Timeline

BEFORE THE EVENTS OF THE PLAY (important and influential offstage pre-show occurences):

1. Hamlet's father, Hamlet Sr., has died. The details surrounding his death are unclear, but it was sudden and unexpected. 💥

2. Denmark, the country over which Hamlet Sr. formerly ruled over and the setting for the play, has been feuding with Norway for a long time. There is good reason to fear an invasion from Fortinbras, prince of Norway, into Denmark. ✨

3. Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, has married Claudius, Hamlet's uncle and brother to the former king. ➕

4. Hamlet has been wooing Ophelia, daughter of Polonius and sister of Laertes. She is of lower social standing than him, though her father is an influential advisor to the King (formerly Hamlet Sr., now Claudius).

5. Hamlet, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern have been away at university in Wittenberg. Hamlet has returned home to Denmark for his father's funeral/mother's wedding.

THE EVENTS OF THE PLAY:

1. Bernardo and Marcellus are keeping watch, awaiting the arrival of Horatio, who they hope will be able to advise their next course of action regarding a *ghostly* appearance.

2. Horatio arrives and sees the ghost of Hamlet Sr.

3. Claudius and Gertrude receive Hamlet and observe his melancholy.

4. Laertes leaves for France, receives advice from Polonius before he leaves.

5. Ophelia is warned against continuing her romance with Hamlet by Laertes and Polonius.

6. Hamlet is brought to see the ghost by Horatio. Upon doing so, the ghost instructs him to avenge his father's death by killing his uncle, but to act merciful towards his mother. Hamlet determines to use madness as a cover to investigate the matter further before acting.

7. Hamlet and Ophelia meet (offstage) in her room. She describes his erratic behavior to Polonius who incorrectly ascertains it to be lovesickness.

8. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive in Denmark, invited by Claudius. Hamlet is suspicious of their intentions and decides to maintain his ruse of madness.

9. Hamlet orders a troupe of actors (The Players) to stage The Murder of Gonzago, a play with striking similarities to the events of Hamlet Sr.'s murder, for the royal court in order to gauge Claudius' reaction and determine his guilt.

10. Ophelia is made to return Hamlet's love tokens by Polonius, who watches alongside Claudius as Hamlet denies his love for her ("get thee to a nunnery!"). This convinces Claudius that Hamlet's madness is not lovesickness.

11. The play is performed! Claudius has a reaction to the poisoning of the king and storms off. Hamlet is convinced that this indicates his guilt.

12. Claudius attempts to repent, Hamlet hesitates to kill him in prayer since his father died in dishonor and killing Claudius in this way would allow his soul to get to heaven.

13. Polonius has agreed to hide out in Gertrude's room during her conversation with Hamlet. When Hamlet arrives in Gertrude's room, an argument commences. Enraged, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, mistaking him for Claudius eavesdropping. He then sees Hamlet Sr.'s ghost and Gertrude is further convinced of his madness.

14. Claudius sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with Hamlet to England with a letter containing orders to execute Hamlet. To escape, Hamlet switches the letter with one ordering the execution of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern instead. He has a little adventure with some pirates, and then returns to Denmark.

15. Ophelia goes mad with grief for the death of her father. Laertes arrives home and swears revenge. Claudius convinces Laertes that Hamlet is responsible and comes up with a scheme to ensure Hamlet's death.

16. Ophelia dies (kills herself? accidental? open to interpretation), offstage.

17. Hamlet arrives back in Denmark, meets up with Horatio, and they meet the gravediggers at Ophelia's funeral. Laertes and Hamlet fight inside of Ophelia's open grave.

18. Laertes challenges Hamlet to a duel. Secretly, he has a poison-tipped lance. Claudius has also poisoned the wine.

19. Gertrude drinks the wine, and in her final moments warns Hamlet of the betrayal. Laertes' blade hits Hamlet, who in turn wounds Laertes with his own weapon. Hamlet then stabs Claudius and forces him to drink the poison. 

20. Hamlet dies in Horatio's arms as Fortinbras arrives with his army, and Hamlet names him as successor.  

💥of note: he was killed "in sin", while passed out drunk under a tree, and his soul has been trapped in purgatory as a result.

✨in our production, Fortinbras as a character has been cut. 

➕of note: Royalty, authority, and rulership in Shakespeare is never neutral. The interpersonal strife in the home bleeds into the success of the kingdom. When Marcellus says "there's something rotten in the state of Denmark", he is pointing to this exact tension. For royalty, personal or private affairs and state affairs are always tightly linked. A treasonous leader can lead to the downfall of a kingdom, or at the least the need for a drastic change in leadership.