Hamlet – Scene List (with events)

Act I

1.1 – Platform before Elsinore

  • Ghost of Old Hamlet appears to Barnardo, Marcellus, and Horatio; they decide to tell Hamlet.

1.2 – State room in the castle

  • Claudius announces his marriage to Gertrude and deals with Norway.
  • Laertes gets leave to return to France.
  • Hamlet mourns his father; “O that this too too solid flesh…”
  • Horatio tells Hamlet about the Ghost; Hamlet resolves to watch that night.

1.3 – Polonius’ house

  • Laertes warns Ophelia about Hamlet.
  • Polonius gives Laertes maxims (“To thine own self be true”); forbids Ophelia to see Hamlet.

1.4 – The platform

  • Hamlet sees the Ghost; follows it despite friends’ protests.

1.5 – Another part of the platform

  • Ghost reveals Claudius murdered him; urges Hamlet to “remember.”
  • Hamlet swears to avenge; makes Horatio and Marcellus swear secrecy; adopts “antic disposition.”

Act II

2.1 – Polonius’ house

  • Polonius sends Reynaldo to spy on Laertes.
  • Ophelia reports Hamlet’s disheveled visit; Polonius concludes Hamlet is mad for love.

2.2 – A room in the castle

  • Claudius/Gertrude enlist Rosencrantz & Guildenstern to spy.
  • Ambassadors report Fortinbras’ redirected campaign.
  • Polonius presents his “love-madness” theory; arranges to spy on Hamlet and Ophelia.
  • Players arrive; Hamlet requests “The Murder of Gonzago” with added lines to “catch the conscience of the king.”
  • “O what a rogue and peasant slave am I” soliloquy.

Act III

3.1 – A room in the castle

  • R & G report little progress.
  • Polonius/Claudius spy on Hamlet and Ophelia.
  • Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be” soliloquy; rejects Ophelia.
  • Claudius decides to send Hamlet to England.

3.2 – Hall / the play

  • Hamlet coaches the Players (“Speak the speech…”).
  • The play’s murder mirrors Old Hamlet’s death; Claudius rises and stops the show.
  • Hamlet is certain of Claudius’ guilt; “’Tis now the very witching time of night…”

3.3 – Another room

  • Claudius attempts to pray, confessing guilt; Hamlet spares him, fearing to send him to heaven.

3.4 – Gertrude’s closet

  • Hamlet confronts Gertrude; kills Polonius hiding behind the arras.
  • Ghost appears to Hamlet (seen only by him) urging mercy for Gertrude.
  • Hamlet urges his mother to abstain from Claudius’ bed.

Act IV

4.1 – A room in the castle

  • Gertrude tells Claudius Hamlet killed Polonius; Claudius orders Hamlet seized.

4.2 – Another room

  • Hamlet evades Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about Polonius’ body.

4.3 – Another room

  • Dark comedy about the body (“Not where he eats, but where he is eaten”).
  • Claudius sends Hamlet to England, secretly ordering his execution.

4.4 – A plain in Denmark

  • Hamlet meets Fortinbras’ captain; reflects on honor and action (“How all occasions do inform against me”).

4.5 – A room in the castle

  • Ophelia’s mad songs; Laertes storms in seeking revenge.
  • Claudius manipulates Laertes.

4.6 – Another room

  • Sailors deliver Hamlet’s letters to Horatio: Hamlet escaped pirates and is returning.

4.7 – Another room

  • Claudius and Laertes plot: poisoned rapier and backup poisoned cup.
  • News of Ophelia’s drowning.

Act V

5.1 – Churchyard

  • Gravedigger scene; Yorick’s skull; Hamlet’s reflections on mortality.
  • Ophelia’s funeral; brawl in the grave between Hamlet and Laertes.

5.2 – Hall in the castle

  • Hamlet recounts altering the English commission to doom R & G.
  • Osric invites Hamlet to fence Laertes.
  • The match: Laertes wounds Hamlet; blades are switched; both are wounded.
  • Gertrude drinks the poisoned cup; Laertes confesses plot; Hamlet kills Claudius.
  • Hamlet dies, naming Fortinbras; Fortinbras arrives and takes command; Horatio promises to tell the story.

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