Hamlet In a Nutshell

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is in mourning for his father and deeply disturbed by the speedy remarriage of his mother, Gertrude, to Claudius, her deceased husband’s brother. When his father’s ghost reveals that he was murdered by Claudius, Hamlet decides to feign madness until an opportunity for revenge presents itself. Polonius, the Lord Chamberlain, thinks that Hamlet’s behaviour springs from love for his daughter, Ophelia, but Claudius suspects otherwise when he sees Hamlet savagely berating her. The arrival of a traveling theatre company gives Hamlet the idea of re-enacting his father’s murder to startle Claudius into revealing his guilt. The performance causes an uproar and as Gertrude remonstrates with her son, Hamlet kills the eavesdropping Polonius, mistaking him for Claudius. Ophelia, driven mad by grief, later commits suicide. Having already evaded one attempt by Claudius to have him put to death, Hamlet agrees to a fencing match with Ophelia’s brother, Laertes – who secretly poisons the tip of his sword. Both combatants, however, receive wounds from the poisoned blade. The dying Laertes reveals the plot, whereupon Hamlet kills Claudius before succumbing to his own inevitable fate.

Monday, April 14, 2008

ophelia's death

Was Ophelia's death a suicide or was it an accident? In class we discussed about Ophelia commiting suicide. Could it have been an accident? Take a look at one person's view of this.

Another view about Ophelia's death.

1 comment:

Kristopher said...

This is really awesome info! There is a great deal of debate whether Ophelia really attempted suicide or that the event was completely accidental.

This might be the thing that I might include my paper which tells of the themes of revenge presented in "Hamlet."

If Hamlet did not drive her to suicide, I believe he unwittingly set the ball rolling to her fate.

- Kristopher