Though this be madness, yet there is method in't

There are many ways of revising, but a good way is to revisit parts of the play and explore them with a different lens from the one you used the first time round. We have known that Horatio is trustworthy from the opening scenes of the play. He has been a voice of reason since the skeptical intelligence he displayed at the appearance of the Ghost, and an accurate documenter of events in his explanation to Hamlet - and it is he who is chosen by Hamlet to let the ' story be known, 'report me and my cause aright/to the unsatisfied' (V.ii.344-345), at the end of the play. Begin, then, with this list of events from Horatio's final speech: And let me speak to the yet unknowing world How these things came about: so shall you hear Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts, Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters, Of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause, And, in this upshot, purposes mistook Fall'n on the inventors' reads: all this can I Truly

Today we reach our dramatic, and tragic conclusion. The final scene begins with Hamlet explaining to Horatio how he has altered the letter from Claudius condemning him to death - and substituting the names Rosencrantz and Guildenstern instead. They are interrupted by Osric, a courtier, who issues the challenge for a duel with Laertes - in order to settle a bet for the king. It probably didn't look like this. Moments later, after Hamlet issues an apology to Laertes, explaining that he acted in madness and without 'purpos'd evil' (V.ii.237), the duel begins. It can be seen as another example of a play within a play, a performance staged for a court audience as well as the theatrical one. Laertes selecting the poisoned foil and Claudius preparing the poisoned drink with a deadly jewel, 'Hamlet, this pearl is thine' (V.ii.284) as planned. Hamlet, unaware of the plot against him, wins the first points - and Gertrude drinks to his health from the poiso

Here we are in the final act of Hamlet , and one of the most iconic scenes of the play - the bit with the skull! Clue: Not Hamlet. Two gravediggers are going about their business of digging a grave (that we immediately find out will be the final resting place of Ophelia) and making a few lighthearted observations as they do so. Though the graveyard setting foreshadows the tragedy that is about to beset Hamlet and the court, there is now a moment's pause in the chaotic hurtling towards a bitter end. It's probably worth a few words on 'comic relief' in Shakespearean tragedy. The stage direction gives us 'Enter two clowns'. Although 'clowns' in Shakespeare's time would have referred to simple country folk (in this instance two manual workers doing their job, not connected with the court),something of the modern meaning is inherent in their comic purpose at this moment in the drama. Somehow they achieve comedic banter from the burial of the dea

The final scene of Act IV sees  Claudius and Laertes concoct a murderous double-poisoning plot against Hamlet, and the Queen brings news of Ophelia's death. Before the scene begins it seems that the King has been telling Laertes his version of Polonius' death, along with his belief that he, Claudius, was his next target. Claudius gives a couple of reasons for not already having taken more extreme measures against Hamlet: firstly to please Gertrude, and then through a second reference to Hamlet's popularity with the people, the 'great love the general gender bear him' (IV.vii.18). But there is emphasis on action, and that action springs from Laertes, 'my revenge will come' (IV.vii.29); 'devise it so/That I might be the organ (IV.vii.68-69) from Laertes, and Claudius, in the business of egging him on, 'That we would do/We should do when we would' (IV.vii.117-118). Unlike Hamlet of course, who didn't avenge his father's death by k

Another tiny little scene, which really serves to drive the plot forward in terms of Hamlet's narrative.  As is often the case, the pace of action is increased by seeming to enter mid-conversation with the characters. Horatio receives a letter from Hamlet via some 'seafaring men' (IV.vi.2), (signifying Hamlet's remaining trust in his old friend - unlike Rosencrantz and Guildenstern who have betrayed him). The letter reveals that Hamlet's boat to England was attacked, and he himself taken prisoner by a 'pirate of very warlike appointment' (IV.vi.15), (which led to the obvious but irresistible film reference) but was well-treated and is now returned to Danish soil. Horatio must be led to his friend. A quick summary that raises some interesting ideas towards the end is here: Just keep track on this one in your own summary notes.

Continuing the frenzied pace of this act, we meet the Queen and Horatio with a 'Gentleman' in mid conversation about Ophelia's grief-stricken state of mind and 'distract' behaviour. (Hamlet himself doesn't appear in the next three scenes.) Gertrude determines 'I will not speak with her' (IV.v.1) but is persuaded to 'Let her come in' (IV.iv.16) just fifteen lines later - after the indirect threat to Hamlet that Ophelia 'may strew/Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds' (IV.v.14-15). There is evidently sufficient sense in the things that Ophelia says to cause trouble for the King. (It is worth remembering that the the handling of Polonius' death is causing political tensions and adding to the civil unrest.) Ophelia enacts being mad with grief, and matches the description that she 'Speaks much of her father' (IV.v.4), but does so mostly through song. She leaves just prior to the arrival of a livid Laertes, so

The famous young Fortinbras, Norwegian crown prince first mentioned in the opening 100 lines of the play and referred to subsequently in Act II, finally makes his entrance; embarking on the 'promis'd march' (IV.iv.3) - the permission earlier granted for him to cross Denmark in order to battle over a piece of land now in Polish possession. More on the significance of this in Hanratty's Episode 121 of The Hamlet podcast . I can't think of a better way to spend seven minutes of your life at this point. Fortinbras encounters Hamlet, and so there together on stage are two young princes, both caught up in the business of avenging the deaths of their fathers. Except that perhaps Fortinbras is getting on with his a little more purposefully than Hamlet who may be guilty of 'thinking too precisely on th'event' (IV.iv.41) as he himself observes.  Indeed, his soliloquy begins by stating the way in which every event and encounter reminds him of his