Hamlet Plot Summary

Prince Hamlet's world falls apart when his father dies and his mother Gertrude quickly remarries his uncle Claudius. Things get even stranger when the ghost of Hamlet's father appears, revealing that Claudius poisoned him and demanding revenge.

To investigate this shocking claim, Hamlet pretends to be mad - what he calls putting on an "antic disposition." This fake madness becomes his cover as he plans his revenge, but it worries everyone around him, especially his love interest Ophelia and her father Polonius.

The tension builds through five acts of escalating drama. Hamlet stages a play called "the mousetrap" to test whether Claudius is really guilty, accidentally kills Polonius whilst confronting his mother, and eventually faces off against Laertes (Polonius's son) in a final deadly duel.

Key insight: Hamlet's fake madness becomes increasingly real as the pressure mounts - showing how revenge can consume someone completely.

By the play's end, nearly everyone is dead: Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, Laertes, Polonius, and Ophelia all meet tragic ends. Only Horatio survives to tell their story, making this one of Shakespeare's bloodiest finales.