Hamlet's plot - ACT BY ACT (atto per atto), Appunti di Inglese

Scarica Hamlet's plot - ACT BY ACT (atto per atto) e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! Act I The first act opens at the castle of Elsinore, in Denmark. Two sentries (Bernardo and Marcellus) invited Horatio to join them to question a ghost that appeared to them during those nights. For the sentries, this is a bad sign that would mean the invasion of the Norwegian troops. Horatio initially does not believe in them, until he sees the spirit of King Hamlet, recently deceased. He does not speak in the first appearance. In the second one he tries to speak but he is interrupted by the cock singing. Horatio then decides to inform prince Hamlet of what had happened. Claudius, king of Denmark and uncle of Hamlet, speaks of his ascension to the throne and of his marriage to Gertrude, the widowed queen. He wants to send a letter to the King of Norway asking him not to let the invasion take place and not to reclaim the lands he had lost. He also spoke to Laertes, son of Councillor Polonius, and gives him permission to return to Paris. Claudius asks Hamlet why he is sad and begs him, together with the Queen, not to resume his studies at the University of Wittenberg. When the king leaves, Hamlet displays all his frustration because of the mother’s new marriage, which took place only a month after his father’s death. When Horatio, Marcellus and Bernardo confess to him that they had seen his ghost, Hamlet begins to question the true reasons for his death and suspects betrayal and deceit. Laertes is about to leave for France and tells her sister Ophelia to be careful about Hamlet’s love declarations because, as authentic as they may be, they can never come true because Hamlet is a prince and he can’t marry whoever he wants. Polonius also asks Ophelia to avoid Hamlet, and she promises to obey. Hamlet, Horatio and Marcellus await the appearance of the spectre, and when it appears, Hamlet beseeches him to speak. The ghost beckons him to follow him, and Hamlet accepts. The ghost claims to be the spirit of Hamlet’s father and he returned because he wants his son to avenge him. He confesses that he was murdered by Claudius who poured a poison into his ear while he slept. Claudius then made everyone believe that the king had been bitten by a snake. The ghost wants Hamlet to kill Claudius but he has to spare his mother. When the ghost disappears, the two sentries come, and Hamlet makes them swear not to tell of the ghost. Bernardo and Marcellus, however, are a little strange from Hamlet's behaviour. Act II Polonius thinks his son Laertes is leading an unvirtuous life in France and sends an emissary, Reynaldo, to spy on him. On the scene comes Ophelia, who is shocked by Hamlet’s behaviour, who is content to observe her without speaking. Polonius thinks that Hamlet’s strange behaviour is due to the coldness of Ophelia, and decides to discuss it with the king. Claudius asks Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet’s childhood friends, to check on the prince to understand the reasons for his strange behaviour. In the meantime Polonius enters, announcing the arrival of Ambassadors Voltemand and Cornelius, who announces that the King of Norway has persuaded his son, Fortinbras, to invade Poland instead of Denmark. Polonius then claims to have understood what is happening to Hamlet: he has gone crazy because he cannot love Ophelia. Instead, the queen thinks is because of her hasty marriage made her son lose his mind. On the scene comes Hamlet, who fakes madness, to make fun of Polonius. He also understands that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been sent to question him. So he turns the conversation on the theater and asks the actors to play “The murder of Gonzago” verses. As he was left alone, Hamlet questions the power of the theatre and decides to have his father’s death represented to see his uncle’s reaction. Act III The king and queen devise a plan to understand the reason for Hamlet’s sad madness. They make him meet with Ophelia. Polonius invites the maiden to pretend to be alone while the king and he wait behind a tent. But Hamlet arrives and declares that he does not love Ophelia. He advises her to lock herself in a convent. Claudius is convinced that his son’s madness does not depend on love and believes Hamlet to be a danger to the kingdom. He decides to get rid of him by sending him to England to bring him to his senses. Polonius, however, is still sure that Hamlet has gone crazy for love and wants to try a confrontation with Queen Gertrude as he listens to the meeting between her and her son. In the meantime Hamlet prepares to stage “The murder of Gonzago” and sums up to Ophelia what the story is about by stating topics such as treason, incest and murder. When the actor who plays Claudius pours the poison into the king’s ear, Claudius leaves the room despite Hamlet having told him that the play focused on the murder of Duke Gonzaga in Vienna. From Claudius' reaction, Hamlet is sure it was him who killed his father. The king sends Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and Polonius to tell Hamlet that his mother wants to see him. Hamlet declares his intention of revenge. Claudius asks Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to escort Hamlet to England. Polonius is about to spy on Hamlet during his meeting with the Queen. Left alone, Claudius feels remorse and prayes forgiveness for his sins. Arrives Hamlet, who could have killed the king easily, but decides not to do it because he is praying, and if he kills him while praying, Claudius will go to Heaven and it would be like rewarding him. Polonius, hidden behind the tent, attends the encounter between Hamlet and his mother. She is frightened by her son’s behaviour. Suddenly Polonius comes to light, but Hamlet, believing he was the king, kills him. Later, he reproaches her mother for her disrespect for her late husband. He also accuses Claudius of having taken the kingdom from his father in the most ignoble way. At the end the queen understands her guilt but still thinks that Hamlet is a madman as she sees him speaking alone, because she cannot see her husband’s spirit. The ghost repeats to Hamlet to avenge Claudius but to spare the suffering of his mother. Hamlet tells his mother not to sleep with Claudius, then he changes his mind and says to her to tell the king what just happened. Then Hamlet abandons the scene, dragging Polonius’s body behind him. Act IV Gertrude is now certain that her son is insane and informs the king of the death of Polonius. Claudius realizes that Hamlet wanted to kill him and decides to make him leave immediately. He asks Hamlet’s childhood friends to find him and take him to England. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern attempt to discover the place where Hamlet hid the corpse of Polonius. Hamlet mocks them, saying they are the king's doormats. Yet he agrees to meet Claudius. Hamlet meets the king, but refuses to answer his questions. Claudius tells him he must go, and strangely Hamlet accepts the exile. Left alone, Claudius reveals that he ordered Hamlet's murder when he will arrive to England. Before leaving for England Hamlet goes to conquer lands in Poland but then he blames himself for his inertia. Ophelia arrives on the scene now insane because of sorrow for the death of her father Polonius. The Queen tries to bring her to her senses, but she continues