Hamlet Play Fact Sheet

Hamlet Play Fact Sheet
Hamlet, Tragedy, Written between 1599 and 1602
Characters:
Amusing Synopsis:
Hamlet – Son of the late king and nephew of the present king
Claudius – King of Denmark and Hamlet’s uncle,
Gertrude – Queen of Denmark and mother to Hamlet
Polonius – Lord Chamberlain
Ophelia – Daughter of Polonius
Horatio – Friend of Hamlet
Laertes – Son of Polonius
Voltimand and Cornelius – Courtiers
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern – Courtiers and friends of Hamlet
Osric – a Courtier, Marcellus – an officer
Bernardo – an officer, Francisco – a soldier
Reynaldo – Servant to Polonius, Ghost of Hamlet’s father
Fortinbras – Prince of Norway
Gravediggers – a Sexton
Uncle kills dad. Uncle marries mom. Hamlet sees dad's
ghost. Dad's ghost tells Hamlet who killed him. Hamlet goes
after uncle. Everyone dies.
Synopsis:
Prince Hamlet mourns the death of his father and his mother,
Queen Gertrude, and her remarriage to Claudius. The ghost of
Hamlet’s father appears to him and tells him that Claudius has
poisoned him. Hamlet swears revenge. He kills the eavesdropping Polonius, the court chamberlain and Polonius’s son Laertes
returns to Denmark to avenge his father’s death. Polonius’s
daughter Ophelia loves Hamlet but she is driven mad by his
actions and she dies. A duel takes place and ends with the death
of Gertrude, Laertes, Claudius and Hamlet.
Quotes:
“Though this is madness, yet there is method in’t.” Hamlet
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” Hamlet
“To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and, by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shock
That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub.” Hamlet
In Film:
Hamlet 2009, BBC starring David Tennant.
Hamlet 1996, starring Kenneth Branagh.
Hamlet 1990, starring Mel Gibson, directed by Franco Zeffirelli.
Hamlet 1948, starring Laurence Olivier.