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Hamlet

William Shakespeare · 1601

The events in the order the book tells them.

Act I

Scene I
The Ghost on the battlements
In Elsinore, before dawn, the sentinels and Horatio see the Ghost of the dead king, which does not speak; they decide to tell Prince Hamlet.
1
Scene II
A new king and a grieving prince
Claudius, the dead king's brother, already reigns and has married the widow, Gertrude. Hamlet, in mourning, wishes he could die, and Horatio tells him about the ghost.
2
Scene III
Advice to Ophelia
Laertes leaves for France. He and their father, Polonius, warn Ophelia against Hamlet's love, and Polonius forbids her to see him.
3
Scene V
The Ghost's revelation
The Ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius poisoned him in the orchard and demands revenge. Hamlet makes his friends swear silence and warns that he will feign madness.
4

Scene I
Madness from love
Ophelia tells her father that Hamlet visited her disheveled and mute, and Polonius concludes that the prince has gone mad with love.
5
Scene II
The actors arrive
Claudius summons Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet. A company of actors arrives, and Hamlet decides to stage before the king a murder like the one in the orchard.
6

Scene I
To be or not to be
Watched by the king and Polonius, Hamlet meditates on to be or not to be and, on meeting Ophelia, sends her to a nunnery.
7
Scene II
The Mousetrap
The actors perform the poisoning of a king, and Claudius rises and leaves: for Hamlet, his uncle's guilt is proven.
8
Scene III
The king who prays
Hamlet finds Claudius praying and does not kill him, so as not to send him to heaven.
9
Scene IV
The death of Polonius
In his mother's chamber, Hamlet kills Polonius, hidden behind the tapestry, accuses the queen, and sees the Ghost again, which only he can see.
10

Scene III
Bound for England
Claudius sends Hamlet to England, escorted by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who carry a letter ordering the prince's death.
11
Scene IV
Fortinbras's army
On the way to the ship, Hamlet sees Fortinbras's army march to fight over a patch of land and reproaches himself for his own delay.
12
Scene V
Ophelia's madness
Ophelia goes mad at her father's death, and Laertes returns from France at the head of a mob to avenge him.
13
Scene VI
Hamlet's return
A letter tells Horatio that Hamlet was taken prisoner by pirates and returned to Denmark.
14
Scene VII
The plot of the duel
Claudius and Laertes plot a duel with a poisoned sword and, as a backup plan, a cup of poisoned wine for Hamlet. Gertrude reports that Ophelia has drowned.
15

Scene I
The graveyard
In the graveyard, Hamlet holds Yorick's skull, watches Ophelia's burial, and fights Laertes inside the grave.
16
Scene II
The switched letter
Hamlet tells Horatio that he switched the letter on the ship and sent Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths, and he accepts the duel with Laertes.
17
Scene II
The duel
In the duel, the queen drinks the poisoned wine, Laertes and Hamlet wound each other with the poisoned blade, and Hamlet kills Claudius before he dies.
18
Scene II
The end of the royal house
Fortinbras arrives, finds the dead, and claims the throne, with Hamlet's endorsement; Horatio stays behind to tell the story.
19

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