Analysis Of Shakespeare s Hamlet - 1278 Words

Hamlet â€Å"To be or not to be, that is the question† Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, Laurence Olivier states in his famous redemption of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, where Laurence Oliver played as Hamlet. Characters Laurence Olivier- Prince Hamlet Eileen Herlie – Queen Gertrude Basil Sydney- King Claudius (current king of Denmark) Jean Simmons- Ophelia (Polonius’s Daughter) Norman Wooland –Horatio (Hamlet’s friend) Felix Aylmer -Polonius John Laurie –Francisco (sentry) Niall MacGinnis -Sea Captain Peter Cushing –Osric Terence Morgan –Laertes (Polonius’s Son) Esmond Knight-Bernardo (sentry) Stanley Holloway-Gravedigger Tony Tarver-Player Queen Russell Thorndike-Priest Patrick†¦show more content†¦Recently deceased King Hamlet has died apparently of an accidental snakebite, and his wife, Gertrude, has, within a month of the tragedy, married the late King s brother. Prince Hamlet, unhappy with the hastened marriage of the Queen, Hamlet mutters to himself the words and yet, within a month! Horatio and the sentries enter telling Hamlet of the alleged appearance of a ghost, who they believe to be the old King, Hamlet’s father. Hamlet investigates the allegation of his deceased father’s ghost. Upon arriving Hamlet sees the ghost, and the ghost tells Hamlet to follow. As his friends try to stop him Hamlet demands that they let him follow the ghost. Hamlet follows it up onto a tower, where it reveals its identity as the Ghost of Hamlet s father. He tells Hamlet that he was murdered by his brother King Claudius. Claudius pours poison into the late King Hamlet s ear, which killed him. Hamlet does not at first accept this as the truth, and then turns â€Å"mad†. Polonius thinks that Hamlet has gone mad because of the love Hamlet has for Ophelia, Polonius s daughter. King Claudius, however, is not fully convinced, and has Polonius set up a meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia. Hamlet s madness is constant even in this exchange, and Claudius believes that Hamlet has gone mad for the sake of love. In an attempt to prove that King Claudius (his uncle) did indeed murdered King Hamlet, Prince Hamlet hires a group of wandering stage performers,