By William Shakespeare

LEAD IN

Read the following story which is loosely based on the plot of Hamlet.

Winston Hamlet and his brother Roger are partners in a successful business. Roger is having an affair with Winston's wife, Geraldine. Together they plan to kill Winston so that Roger will become the sole owner of the company. While away on a fishing trip together, Roger pushes his brother overboard, and manages to convince the police that the drowning was an accident. Just two months later he marries Geraldine.

Winston's son, Freddie, is horrified at his father's death and his mother's remarriage. When he receives an anonymous letter saying that his uncle killed his father, he decides to take the law into his own hands. As Winston is sitting in a restaurant with Geraldine, Freddie walks in and shoots him dead. He then asks the restaurant owner to call the police and waits calmly until he is arrested. In court, he is found guilty of murder.

The judge is about to pass sentence. You are the judge. Choose one of the following sentences and explain why you chose it.

• Life-in-prison

• A prison sentence (specify for how long)

• A fine (specify how much)

•House arrest (specify for how long)

• Any other sentence?

INTRODUCTION ◊ Hamlet is probably the best-known character from Shakespeare's plays. He is a young man who has to deal with the terrible trauma caused by his father's murder. What intrigues many theatre-goers and literary critics is Hamlet's psychological make-up. Is he strong or weak? Is he really mad or is he only pretending? These and many more questions continue to be asked about this fascinating character.

CHARACTERS

• Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

• Ghost of Old Hamlet, Hamlet's father and former king

• Claudius, current King of Denmark and former king's brother

• Gertrude, Queen of Denmark and Hamlet's mother

• Polonius, close adviser to Claudius and father to Ophelia and Laertes

• Ophelia, Polonius's daughter, in love with Hamlet

• Laertes, Polonius's son

THE STORY

Claudius kills his brother Old Hamlet, marries his widow Gertrude and becomes King of Denmark. One evening Hamlet sees his father's ghost who asks him to avenge his death. From that day on he starts to act strangely and seems, to many people, to be going mad. He dearly wants to get revenge by killing Claudius but finds it hard to actually do it.

He rejects Ophelia, and continues to behave very oddly. Claudius begins to suspect that. he might know something about the murder and asks Polonius to spy on him. While Hamlet is talking to his mother, Polonius hides behind a curtain to overhear what is being said. Hamlet realises someone is there and stabs Polonius to death through the curtain.

Claudius then decided to send Hamlet away to England with two of courtiers
(Rosencrantz and Guildenstern), who are under orders to kill him. Hamlet
outsmarts them and returns home to learn that Ophelia has died in a state of
madness and desperation.

In a final attempt to get rid of Hamlet, Claudius organises a sword fight between him and Laertes. His plan goes terribly wrong, however, and although Hamlet does die, Claudius, Gertrude and Laertes are also killed.

‘ To be, or not to be - that is the question.'

A scene from the film Hamlet (1990),

starring Mel Gibson.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14