In a nutshell...
Act I
Act II
Act III
Act IV
Act V
- Hamlet meets the ghost of his father who tells Hamlet of his murder at the hands of Claudius
- Ophelia is warned against encouraging the affections of Hamlet by both Polonius and Laertes
Act II
- Hamlet adopts an “antic disposition” and his strange behaviour is met with confusion
- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent to find out the cause of Hamlet’s strangeness
- Hamlet, vacillating, decides to trick his uncle into showing his guilt
Act III
- Mousetrap
- Hamlet rants at his mother Gertrude. When Polonius cries out (hiding in the room) Hamlet mortally stabs him
Act IV
- Hamlet refuses to cooperate with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, showing that he is aware of their real loyalties
- Hamlet and Claudius confront one another, and both men seem openly aware of the threat that the other poses to himself
- Claudius sends Hamlet to England and plans to have him killed
- Ophelia tops herself
- Laertes desires vengeance
- Hamlet subverts the murder plot and has Rosencrantz and Guildenstern killed instead (this is revealed in Act V)
- Claudius and Laertes devise a plot to kill Hamlet using poison in a duel
Act V
- Hamlet- Yorick’s skull- reflects on the fleeting and transient nature of Man
- Fighting erupts between Laertes and Hamlet at the funeral of Ophelia. Anger about her ‘suicide’
- Hamlet arrives at court to duel Laertes. Both get stabbed with the poisoned sword and Gertrude drinks a poisoned cup meant for Hamlet. Confessions are made. Very sad. Hamlet kills Claudius. Everyone dies
- Fortinbras arrives to set things right in Denmark. Balance restored?