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    The Hamlet Companion (Includes Study Guide, Complete Unabridged Book, Historical Context, Biography, and Character Index)
    The Hamlet Companion (Includes Study Guide, Complete Unabridged Book, Historical Context, Biography, and Character Index)
    The Hamlet Companion (Includes Study Guide, Complete Unabridged Book, Historical Context, Biography, and Character Index)
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    The Hamlet Companion (Includes Study Guide, Complete Unabridged Book, Historical Context, Biography, and Character Index)

    By BookCaps

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    About this ebook

    Hamlet is one of the greatest plays ever written--but let's face it..if you don't understand it, then you are not alone. This annotated book includes a summary of each scene, an overview of themes and characters, and the full-text of the play.

    We all need refreshers every now and then. Whether you are a student trying to cram for that big final, or someone just trying to understand a book more, BookCaps can help. We are a small, but growing company, and are adding titles every month.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookCaps
    Release dateJan 22, 2013
    ISBN9781301291458
    The Hamlet Companion (Includes Study Guide, Complete Unabridged Book, Historical Context, Biography, and Character Index)
    Author

    BookCaps

    We all need refreshers every now and then. Whether you are a student trying to cram for that big final, or someone just trying to understand a book more, BookCaps can help. We are a small, but growing company, and are adding titles every month.Visit www.bookcaps.com to see more of our books, or contact us with any questions.

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      Book preview

      The Hamlet Companion (Includes Study Guide, Complete Unabridged Book, Historical Context, Biography, and Character Index) - BookCaps

      William Shakespeare’s

      Hamlet Companion

      Includes Study Guide, Historical Context, Biography, and Character Index

      By BookCaps Study Guides/Golgotha Press

      © 2011 by Golgotha Press, Inc.

      Published at SmashWords

      Historical Context

      William Shakespeare, playwright extraordinaire, lived in 16th to 17th Century England. He wrote a considerable number of plays, including the still popular Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Romeo & Juliet. Many of his plays were written as part of the Lord Chamberlain's Men—later known as the King's Men—who were a company of players, or actors. Although Shakespeare is synonymous with the Globe Theatre, a great number of his plays were performed at Blackfriars Theatre and at court for royalty and their guests. He was also a seasoned poet and is still celebrated for his 154 sonnets, including the popular Sonnet 18. The beginning lines are possibly the most quoted out of all the sonnets: Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. I bet you've heard those lines before!

      The 16th and early 17th Centuries in England were periods of considerable wealth and strength. Shakespeare lived through the Spanish war, saw the end of Elizabeth the Virgin Queen's reign, and heralded in the reunification of the English and Scottish thrones under one monarch, King James VI. However, despite the Royal family's immense wealth and rich noblemen in the upper classes, the poor were extremely poor. Famine, poor hygiene and the lack of wages created an environment full of disease, crime and pestilence. If you were poor during this time, you had exceedingly little to look forward to! Some would visit the theatre as a means to escape their lives if they could afford it, but they would only be able to afford standing room. Imagine standing up through an hour long play! Other entertainment available to the poor included watching executions, tormenting those placed in stocks and attending witch trials. A pretty grim past-time, but there was little else to do!

      Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's most loved, most studied and most often performed plays. Many actors strive to play the lead role of Hamlet on stage as it is considered one of the most challenging and rewarding roles to play. It is also Shakespeare's longest play!

      Some theorists believe that the story of Hamlet was based on the legend of Amleth, a fictional figure in Scandinavian romance. Most of the written work about Amleth was written by Saxo Grammaticus, in the Gesta Danorum, in the 13th Century. No evidence exists to suggest that Saxo's work was his own or was collected through other oral and written sources. Another source of Shakespeare's may have been a since-lost play called Ur-Hamlet, which no one is certainly sure who wrote. Many suggest either Thomas Kyd or Shakespeare himself wrote the play, but there is evidence to suggest that Shakespeare's company, the Chamberlain's Men, performed this play which may have led to his interest in the legend.

      There are also some who suggest the grief and tragedy of the play was fuelled by the loss of Shakespeare's young son, Hamnet, who died at age 11. While the legend of Hamlet was the most obvious source for the play, many theorists believe that this event prompted Shakespeare to write Hamlet.

      Plot Overview

      Short Synopsis

      Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, is visited by his late father's Ghost who tells him he was murdered. The murderer, Hamlet's Uncle Claudius, who is now the King of Denmark and married to his mother, Gertrude, had poisoned Hamlet's father while he slept. Hamlet is ordered to take revenge for his murder, but his indecision, madness and his Uncle's political plots keep Hamlet from acting on his impulse for vengeance until it threatens the entire royal family and leads to a bloody end.

      Detailed Synopsis

      At Elsinore Castle in Denmark two sentinel Guards, Barnardo and Francisco, are frightened. Barnardo tells Francisco to go to bed as it is almost midnight. He swaps with Horatio and Marcellus. The three men talk about the Ghost two of them have seen walking the halls for a few nights. Horatio is there to verify what they have seen is real. The Ghost appears to them. The men ask Horatio if he thinks the Ghost looks like the dead King of Denmark. He does. Horatio asks the Ghost questions, but it does not answer and leaves. The men believe this is a bad omen for the state of their country and for the future. Marcellus asks why everyone seems to be on edge and if it is because the young Fortinbras has come to challenge the King of Denmark for the territory the dead King Hamlet took from him. The Ghost re-enters but once again says nothing to Horatio. It seems like it might speak, but the rooster crows to signal the coming dawn and startles it. They decide to find the younger Hamlet to tell him what they've seen.

      Claudius, Gertrude, Hamlet, Polonius, Polonius' son, Laertes, and daughter, Ophelia, and many Lords are gathered in the throne room. Claudius is sad that his brother is dead, but feels the best way to mourn is to carry on with life. He is happy that he has married Gertrude, his late brother's wife. Claudius calls Voltemand and Cornelius, two ambassadors, and tells them to take a letter to Fortinbras' Uncle, the King of Norway, to request he interfere with Fortinbras' plans to attack Denmark. They leave to take the letters to Norway.

      Laertes asks for Claudius' permission to go back to France. He has Polonius' permission as well, but only because he has asked so many times. Laertes is allowed to go.

      Hamlet is sorry he has so little family to show him kindness now, especially after his mother's marriage to his Uncle. Claudius wants to know why Hamlet is so depressed. Hamlet assures him he is happy. Gertrude echoes Claudius' worries for Hamlet. Hamlet admits he is upset about his father's death, but that doesn't seem to have stopped his own mother from remarrying so quickly. Claudius complements him on his grief, but points out that everyone has lost a father at some point. Hamlet agrees to stay at Elsinore Castle and not go back to school. Claudius thinks this is evidence of Hamlet's love for him. Everyone but Hamlet leaves the room.

      Hamlet wishes there were no laws against suicide. He can't believe that his father has only been dead for two months, and his mother is remarried already. King Hamlet was so good to Gertrude, but scarcely a month had gone by before she agreed to marry his brother. Hamlet doesn't think he can talk about it with anyone though. He should keep quiet.

      Horatio, Marcellus and Barnardo enter and tell Hamlet about the Ghost of his father. Hamlet doubts that they could see the Ghost's face if it was armoured from head to toe, but Horatio assures him it was the late King. Hamlet will stand guard with them that night to see if the Ghost comes back. He makes the other men promise not to tell anyone else what they have seen.

      Laertes and Ophelia talk about Hamlet's flirtatious behaviour. Laertes doesn't think Hamlet loves Ophelia, and she is to be careful with herself. Hamlet might love her now, but he is young and part of the royal family. His decisions are not his own to make. Polonius enters. He gives Laertes some advice: he is to be careful, make the best judgements, spend all he can on clothes but not on rich or gaudy ones, and not to lend money to anyone as this can lead to loss of friendship. Laertes says goodbye and then leaves. Polonius adds to Laertes' advice about Hamlet to Ophelia. He orders her to

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