Hamlet Summary

The ghost of the King of Denmark tells his son Hamlet to avenge his murder by
killing the new king, Hamlet's uncle. Hamlet feigns madness, contemplates life and
death, and seeks revenge. His uncle, fearing for his life, also devises plots to kill
Hamlet. The play ends with a duel, during which the King, Queen, Hamlet's
opponent and Hamlet himself are all killed.

Act I
Late at night, guards on the battlements of Denmark's Elsinore castle are met by
Horatio, Prince Hamlet's friend from school. The guards describe a ghost they have
seen that resembles Hamlet's father, the recently-deceased king. At that moment,
the Ghost reappears, and the guards and Horatio decide to tell Hamlet.
Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, married Hamlet's recently-widowed mother, becoming
the new King of Denmark. Hamlet continues to mourn for his father's death and
laments his mother's lack of loyalty. When Hamlet hears of the Ghost from
Horatio, he wants to see it for himself.
Elsewhere, the royal attendant Polonius says farewell to his son Laertes, who is
departing for France. Laertes warns his sister, Ophelia, away from Hamlet and
thinking too much of his attentions towards her.
The Ghost appears to Hamlet, claiming indeed to be the ghost of his father. He
tells Hamlet about how Claudius, the current King and Hamlet's uncle, murdered
him, and Hamlet swears vengeance for his father. Hamlet decides to feign madness
while he tests the truth of the Ghost's allegations (always a good idea in such
situations).
Act II
According to his plan, Hamlet begins to act strangely. He rejects Ophelia, while
Claudius and Polonius, the royal attendant, spy on him. They had hoped to find the
reason for Hamlet's sudden change in behaviour but could not. Claudius summons
Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, old friends of Hamlet to find out what's got into
him. Their arrival coincides with a group of travelling actors that Hamlet happens
to know well. Hamlet writes a play which includes scenes that mimic the murder
of Hamlet's father. During rehearsal, Hamlet and the actors plot to present Hamlet's
play before the King and Queen.
Act III
At the performance, Hamlet watches Claudius closely to see how he reacts. The
play provokes Claudius, and he interrupts the action by storming out. He
immediately resolves to send Hamlet away. Hamlet is summoned by his distressed
mother, Gertrude, and on the way, he happens upon Claudius kneeling and
attempting to pray. Hamlet reasons that to kill the King now would only send his
soul to heaven rather than hell. Hamlet decides to spare his life for the time being.
Polonius hides in Gertrude's room to protect her from her unpredicatable son.
When Hamlet arrives to scold his mother, he hears Polonius moving behind the
arras (a kind of tapestry). He stabs the tapestry and, in so doing, kills Polonius. The
ghost of Hamlet's father reappears and warns his son not to delay revenge or upset
his mother.
Act IV
Hamlet is sent to England, supposedly as an ambassador, just as King Fortinbras of
Norway crosses Denmark with an army to attack Poland. During his journey,
Hamlet discovers Claudius has a plan to have him killed once he arrives. He
returns to Denmark alone, sending his companions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
to their deaths in his place.
Rejected by Hamlet, Ophelia is now desolate at the loss of her father. She goes
mad and drowns.
Act V
On the way back to Denmark, Hamlet meets Horatio in the graveyard (along with a
gravedigger), where they talk of the chances of life and death. Ophelia's funeral
procession arrives at the very same graveyard (what luck!). Hamlet confronts
Laertes, Ophelia's brother, who has taken his father's place at the court.
A duel is arranged between Hamlet and Laertes. During the match, Claudius
conspires with Laertes to kill Hamlet. They plan that Hamlet will die either on a
poisoned rapier or with poisoned wine. The plans go awry when Gertrude
unwittingly drinks from the poisoned cup and dies. Then both Laertes and Hamlet
are wounded by the poisoned blade, and Laertes dies.
Hamlet, in his death throes, kills Claudius. Hamlet dies, leaving only his friend
Horatio to explain the truth to the new king, Fortinbras, as he returns in victory
from the Polish wars.

To be, or not to be - that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep -
No more - and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep -
To sleep - perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause.
Hamlet - William Shakespeare

Summary utopia
More travels to Antwerp as an ambassador for England and King Henry VIII.
While not engaged in his official duties, More spends time conversing about
intellectual matters with his friend, Peter Giles. One day, More sees Giles speaking
to a bearded man whom More assumes to be a ship's captain. Giles soon introduces
More to this new man, Raphael Hythloday, who turns out to be a philosopher and
world traveler. The three men retire to Giles's house for supper and conversation,
and Hythloday begins to speak about his travels.
Hythloday has been on many voyages with the noted explorer Amerigo Vespucci,
traveling to the New World, south of the Equator, through Asia, and eventually
landing on the island of Utopia. He describes the societies through which he travels
with such insight that Giles and More become convinced that Hythloday would
make a terrific counselor to a king. Hythloday refuses even to consider such a
notion. A disagreement follows, in which the three discuss Hythloday's reasons for
his position. To make his point, Hythloday describes a dinner he once shared in
England with Cardinal Morton and a number of others. During this dinner,
Hythloday proposed alternatives to the many evil civil practices of England, such
as the policy of capital punishment for the crime of theft. His proposals meet with
derision, until they are given legitimate thought by the Cardinal, at which point
they meet with great general approval. Hythloday uses this story to show how
pointless it is to counsel a king when the king can always expect his other
counselors to agree with his own beliefs or policies. Hythloday then goes on to
make his point through a number of other examples, finally noting that no matter
how good a proposed policy is, it will always look insane to a person used to a
different way of seeing the world. Hythloday points out that the policies of the
Utopians are clearly superior to those of Europeans, yet adds that Europeans would
see as ludicrous the all-important Utopian policy of common property. More and
Giles do disagree with the notion that common property is superior to private
property, and the three agree that Hythloday should describe the Utopian society in
more detail. First, however, they break for lunch.
Back from lunch, Hythloday describes the geography and history of Utopia. He
explains how the founder of Utopia, General Utopus, conquered the isthmus on
which Utopia now stands and through a great public works effort cut away the land
to make an island. Next, Hythloday moves to a discussion of Utopian society,
portraying a nation based on rational thought, with communal property, great
productivity, no rapacious love of gold, no real class distinctions, no poverty, little
crime or immoral behavior, religious tolerance, and little inclination to war. It is a
society that Hythloday believes is superior to any in Europe.
Hythloday finishes his description and More explains that after so much talking,
Giles, Hythloday, and he were too tired to discuss the particular points of Utopian
society. More concludes that many of the Utopian customs described by
Hythloday, such as their methods of making war and their belief in communal
property, seem absurd. He does admit, however, that he would like to see some
aspects of Utopian society put into practice in England, though he does not believe
any such thing will happen.