Publisher's Synopsis
Act I The guards try to convince Horatio that a specter appears at night near the castle. After two apparitions of the specter, the guards decide to go and inform Hamlet. The ghost has the appearance of the father of this one, former king of Denmark. First appearance of Claudius, new king of Denmark. There are introduced the characters of Laerte, his father the lord Polonius, and of Hamlet, son of the late king and nephew of Claudius. He mourns the death of his father, after which he is joined by Horatio who tells him for the specter. Hamlet decides to join the night round. Laerte warns his sister against Hamlet and receives the farewell of his father before leaving. Polonius in turn puts his daughter Ophelia on guard and forbids him to see the prince again. Hamlet accompanies Marcellus and Horatio in the round of night. At midnight the ghost appears and beckons to Hamlet to follow him. In this key scene, the plot is set up: the ghost reveals that the new king poisoned him in his sleep to take his place. Hamlet promises vengeance. Marcellus and Horatio approached and asked them not to tell anything of what they had seen and warned them that he would now feign madness. He tells them nothing about the secret of the ghost. Act II Polonius gives his directions to his spy Reynaldo, in charge of following Laerte. Reynaldo leaves and Ophelia comes to warn her father about the troubling behavior of Hamlet. They decide to go and see the king. The King and Queen order Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to investigate the young man's madness. Polonius enters and announces the reason. After a passage from Valterand and Cornelius, he explains, by showing letters written by Hamlet to his daughter, that love is the cause of this madness. A troupe of actors arrives at the castle. The hero of the play wants to play "The murder of Gonzaga" to the comedians by incorporating some verses written by him to make reveal Claudius like murderer of the king. Act III The king and queen ask Guildenstern and Rosencrantz what they have learned about the state of Hamlet. The king and Polonius, hidden, attend the meeting of Ophelia with the prince. The latter tells him that he never loved her, convincing the king that love is not the source of his madness. He decides to send him to England, but Polonius advises him to provoke a meeting between his son and the queen so that she discovers the reason for his madness. The actors play the scene of poisoning before the king and queen. Hamlet explains the scene to the latter. The resemblance of the play with the real acts of Claudius oblige him to go out. Hamlet is then convinced that the ghost said true. The king ordered Guildenstern and Rosencrantz to take Hamlet to England to warn him of possible animosity towards him. Polonius announces to the King that he will spy on the Queen and Hamlet. Alone, the king remembers the murder he committed and wonders how to escape punishment. Hamlet intends to kill Claudius, but changes his mind, preferring to give him a death in the eyes of all. In exchange with his mother, Hamlet tells him everything, and tries to show him the phantom that then appears in his eyes. The queen does not believe it and thinks it as crazy as it was said. Before the appearance of the specter, the queen takes fright and cries, Polonius, hidden behind a tapestry calls for help and Hamlet kills him.
