is point the play
begins.

Hamlet, son of the murdered king, sick at heart at his mother's
hasty re-marriage, and troubled by his love for Ophelia, returns to
Denmark. The ghost of his father reveals the manner of the murder
to him, and makes him swear to be revenged. The revelation so
affects him that the murderers begin to fear him. He cannot bring
himself to kill Claudius. In a play he shows them that he knows
their guilt.

While speaking with his mother, he discovers and kills a spy hidden
behind the arras. The spy is Polonius, father of Laertes and of
Ophelia.

Claudius causes Hamlet to sail for England, on the pretext that the
killing of Polonius has brought him into danger with the populace.
He plans that Hamlet shall be killed on his arrival. Hamlet
discovers the treacherous purpose and returns unhurt to Denmark.

During Hamlet's absence at sea, Laertes learns how Polonius was
killed and swears to be revenged on Hamlet. Hamlet's return gives
him his opportunity.

Claudius suggests that the revenge be taken at a fencing-bout.
Laertes shall fence with Hamlet, using a poisoned foil. If this
fails, Hamlet shall be given poisoned wine.

In a scuffle during the fencing-bout the fencers change foils.
Gertrude, by mistake, drinks the poisoned wine and dies. Laertes,
hurt by the poisoned foil, dies. Hamlet, also hurt by the poisoned
foil, kills Claudius and dies too.

_Hamlet_ is the most baffling of the great plays. It is the tragedy of a
man and an action continually baffled by wisdom. The man is too wise.
The dual action, pressing in both cases to complete an event, cannot get
past his wisdom into the world. The action in one case is a bad one. It
is simply murder. In the other, and more important case, it is,
according to our scheme, also a bad one. It is revenge, or, at best, the
taking of blood for blood. In the Shakespearean scheme it is not
revenge, it is justice, and therefore neither good nor bad but
necessary. The situation which causes the tragedy is one very common in
Shakespeare's system. Life has been wrenched from her course. Wrenching
is necessary to bring her back to her course or to keep her where she
is. Hamlet is a man who understands too humanly to wish to wrench either
this way or that, and too shrewdly to be himself wrenched by grosser
instruments of Fate.

The ac