Hamlet Turbo Summary

Act 1 scene 1:

  • Guards talk to Horatio about the Ghost (the ghost won’t talk to him)
  • They commit to discussing the matter with Prince Hamlet

Key quotes:

Scene 2:

  • King Claudius addresses the court
  • He grants Laertes permission to go to France
  • He asks his “cousin” Hamlet (his stepson) to take off his grieving clothes (end the mourning)
  • His mother encourages him to do the same
  • Hamlet points out that his grief is indeed real (I Know not ssems)
  • Horatio tells his of the ghost
  • They all meet at night to hear the ghost’s revelations
  • Hamlet promises he will fulfil his revenge / he also askes his friends to keep it a secret

Scene 3

  • Polonius finds out that Ophelia and Hamlet have a secret relationship (love letter by Hamlet)
  • Ophelia is approached by Hamlet who rejects her (get thee to a nunnery)

Act II scene 1 line 75

Polonius discovers Ophelia’s relationship with Hamlet who is now looking estranged (antic disposition)

Scene II

  • Polonius discusses the matter with the Claudius and Getrude
  • They plan to use Ophelia as a bait

Act III scene I

  • To be or not to be soliloquy (line 56)
  • Hamlet speaks to Ophelia and suggests she go to a nunnery (to avoid a sinful life – to avoid life that is a sin altogether
  • Claudius is worried about Hamlet’s brewing “madness” line 165
  • He plans to have him sent to England

Act III scene 2

  • Hamlet meets the players and plans to catch Claudius’s conscience by using a play that will represent his murder
  • The play (the mouse trap) line 92

Sycophant

ACT III scene 3

  • The King makes arrangements for Hamlet’s departure to England
  • Line 36 Claudius is ready to confess his sin in order to redeem himself
  • ACT III scene 4
  • The closet scene Hamlet tells his mum hat he really thinks of her behaviour – kills Polonius who is hiding behind the tapestry

Act IV

  • King Claudius informs Hamlet of his immediate departure
  • Hamlet leaves for England with two “companions” who are secretly carrying his death sentence to be delivered in the hands of the King of England

Act V

  • Hamlet meets the gravedigger
  • He fights Laertes
  • King organises a “friendly” fight
  • Gertrude is poisoned – Laertes and Hamlet are fatally wounded by the poisoned daggers – Claudius is stabbed to death by Hamlet
  • Fortinbras (the young) takes over – Hamlet dies whilst receiving the highest military honours