'Hamlet' order of events

What happens in Act One?

>Horatio sees the Ghost

>Claudius tells the court to mourn his brother but also to celebrate his marriage

>Horatio tells Hamlet about the Ghost

>Laertes and Polonius tell Ophelia to reject Hamlet

>Hamlet speaks to his father's ghost who tells him he was killed by Claudius and wants revenge, Hamlet decides to pretend to be mad

What happens in Act Two

>Ophelia tells Polonius about Hamlet's strange behavior

>Claudius asks R&G to spy on Hamlet

>Polonius tells Claudius about his suspicions and they decide to spy on Ophelia and Hamlet

>Hamlet makes R&G confess that they're working for Claudius

>A group of players arrive and Hamlet asks them to perform an altered play to reveal Claudius's guilt

What happens in Act Three?

>Claudius and Polonius hide and wait for Hamlet to meet Ophelia

>Hamlet reacts angrily to Ophelia and her betrayal, Claudius is worried by Hamlet's behavior and decides to send him to England

>Hamlet tells the players how to act in his play and explains the plot to the room as the players perform, Claudius calls for the play to stop and leaves

>Claudius tries to pray and admits that he's guilty, Hamlet finds him praying but doesn't kill him

>Hamlet confronts Gertrude for betraying his father, while Polonius hides, Polonius calls for help but Hamlet stabs him thinking it's Claudius

>The Ghost reappears to remind Hamlet of his quest, Hamlet tells his mother that he's only faking madness but warns her not to tell Claudius

What happens in Act Four?

>Gertrude tells Claudius that Hamlet is mad and has killed Polonius, Claudius is scared and decides to send Hamlet away

>Claudius sends R&G to find out where Hamlet's hidden Polonius's body but he refuses to tell them

>Claudius tells Hamlet that he's sending him to England with R&G

>Hamlet watches Fortinbras's army march across Denmark and compares himself to the prince of Norway

>Ophelia goes mad from grief and starts singing songs, Laertes returns to seek revenge for his father's death

>Horatio receives a letter from Hamlet, explaining that he's escaped from the ship and is returning to Denmark

>Claudius tells Laertes that Hamlet killed Polonius, they devise a plan to kill Hamlet

>Gertrude announces that Ophelia has drowned

What happens in Act Five?

>Hamlet and Horatio discuss death with a gravedigger

>Hamlet discovers that Ophelia has died and fights Laertes over who loved her more

>Hamlet explains to Horatio how he sent R&G to their deaths instead of him

>Osric tells Hamlet that Laertes has challenged Hamlet to a fencing match

>Hamlet apologizes to Laertes and the match goes ahead. During the fight both are stabbed by the poison blade

>Gertrude toasts Hamlet and drinks the poisoned wine and dies, Laertes reveals that Claudius was responsible and Hamlet both stabs and makes Claudius drink the wine. Both Laertes and Claudius die

>Before Hamlet dies he tells Horatio that Fortinbras should be the next king, Fortinbras arrives and finds everyone dead before taking the Danish throne