Concetti Chiave
- Hamlet is a revenge tragedy set in the 14th and 15th century in Elsinore, Denmark, involving a conflict with Norway.
- The play is structured in five acts, with the pivotal play-within-a-play occurring in the third act.
- The ghost of Hamlet's father reveals his murder by Claudius, prompting Hamlet to seek revenge while feigning madness.
- Claudius' schemes to kill Hamlet ultimately lead to a tragic sequence of events, resulting in multiple deaths, including Claudius, Laertes, and Queen Gertrude.
- Themes explored include revenge, doubt, the contrast between appearance and reality, and generational conflict.
Hamlet is Shakespeare's masterpiece and it is a revenge tragedy (typical of Greek and Latin theatre).
It is divided in 5 acts (the 3rd act contains the play-within-the play).
The story is set in 14th and 15th century in the royal castle in Elsinore, Denmark. Denmark was fighting against Norway.
Hamlet is the prince of Denmark, Claudius is Hamlet's uncle, Queen Geltrude is Hamlet's mother and she marries Claudius after Hamlet's father death (she was probably involved in the king's death); Polonius is the king consellor, Horatio is Hamlet's friend, Ophelia is Hamlet's fiancé and Laertes is Ophelia's brother.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Hamlet's friends.
1st act: the ghost of Hamlet's father appears to soldiers and they tell to Hamlet to meet the ghost the following night.
The ghost tells to Hamlet that he was killed by Claudius, who poured a poison in his ear while he was sleeping in his orchard.
2nd act: Hamlet starts to pretend that he is mad to know the truth.
3rd act: to force Claudius to reveal the truth, he asks some actors to play a tragedy similar to his father's death (Murder of Gonzago). Claudius understands what Hamlet wants to make and he goes away. This is for Hamlet a proof.
4th act: Claudius sents Hamlet to England and he orders to some men to kill Hamlet, but he escapes and returns. In Denmark, he accidentally kills Polonius, so Ophelia commits suicide.
5th act: Laertes wants to revenge his sister, so he challenges him to a duel.
Claudius prepares a plan: he prepares a poisoned wine for Hamlet, but it is drunk by Queen Geltrude.
So Claudius puts some poison on the top of Laertes' and Hamlet's swords, but at the end Laertes, Hamlet and Claudius die.
Before dying, Hamlet tells Horatio to nomine Fortinbras as king, because he was loyal.
Themes: action and unaction
revenge
doubt and uncertainty
the juxaposition between appearance and reality
generation gap.
Domande da interrogazione
- Qual è il tema principale di "Amleto" di Shakespeare?
- Come Amleto cerca di scoprire la verità sulla morte di suo padre?
- Qual è il destino finale dei personaggi principali alla fine della tragedia?
Il tema principale di "Amleto" è la vendetta, poiché il principe Amleto cerca di vendicare la morte di suo padre, ucciso da Claudio.
Amleto finge di essere pazzo e organizza una rappresentazione teatrale simile alla morte di suo padre per far confessare Claudio.
Alla fine della tragedia, Amleto, Laerte e Claudio muoiono, mentre la regina Geltrude beve accidentalmente il vino avvelenato preparato per Amleto.
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