Changes

The king's advisor Polonious orders his daughter Ophelia to break off her courtship with Hamlet; Hamlet kills Polonius (for spying on him) while he is hidden behind a wall hanging. Ophelia, already upset over the sudden end of the courtship, goes crazy after learning Hamlet has killed her father and drowns herself.

The king's advisor Polonious orders his daughter Ophelia to break off her courtship with Hamlet; Hamlet kills Polonius (for spying on him) while he is hidden behind a wall hanging. Ophelia, already upset over the sudden end of the courtship, goes crazy after learning Hamlet has killed her father and drowns herself.

Hamlet's only friend in the lengthy play, his schoolchum [[Horatio]], is the only major character who doesn't die. When Hamlet feigns mental illness to cover his unusual activities, he confides to 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 feigns mental illness (some speculate that he actually ''was'' mad) to cover his unusual activities, he confides to Horatio, "I am only mad north by northwest" and "There's a method to my madness".  

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.