Hamlet

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To read or not to read....when there's a great adaptation by Kenneth Branagh (Gilderoy Lockhart!).

Characters:

• Hamlet
• Prince of Denmark
• son of Queen Gertrude and late King Hamlet
• nephew of Claudius
• melancholy, bitter, cynical, hates his uncle's scheming and is disgusted at his mother
• Claudius
• King of Denmark
• Hamlet's uncle
• calculating, ambitious politician
• Gertrude
• Queen of Denmark
• Hamlet's mother
• marries Claudius after death of King Hamlet
• Polonius
• Lord Chamberlain of Claudius's court
• father of Laertes and Ophelia
• Horatio
• Hamelt's close friend
• Ophelia
• daughter of Polonius
• was once Hamlet's lover
• obeys father and brother
• gives in to Polonius's schemes to spy on Hamlet
• goes mad and eventually drowns in the river
• Laertes
• Polonius's son and Ophelia's brother
• dies in duel with Hamlet
• Fortinbras
• young prince of Norway whose father was killed by Hamlet's father
• seeks revenge through attacking Denmark
• The Ghost
• specter of Hamlet's deceased father
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
• courtiers and former friends of Hamlet from Wittenberg
• summoned by Claudius to discover the cause of Hamlet's strange behavior
• Osric
• foolish courtier who summons Hamlet to duel with Laertes (played by Robin Williams!)
• Marcellus and Bernardo
• officers who first see the ghost walking Elsinore and summon Horatio to witness it

Plot summary:

Sparknotes has a video for the plot summary.

• Marcello and Bernardo ask Horatio to see the ghost who has been walking on the ramparts of Elsinore Castle.
• Horatio brings Hamlet to see the ghost, which resembles his father. The ghost speaks to Hamlet and tells him that he was murdered by Claudius, his brother and Hamlet's uncle who has recently married his mother. The ghost instructs Hamlet to seek revenge.
• Hamlet becomes melancholy and even appears mad while plotting his revenge. This makes Claudius and Gertrude worry about him and they employ Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to watch him.
• Polonius suggest that Hamlet may be lovesick for Ophelia and Claudius spies on a conversation between Hamlet and Ophelia. Hamlet, however, merely orders Ophelia into a nunnery and declares that he wants to ban marriages.
• Hamlet tests his uncle's guilt by staging a play with a group of traveling actors. The play's plot resembles that of how Claudius killed Hamlet. Claudius leaves the room when the play reaches the murder scene.
• Hamlet seeks out Claudius to kill him but Claudius is praying. Thinking that killing him while praying will send him to heaven, Hamlet stays his hand and waits. Claudius orders Hamlet to go to England.
• Hamlet confronts his mother. He accidentally kills Polonius who was hiding behind a tapestry because he believed it was the king. Hamlet is immediately dispatched to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who hold orders for the King of England to put Hamlet to death.
• Ophelia goes mad with grief and drowns herself. Polonius's son, Laertes, returns to Denmark from France and Claudius convinces him that it is all Hamlet's fault.
• Hamlet returns to Denmark after pirates attack his ship en route to ENgland.
• Claudius plots to kill Hamlet by secretly poisoning a sword Laertes will use in a supposedly friendly fencing match with Hamlet. He also decides to poison a goblet which he will give Hamlet to drink if Hamlet seems to be winning.
• Hamlet returns to Elsinore just as Ophelia's funeral is taking place. 
• Osric arrives on Claudius's orders to arrange the fencing match between Hamlet and Laertes. 
• Hamlet scores the first hit but doesn't drink from the king's goblet. Instead, Gertrude drinks and is killed by the poison. Laertes wounds Hamlet and Hamlet wounds Laertes. Before dying, Laertes tells Hamlet that Claudius tried to poison him. Hamlet stabs Claudius with the poisoned sword and forces Claudius to drink the poisoned wine. They both die.
• At that moment, Fortinbras arrives and sees the entire royal family dead. Horatio, fulfilling Hamlet's last request, tells him the entire story, and Fortinbras orders that Hamlet be buried in a manner befitting his position.