Copy of Hamlet Data Sheet Jamie Jennings - Google Docs -...

Jamie Jennings
English IV Honors
Title: Hamlet
Author: William Shakespeare
Date of Publication: 1603
Genre: Tragedy
Historical Information:
(This should be historical information about the era the book was written)
Hamlet was written and published in the early seventeenth century, London England, during the
Elizabethan era. The Elizabethan era takes place during the height of the Renaissance, also
known as Britain’s “Golden Age”. Characterized by the revival of Greek and Roman culture, the
emphasis of humanism, individualism and secularism produced great cultural and intellectual
works in the form of literature, music, science, and art. The height of exploration was taking
place as well as the protestant reformation. Also, in 1603 Queen Elizabeth dies, and her cousin
King James VI takes over, uniting Scotland and England. So, all of this is happening under the
rule of a highly centralized monarchy.
Biographical Information About the Author:
(This should include background of author as well as other works.)
William Shakespeare was born 1564 in Stratford in Avon, England. In 1582 he wedded Anne
Hathaway, an older woman, and had three children with her. Besides grammar school he did not
receive an education. Shakespeare dropped out of school at the age of 14. Around 1590 he went
to London in order to become an actor and a playwright, and left his family behind. Shakespeare
became one of the most successful playwrights of England, and was owner of the Globe theatre.
Queen Elizabeth and King James favored him. Shakespeare died in 1616, at the age of 52, in his
hometown. Other works by William Shakespeare include “Antony and Cleopatra”, “As You Like
It”, “The Comedy of Errors”, “Henry IV, Parts One and Two”, “Henry V”, “Julius Caesar”,
“King Lear”, “Macbeth”, “The Merchant of Venice”, “A Midsummer’s Night Dream”, “Much
Ado About Nothing”, “Othello”, “Richard III”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “Sonnets”, “The Taming of
the Shrew”, “The Tempest”, and “The Twelfth Night”.
Characteristics of Genre:
Type: Drama, Tragedy

Jamie Jennings
English IV Honors
Purpose: To express the great paradoxes of life.
Point of View: Third person omniscient
*******Detailed Plot Summary: Please put this in order by Acts/Scenes/Chapters :
(This is a detailed plot summary broken down into chapters. Please label the chapters or acts
accordingly.)
ACT 1: The guards see a ghost which they believe is the last King Hamlet. They decide to tell
his son, Hamlet, to see if he can get it to speak, for it won’t speak to anyone. Hamlet is very
upset because of the death of his father, the quick marriage of his mother Gertrude to his Uncle
Claudius, and his love Ophelia isn't talking to him. When Hamlet speaks to the ghost, it tells him
that his father was killed by Claudius in order to get power and to marry Gertrude. Hamlet thus
decides to begin a plan to avenge his father’s death.