent of the situation I lead her inside and told her to tell me exactly what she remembered. The distressed girl said her name was Katie and that she and her boyfriend had come up to the mountains from the city for the weekend. â€Å"We set up camp yesterday and collected enough fire wood for a small fire to keep the mountain lions away†; â€Å"Did you notice anything strange whilst collecting the firewood?† I asked. Her blank facial expression showed that she was deep in thought, â€Å"I did come across a dead deer with its head decapitated, but what was strange is that it was still warm, I didn’t tell Blake as I didn’t want to freak him out, this was his first time camping† The girl sobbed as she began to cry. â€Å"It’s okay† I said, â€Å"you can stay here a while then we will drive up to your campsite if that is okay with you?†, â€Å"What if whatever took him is still around?† She wept â€Å"I have a rifle and a hunting dog whatever it was wouldn’t stand a chance† I said reassuringly. â€Å"Okay† she spluttered, clearly not wanting to go back there.

A Comparison of the Methods of the Suffragists and the...

A Comparison of the Methods of the Suffragists and the Suffragettes There were two main groups in Britain during the early 20th century who were both fighting for the same cause, women’s suffrage. Although in the end they both wanted the same outcome, they went about trying to win the vote in completely different ways. the first group to be established lead by Millicent Fawcett were the suffragists, they were made up of mainly middle class well educated women, and the suffragists believed the best way to get the vote was through peaceful tactics such as petitions and peaceful marches. Groups began to set up all over the country showing their support for this movement, and eventually the unified in†¦show more content†¦They had completely different ideas about how to gain suffrage for women; they believed that the peaceful, very proper campaign being used by the suffragists was going nowhere fast. So they believed that they needed to do something different they chose to try and gain suffrage by any means possible whether it was lega l or illegal, as they felt any actions were justifiable in their fight for the suffrage they felt women deserved. A significant example of this is when Emmeline’s daughter christabel spat in a policeman’s face, she was subsequently arrested tried and sentenced to a custodial sentence which is what she wanted as it gained huge publicity for their cause but it was bad publicity society in general was outraged at what this woman had done. They saw any publicity as good publicity, as it put their issue in the public eye. The suffragists always used the same method, a peaceful protest. They would create petitions, hand out leaflets, they would politely ask MP’s to attend their lobbies and meetings and listen to their thoughts. They believed their peaceful protest and strength of argument would win over the support of the men in high up places and therefore give them what they wanted. On the other hand the suffragettes had a much more intense wayShow MoreRelatedHigher History Women1700 Words   |  7 Pagesbetter educated and get involved in politics. However, this view that the New Women was the only factor that contributed to women getting the vote is untrue. Women began their own campaigns in order to get the vote. This included the Suffragists and the Suffragettes as both organisations were tired of being ignored and seen as undeservingof the vote. Furthermore, another addition to the factors is the Reward Theory. Women during World War 1 became greatly involved in helping Britain in the warRead MoreThe Importance of the First World War in Achieving Votes for Women in 1918907 Words   |  4 Pagesthe response of Suffragettes and Suffragists in supporting the war effort. Although, this may seem to be a believable explanation, it should be noted that the response of the womens suffrage movement was varied. This means it is important to see how the WSPU and NUWSS helped women gain the vote. When war was declared, the WSPU suspended suffrage activities, telling its members to support the vote effort. therefore, the WSPU abandoned their violent methods and began demonstratingRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesspecialize in one or the other of what have been viewed as very different wars, Morrow not only compares the two conflicts in detail, but also approaches each war and its linkages from a thoroughly global perspective. This combination of rigorous comparison and breadth allows him to repeatedly challenge longestablished myths, provide alternatives to narrowly conceived interpretations, and offer quite an original take on the most extensively covered conflicts in human history and the decades of unprecedented