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Synopsis of Acts 1 and 2
Hamlet's only friend in the lengthy play, his schoolchum [[Horatio]], is the only major character who doesn't die. When Hamlet starts acting crazy (it might not be an act), he tells Horatio, "I am only mad north by northwest" and "There's a method to my madness".
Hamlet's only friend in the lengthy play, his schoolchum [[Horatio]], is the only major character who doesn't die. When Hamlet starts acting crazy (it might not be an act), he tells Horatio, "I am only mad north by northwest" and "There's a method to my madness".
==Synopsis==
Hamlet's friends among the castle guards see a ghost that looks like the dead king.
The King announces his wedding to Gertrude, widow of King Hamlet and father of Prince Hamlet. Her attempts to cheer him up fall flat, and in a soliloquy he accuses her of [[incest]]. His friends tell him about the ghost.
Laertes, son of the king's advisor Polonius, is leaving on a trip. He tells his sister Ophelia not to get too involved with Prince Hamlet; so does her father, so she promises to break off the relationship.
Hamlet goes and sees the ghost, who tells him the new king murdered him. He tells Hamlet to avenge his death but not to hurn Gertrude. Hamlet doesn't tell his friends what he heard.
Polonius dispatches a servant to spy on Laertes, and Ophelia says Hamlet burst into her room and scared her.
The King and Queen send two schoolmates of Hamlet to spy on him. They disagree on why Hamlet is acting strange. The Queen says it is because of their over-hasty marriage, but the king prefers the story that Hamlet is lovesick over Ophelia. They hide while Hamlet comes in and starts insulting Polonius. The schoolmates come in and question him, but Hamlet is suspicious and reveals nothing. Actors come in, and Hamlet has Polonious hire them. Then he does his famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy about his internal struggles: he hates his uncle, he's angry at his mother but he's worried that the ghost might be a demon sent to trick him, so he gets the idea of using a play to prove the King's guilt.
==Movies==
Major film versions of the play have starred [[Laurence Olivier]], [[Mel Gibson]], [[Kenneth Branagh]] and [[Ethan Hawke]]. For years, Olivier's performance was considered an inapproachable ideal. The Gibson version used modernized English and portrayed a grittier, tougher Hamlet. The Branagh version, clocking in at 4 hours because it includes every line in the play, features [[Billy Crystal]] in a comic role as the gravedigger. The Ethan Hawke version is set in Manhattan with Denmark as a corporation and Julia Stiles as a girl friend driven to suicide by Hamlet's antics.
Major film versions of the play have starred [[Laurence Olivier]], [[Mel Gibson]], [[Kenneth Branagh]] and [[Ethan Hawke]]. For years, Olivier's performance was considered an inapproachable ideal. The Gibson version used modernized English and portrayed a grittier, tougher Hamlet. The Branagh version, clocking in at 4 hours because it includes every line in the play, features [[Billy Crystal]] in a comic role as the gravedigger. The Ethan Hawke version is set in Manhattan with Denmark as a corporation and Julia Stiles as a girl friend driven to suicide by Hamlet's antics.