Hamlet

Roles

• Hamlet - Young Adult (20-35), Male

About this piece

Hamlet wishes he was dead

Summary

The play is set in Denmark at the Castle Elsinore. The King Hamlet has just died and his brother, Claudius, has replaced him and also married his dead brother's wife, Gertrude. In the second scene of ACT I, Claudius addresses the court on his recent marriage to Gertrude, on political matters and also gives his blessings to Laertes, the son of the Lord Chamberlain Polonius, who is about to leave for France. He then turns to Hamlet, who is still mourning his father and doesn't seem to get over it. Even if it's natural to mourn his father's death, he argues, he should get over it. When everybody exits, Hamlet delivers this monologue. He wishes he was dead, he says, and that God hadn't made suicide a sin. He laments his father's death and curses his mother for marrying Claudius right after losing her husband.

Tone

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