The Tragedy of Hamlet - A Complete Analysis (Shakespeare's Works Explained)

The Tragedy of Hamlet, written by Shakespeare sometime 1599 and 1602 is a play that sees a young prince seek revenge against the uncle who killed his father.
If only he did a little thinking and a little more stabbing.
0:59 - The Story of Hamlet
8:43 - Prince Hamlet Character Analysis
19:20 - King Claudius Character Analysis
25:12 - Queen Gertrude Character Analysis
29:29 - Ophelia Character Analysis
35:18 - Polonius Character Analysis
41:04 - Themes of Hamlet
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[@TimesTalesTreasures]

0:59 - The Story of Hamlet 8:43 - Prince Hamlet Character Analysis 19:20 - King Claudius Character Analysis 25:12 - Queen Gertrude Character Analysis 29:29 - Ophelia Character Analysis 35:18 - Polonius Character Analysis 41:04 - Themes of Hamlet

[@priyaaggarwal238]

Please add subtitles for easy to understand your wordings

[@tvbowl2039]

Throughout the time I hear Hamlet’s story(fiction I know) I never saw Hamlet as a mad man, but someone feigning “madness” I find him very relatable in some ways. He despairs over the circumstances he is given caught in indecisiveness. Neither option really was good, ignoring the request of his father’s ghost means nearly abandoning his role as his son and someone who doesn’t let injustice slip away. On the other hand there were many things to look at in the decision to kill Claudious. I agree with the moral lessons the play is said to have made, but I just find Hamlet intriguing because I found his decisions to be similar to how I would react sadly. The reason I say Hamlet feins madness is because he thought himself into a hole, finding all the perfect excuses to use that would make himself very justified for not taking action. It’s subtle and not easy for some people like myself to see, Hamlet makes it easy for us and himself to feel sorry for him. His “feigning madness” could be looked at as excusing himself to be incompetent in order to stall. It’s a subtle move because the only way to call his bluff is to say to him that he is wrong for being distraught over his circumstances, but due to so many ways to defend himself you can be easily picked on for sounding immoral. I feel I relate to Hamlet in some ways, I don’t see him as a mad man but a very intelligent, self righteous, manipulative man, so tricky he tricks himself too. Someone who is too afraid of the unknown to decide anything, yet too desperate from wanting it all that he loses far more and gets in his own way. I feel the video explains it all far better, and I appreciate hearing so many points of view on the same story.

[@danielgreef8661]

Thanks. This is exactly what I needed. The fear of the unknown i.e. abyss is known for causing problems hey. Jordan Peterson refers alot to this when he speaks about Nietzsche. Although he says Dostoevsky is the practical key and tool out of this mess we call life. Thank you very much for sharing your insights. I am sure this play will always be such a fascinating enigma that makes your brain do some serious heavy lifting. Thanks again.

[@HillaryMarek]

Same!

[@mitchelllevine5664]

Lol, Dostoevsky, who believed salvation is only possible through degradation & suffering 😅

[@julielynn86]

Nicely done. I disagree with you, though, about Hamlet being maudlin and basically wallowing in his grief. His father just died and he had only just discovered the wicked plot of his own uncle who murdered him, and in addition to that he was dealing with the swift and absurd marriage of his very own mother to the killer. He's justifiably reeling. :-)

[@Eris123451]

Interesting, although I've always believed that his madness which robs him of non of his shrewdness was largely feigned in order to seem completely harmless, bewildered and above all nonthreatening to his homicidal uncle.

[@BlastinRope]

Men are held to a higher standard. Full stop.

[@BanesBasement]

​@@Eris123451 These things aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. He could very well be genuinely emotionally reeling, yet spinning it shrewdly to his advantage in his plot to eliminate Claudius.

[@diamondinferno42069]

A very good overall analysis of this dark tragedy, thank you for your hard work!

[@YLprime]

Polonius the definition of wrong place and wrong time. lol

[@Laocoon283]

Political espionage is not being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The rat got what was coming.

[@Tomfreed]

I don't like polonius

[@mitchelllevine5664]

The victim of his own hypocrisy!

[@medemede8401]

Hamlet tells Ophelia "Where's your father?"..." Let the doors be shut upon him,that he may fool no where but in's own house."

[@17ThisGuy38]

Now to write my literature essay tomorrow 🙂

[@solefreakks7905]

How did you do ?

[@shannen22able]

My turn now

[@dat_boy_be_rolln2058]

@@shannen22able same haven’t read the book for 9 months And I have my mid term on it tomorrow

[@dezzyayeh5678]

My Turn

[@azilecsa1294]

Duude 💔

[@delsingray5923]

As someone who has lost family to murder, telling someone to man up to get over it is fucked up and it's more about you not wanting to deal with them rather than the person suffering. It just doesn't work like that and losing someone that way hits different than just someone dying of old age or sickness. Depression is also a legitimate illness. And it is crippling. It is not some made up thing. Its just as real as a broken leg or a stab wound. Prince Hamlet is rather legitimate in feeling the way he does. Princes are offspring of a monarch. They aren't royalty due to choice, but born into it. The standards you're projecting are 100% socially constructed. You could say "this person is supposed to be a king one day" ok? They are just a person at the end of the day. Or did you not understand the soliloquy?

[@areebatanveer7043]

THIS! I believe that he was quite irrational and ended up becoming ugly in rage at certain points butt given the situation, it was highly understandable! This video is great but a bit biased.

[@hannahchuawenning8201]

It is interesting that you said Hamlet doesn't think about Denmark's political state. In my class, we were taught that he carries the burden of the state on his shoulders on top of his own problems, as he is trying to get rid of the source of corruption in the state.

[@zaakirahahmed4246]

If by that you mean Claudius , Hamlet wants to get rid of him purely for personal reasons I'm pretty sure

[@hannahchuawenning8201]

@@zaakirahahmed4246 The way my teacher interpreted it was that Hamlet is trying to get rid of Claudius not just for personal revenge, but also because Claudius is the source of the corruption spreading in the country. Hamlet, being a prince, feels he has to live up to his duty to save the state, which includes removing Claudius. So he ends up with two reasons to get rid of Claudius.

[@smirglepapier531]

@@hannahchuawenning8201 that might be because we try to see the best in the protagonist. To say that Hamlet only longed for revenge would make him a 'selfish' character. To simply state that he is doing it for the betterment of his kingdom would make him noble. I think it depends on how you *want* to look at it. I like the selfish approach better but that might only be me

[@cam5816]

@@smirglepapier531I thought Hamlet just hated Claudius because he’s ugly

[@IvanYamilLopez]

I see Hamlet's final words as another pun. Not that the rest of his life is more doubt and therefore dull silence, but that his eventual death (the REST) silences his doubts, maybe not because he has answers, but because he knows that there is no point in doubting anymore. Another way of seeing it is by calling back to his most famous soliloquy, to be or not to be. His rest provides silence because that question was answered.

[@HillaryMarek]

So I have this way I performed Hamlet when I was in the all female production a few years back. I see the line "to die, to sleep, no more" not as we will sleep no more but as, dying is no more than going to sleep. And he is trying to rationalize the act of death as not being something to fear because it will be just like going to sleep. But then he realizes that doesn't make sense because you don't dream when you die, you just die. Does anyone else read it with that meaning or is it just me? People who saw me do it that way in the play had strong opinions about my misinterpreted ideas on the works. But some came to tell me that one small detail changed the way they saw the whole soliloquy and they loved it. Curious to hear your thoughts.

[@EdgarFrog]

Personally, I love that change! I hate that some people seem to want to gatekeep Shakespeare's work. I think we need to be willing to tweak it and play it with it. I wish I could have seen that! I love all female plays, they give women a chance to play characters we otherwise may never get to play.

[@annaoop7171]

Who else is told to watch this for school work during quarantine

[@spareaccount6660]

Anna Oop me ✌🏼

[@annaoop7171]

@Sumia Dale same and we have to watch 30 minutes of this 😣

[@yumemii2909]

I thought it was only me ha

[@mannyvko]

meee

[@hiyorioh]

@Sumia Dale lol fun

[@sarahcarmody628]

29:50 had me spit my coffee out. What a missed opportunity 😹

[@user-uy4jc3zz5p]

Dude. What an amazing analysis. Dude just wonderful. Love it. Please share more videos.♥️💯

[@annamariejerpseth1588]

I loved it!!! your voice is so soothing!

[@thejudgmentalcat]

"...rather than the energy vampire that is Hamlet" I lost my shit on that one. I'd rather dine with the gravediggers myself. There's a reason Robin Williams played one.

[@josiahcmiller]

Was there some stage version where he did?

[@MichaelBizaare]

Good sense of humour and well-articulated. Thank you.

[@atulkadpatil]

@The Legends of Literature I have been listening to you commentaries on the three plays of Shakespeare and for me its worth it..and i am sure others are also listening to it.

[@evangelineangel97]

Merry early Christmas legends of literature. Could we do Jekyll and Hyde next? It seems like such a good story to crack down it's mystery. Behind the plot and characters mentality.

[@TimesTalesTreasures]

Defo on my list

[@evangelineangel97]

@@TimesTalesTreasures awesome I can't wait to crack down it's mystery with ur storytelling.

[@angelinamckinney2728]

Ooh, that would be awesome if he did like a whole Horror Literature series. Dracula, Frankenstein, or even the penny dreadfuls tales. I would definitely be down to hear a retelling of Jekyll and Hyde.

[@morwrii]

I have always interpreted the quote "to be, or not to be" based on experience. I was thinking about whether I made a mistake or not. Now I see someone else made the same interpretation ^^

[@justsomecreatureofthisearth]

Great analysis, thanks for posting.

[@shugyosha7924]

Fantastic analysis - very interesting to watch. Thank you!

[@Zelene48]

16:13 to 17:12 My man really came after Hamlet especially that bus part😂😂😂😂

[@jisnajoseph5532]

Thank you so much. The best description so far i have heard 🌟🔥

[@crownthesun3128]

Excellent video. It’s worth mentioning things can reach more of an audience (the next generation) with time. The doubt of your art form can change throughout time as new people find you. Just a take on doubt major theme

[@maximilianwenning371]

Very enlightening!! I think Hamlet is a very nice play :-D thank you!!! Best wishes Max

[@umitburcugoksel7661]

Hamlet does remind me of flagellants in a more psychological sense. He has a path to walk. Like his soul purpose which reminds me of destiny. I do consider Hamlet as some of meczup or the fool in Sufism. And I also perceive the other characters as the personification of sins in an allegorical way. I think this masterpiece has deep theological roots and surface.

[@smoly37]

This was really fun to listen to. It's obvious that Shakespeare had deep psychological insight of human nature. To the maker of this video: very interesting and a good overview of the leading characters; you compare some subjects to the present, and ay, there's the rub! What I do miss in your interpretation is in fact that men and women in de 15/1600th century, especially in the higher positions, did not consider love at all, when it came to marriage. Marriage was a business model to connect one's name with another and thus make sure de bloodlines continued. The deep considerations about Hamlet loving Ophelia or Gertrude loving Claudius or having loved Hamlets father is in my opinion too modern an interpretation. Sorry if I make spelling-mistakes. I'm from Amsterdam in Holland.

[@tessccco4835]

Thank you so much for this video. I was not very happy with my English Studies so far (probably because I cant seem to be able to motivate myself to read Shakespeare), but your content made me actually be super interested and intrigued. You create a wonderul atmosphere, the hour flew by!!! Stay safe and healthy :) xx

[@mukwevho-kieee5029]

This was informative, humourous and really helpful. Thank you!

[@wendallily6010]

Amazing video. Well explained! You've done such an amazing job :) thank you❤️

[@daniwiser]

Thanks man.... idk if you'll see this, it's bean a big minute since its release, but, thanks, rlly thanks

[@owamink]

This was very helpful thank you very much.

[@benedictjajo]

Now I don't have to read it for my exams. 😆 Thanks

[@hiyorioh]

@Commie Gobbledygook oo

[@zaakirahahmed4246]

@Commie Gobbledygook I soooo badly want to but i can't get it anywhere :'(

[@boitumelomaila]

Coming back for the second time as you saved me last exam 😭😭🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@h29452]

Thank you so much for this! I've been struggling with a university paper and this just helped things click for me

[@viktoras7664]

Thanks for the free information, I hope my time was worthy enough of your work.

[@paulascott5701]

He is in mourning for his father's recent death. This is a death that isn't just a loss, it is a loss that put a nation on his shoulders....sort of. The man who murdered his father and seduced his vacuous mother has plenty of motive to murder HIM as well. Hamlet can't lean on her for advise, support or guidance. He is the princes in the tower, knowing that everyone would think he is paranoid if he expressed the knowledge. They've already got spies posing as friends in his life. Claudius didn't eliminate his "enemies", he murdered his brother to seize the throne and Hamlet is next. He is a gaslighter. Hamlet is surrounded by powerful, sophisticated enemies, has no allies and is too young to know what to do about it. That is how I see it.

[@majorieadjei4987]

Great analysis 👍

[@gary2555]

Excellent analysis

[@hikeshio]

Ophelia - 'Hamlets Main Squeeze' 🤣

[@quintonbroster2994]

I had to smile when you said that Hamlet needs a good slap and be told to man up. Thats certainly an old school way of dealing with depression and grief but definitely not the way it is taught today to deal with these mental problems.

[@souviendra]

love that you call Hamlet an energy vampire 🪫

[@samsungtablet2035]

Literally, you are the best

[@dominictaylor9871]

Your analysis was perfectly executed

[@northsiiproductions]

watched the whole thing thank youuuuu

[@joshron99]

The video is good. If the plot and characters were balanced and logical-- and in a perfect world they would be (and as the narrator would seem to like), we would not have a timeless work but rather a mission statement written by a committee. Good summary and I even liked the commentary.

[@elizabethmadrid405]

I have a test on Hamlet and fell asleep when we watched it in class...so thank you

[@HidingPlainSight]

You're my favorite. -thanks

[@pandora4541]

33:47 Hamlet the original nice guy

[@roxanakeresztes7208]

Very very delicate presentation

[@louiedarlow]

Haha you proper have it in for Hamlet, I wonder why? After all he is a boy with no fatherly figure and who is stuck in a dreadful, depressing situation. What more can you expect, he is losing his soul.

[@spigosaur]

sorry, I'm really enjoying this analysis but I find it funny how you messure the love from son to father by how willing they are to avenge their murdered father xD I'd argue that there are other aspects playing into that willingness, like the way Polonius was treated after death (not properly burried and everything) and straight up just personality

[@someoneunknown111]

Lmao, here the night before my final and this is one of the two works I picked. I hope I'm lucky and this one is picked by the school

[@Brontephile]

Loved this 👍🏼

[@lechabephayane8466]

Thank you soooooo much

[@angelinamckinney2728]

@The legends of Literature I absolutely love all of your videos. Your retelling of stories and myths are phenomenal, to say the least. I would hope to make a request for a video on Midsummer Nights Dream by Shakespeare if possible The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas.. That aside, your mike on and working well, and I as a fan and happy to continue watching your videos on this channel and the next. Thank you for the content you provide.

[@timtam3730]

I can't pay attention to what you're saying because the art of Hamlet that you used makes him look unreasonably handsome 😅

[@ricmorpheus2025]

Inside the Christian morality, The living messing with the affairs of the dead ( by withcraft, ouija and so on) is very wrong and brings desasters to you and the others around. Well, in the play we have the ghost of the deacesed Dane King - whom torment his son asking hum for ravenge - now it is the other way around: we have the dead messing with the affairs of the living resulting in desaster for his son and those around him. And the legacy of the dead king - his son, his reing, his crown, all dead! Maybe if the Ghost King never ever talked to his son, all of what happaned would never takes place.

[@markearoper]

Ok here is a happy guy Who is confronted with some very difficult challenges rather suddenly. His uncle murdered his father and he is being told to murder him. His mother is sleeping with the murderer unknowingly . Most of us could relate with the uncomfortable of killing someone, having your mother sleep with the murderer of your father . He is surrounded by ambitious sycophants and asked to live by the simplistic rules laid out by polonius in his soliloquy. Hamlet is not mad but conflicted by the heavy responsabilités laid upon him. Most of the profound points of this play have failed to give rise to serious thought in your analysis.

[@apoorvasastry7073]

I completely agree!

[@torniketvalchrelidze4099]

Not to mention, being told to murder his uncle by his father's phantom.

[@makszy4409]

Thank you for getting good grades on my tests

[@mrsvm6221]

I mean, it was a game of thrones all of the time back in the day. Hamlet would be ‘ mad’ if he didn’t see King Hamlet’s assassination coming or to eventually find out it was murder.

[@mrigendrasingh.8489]

Great job Sir... 🙏💖

[@joshgtm3266]

i have to admit i partially am hamlet.majority of the time i may hesitate and need a true full fledged reason to do something that could possibly be important. i can be interested in a girl but i completely mess up in the first instance or i take so long they've already dated and gone through the wringer i'm forgotten. i a sport i am strong enough to compete but i just cant bring myself to put my body into action. i would have a problem with someone and want to express it but i feel i don't cause enough fear or my confidence is wavered so i refrain. "well i do not need it anyways" when truly i need it most definitely.

[@zoliledlabom1276]

I had no idea what was really going on in the play 😕 Thanks a lot😏

[@Moyeesworld]

Very helpful thanks..

[@ollyf5088]

13:40 This is incorrect. Hamlet does sense something wrong with the fencing match and Horatio implores him to listen to his senses and cancel the match. Did you not read this part?

[@wikingolofsson4384]

brilliant

[@SlightlySusan]

although Hamlet can be performed as you define it, I disagree with you. The audience quickly learns how soon the marriage of H's widowed mother married her brother-in-law after the death of her husband. Grief is not that easily overcome. Considering how Henry VIII had his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled on the basis of consanguinity, I think it was pretty cheeky of Shakespeare to adapt the story of Saxo Grammaticus' Amleth in quite that way. Grief is either buried or treated. Old Hamlet is just two months dead -- with all manner of suspicion (at least on my part!) about the death -- which is not sufficient time to overcome the grief over the death of a parent. Hamlet does not kill Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He tricks the king of England into doing it. But, Hamlet knows that R and G have sold their souls and their honesty to the king and queen who paid the boys to spy on Hamlet. The boys heaped pain on their former friend. Don't forget that English men and their monarchs are painted as not very bright in this play, but, as evil people. Strike 2, Shakespeare. The other thing to consider is that Fortinbras is the opposite of Hamlet although they are both Scandinavians.

[@paruvasant1]

Great work. I liked your analysis though I may not agree with your views on some charecters

[@owamink]

17:14 lol verrr true

[@robschoenbaum2593]

Excellent.

[@ernstjung6234]

What i have understood from your point is a cling on the yang, basically a whole narrative built clinging on the energy of the yang, which is basicaly the polar opposite of Hamlet's extreme Yin. But in the end, in taoism, neither Yin or Yang have morals since morals are biased, created by humans to befit subjective collective or personal standards.

[@ernstjung6234]

"Hamlet is flawed" the meter of perfection itself is a subjective landscape influenced by the instinctual drive.

[@ernstjung6234]

You also said it yourself, the reason why Hamlet didn't strike Claudius is because of an emotional detachment from it. It,s more of a dutiful thinh for Hamlet to do than something he is truly passionate about. Hamlet is a character that is stuck in Yin/Chaotic energy and that romanticize it, his own whining is part of his identity. He clashes with Claudius because he is youuth energy that is extreme in Yin, he is disturbed, not very much structured, in search of his yang. Meanwhile Claudius is extremist Yang energy that tries to keep up his Yang with some Yin energy. He plans to destruct to keep what he constructed. Here is a confrontation of the new vs. the old. Of the unguided (as you mentioned) vs. the experience. They are both at opposite spectrums and that's what makes Hamlet interesting. The play doesn't have an inherent 'to do" philosophy. Shakespeare is fatalistic at his core, it's all about acceptance of causal effects. One tries to seek up something but stick to what they know because of familiarity. Same thing with your bentley quote, it's personal preference, it's influenced through personal experience just like how Hamlet was influenced to be like he is and it's part of his identity, just like how Claudius scrupulousness and status became part of his. The Yin became his Yang, becoming frustrated his part of Yin energy. Both are just two different energies that collided.

[@dindnt]

I can’t understand the original so I’m here

[@nickgoodwood4812]

When post modernism meets life itself you get this analysis.

[@natecw45]

😏 nice.

[@aqibkhan2706]

Dude can you cover Dr. FAUSTAS by Christopher marlowe pls...

[@thebanished87]

reading the play, I don't believe Hamlet is insane at all. On the contrary, he is quite aware of what's happening and spends his time plotting on how he can expose and kill Claudius but in a fair way so that he and his father will be vindicated.

[@xmaseveeve5259]

Ophellia...? What think you of ontology...?

[@Platinumwarthog]

This slaps! Who the frick is disliking?

[@macrograms]

Is the character of Hamlet based upon the real life of Christopher Marlowe? He was a walking disaster engine. . .

[@oberonstar6278]

will did not write the play he is a trader in oats and barley

[@roxanakeresztes7208]

To be or not to be .... 💕

[@bolbelikan1583]

Have little confidence in this narrator. He starts without even knowing when it was written. My god, dude!

[@SophiaBennet]

Hemlet means all human

[@sydneywilliams1536]

you're funny 😂💕

[@kgosikoshana7155]

thanks needed. this lol

[@llwydanwyl]

oph-ELL-ia?? really? it’s opheeelia

[@noaavivi5404]

You sound just like the one from ted

[@ozzy5146]

I have trouble understanding the narration. Needs better enunciation, and a little slower.. Thanks.

[@ernstjung6234]

Funny how you complain about him being a whiner but at the same time you're whining and doing the same thing he is doing through the play, that's a lot of emotional intelligence at display right here.

[@mimifuller2558]

No idea how Claudius is one of ur favorite characters… bless ur heart but I disagree completely

[@anniedarkhorse6791]

Please learn to pronounce 'Ophelia' and 'Elsinor'.

[@miguillos]

The ending and your video kinda proves how wrong Hamlet is. Like perhaps your video could be considered garbage by someone, probably yourself from today, but you wouldn't be where you are had it not been cause you decided to act and make the video. So in short just do it

[@WithinAReveriee]

This was very well done :)