Hamlet by William Shakespeare - MonkeyNotes by PinkMonkey.com
PinkMonkey® Literature Notes on . . .
Sample MonkeyNotes Note: this sample contains only excerpts of the booknote sections and does not represent the full contents of the booknote. This sample will give you an idea of the layout and overall content of the full summary.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare - MonkeyNotes by PinkMonkey.com
KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS SETTING
The play is set at Elsinore, the royal court of the King of Denmark. The play begins in the open battlements of the castle on a bitterly cold night, then shifts inside the castle to the formality and……….
CHARACTERS
Major Characters Hamlet - the Prince of Denmark. Hamlet is the central character and protagonist of the play. His father, the King, has recently died, and his mother has remarried within weeks of his death, causing ……… Claudius - the present King of Denmark and Hamlet’s uncle. He succeeds to the throne by……. Gertrude - Hamlet’s mother and the foolish, weak-willed Queen of Denmark. She is …….. Ophelia - Polonius’ daughter. She loves Hamlet but is forbidden to see him at the request of her…….. Polonius - Ophelia’s father and the Lord Chamberlain of Elsinore. He has an annoying habit of…….. Minor Characters Horatio - Hamlet’s loyal friend and confidante. He is a scholar and philosopher, as well as the first character to speak to the Ghost. He is the only person on whom Hamlet can rely in times of adversity. At the ……. Laertes - the hot-headed son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia. He is a man of action and represents a distinct contrast to Hamlet. He orders Ophelia not to reciprocate Hamlet’s love. Near the end of…….. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern - former friends of Prince Hamlet. They conspire with …….(Many other characters listed)………
CONFLICT
Protagonist - The protagonist of the play is Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. When the play opens, Hamlet has been summoned from the University at Wittenberg on account of the sudden death of his father, who supposedly died from snakebite. He returns to find that his mother has already wed his ………. Antagonist - Claudius is Hamlet’s antagonist and the villain of the play. He begins his evil deeds by murdering his own brother (Hamlet’s father), then marrying his widowed wife (Hamlet’s mother). Hamlet learns from the ghost of his father that Claudius is the murderer; as a result, he spends the……… Climax - The climax of the play is the Hamlet-Laertes duel. Claudius has fixed the outcome of the duel in such a way that Hamlet will perish no matter what. But there are also several events related to……… Outcome - The play ends in tragedy for Hamlet, for he is overcome by Claudius, his antagonist, and………
Hamlet by William Shakespeare - MonkeyNotes by PinkMonkey.com
Prince of Denmark and the dead King’s son, mourns for his father and anguishes over his mother’s hasty remarriage, considering it as unnatural as incest. The play opens outside the castle grounds, where three guards have been witnessing the appearance of a Ghost who looks like the dead King. They ask the Prince and his friend Horatio to come see the Ghost. Prince Hamlet speaks to the apparition, who claims to be the spirit of his dead father. In a private conversation, the Ghost tells Hamlet
