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Synopsis:
The ghost of Hamlet’s father, the recently deceased King Hamlet, walks the battlements of Elsinore, seat of the Danish monarchy. Denmark is preparing for an attack from young Fortinbras, the late Norwegian king’s son. Claudius, new Danish king and brother of King Hamlet, has married his brother’s widowed queen, Gertrude. Meeting the ghost, Hamlet learns that his father died at the hands of Claudius, who has poisoned him to gain the crown and Gertrude. The ghost implores Hamlet to avenge his death. Hamlet tells confidants, including his good friend Horatio, that he will feign madness to aid his cause.

Ophelia, daughter of the king’s counselor, Polonius, reveals to her father that Hamlet has visited her, acting very strangely. Polonius, who forbade Ophelia to see Hamlet, tells the king and queen that he believes Hamlet’s distemper results from his love for and lack of access to Ophelia. Claudius and Polonius spy on a staged encounter between Hamlet and Ophelia and learn otherwise. Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, who had come home to Denmark for the coronation of Claudius, returns to France.

A traveling acting company arrives at Elsinore. Seeking proof of the ghost’s veracity, Hamlet asks the players to perform the story of a poisoner who murders to gain his victim’s title and wife. During the murder’s enactment, Claudius halts the performance, confirming for Hamlet what the ghost has told him. About to kill a praying Claudius, Hamlet realizes that dispatching his father’s murderer then would send him straight to heaven. Hamlet determines instead to wait, so he can send him to hell.

In his mother’s chamber, Hamlet hears someone behind a curtain. Expecting it to be Claudius, he stabs the unseen intruder, killing Polonius. The ghost reappears, but only to Hamlet, causing Gertrude to fear further for her son’s sanity. Claudius orders Hamlet to England, secretly intending his death. Laertes returns from France, seeking to avenge his father’s death.

Ophelia, bereft of her father and Hamlet’s love, goes mad. She drowns in a brook.

Sailing for England, Hamlet discovers Claudius’ letter, carried by his university friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, which calls for him to be put to death. Hamlet exchanges it for one requiring that the bearers of the letter be killed. He escapes the ship when pirates board it and returns to Denmark. Hamlet arrives at Elsinore as Ophelia is about to be buried. He leaps into her grave, proclaims his love for her and struggles with Laertes.

The king conspires with Laertes to kill Hamlet through the ruse of friendly swordplay. Laertes poisons the tip of his rapier. Claudius poisons a cup of wine intended for Hamlet, but Gertrude drinks from it instead. Laertes and Hamlet wound one another with the poisoned sword. Dying, Laertes confesses the plot and reveals the king’s responsibility for Gertrude’s unintended death. Hamlet kills Claudius, urges his friend Horatio to tell his story, and dies. Returning from a battle in Poland, young Fortinbras of Norway arrives, eulogizes Hamlet and prepares to restore rule in now-leaderless Denmark.