Horatio's Story

Dear Fortinbras,

After what happened here today in Elsinore, I'm quiet sure that you're probably confused and full of sadness. Some of the people who died here today deserve to be remembered, whereas others do not. I'm here to tell you the real story of what happened and how it led to these many deaths.

It all started when a ghost appeared, that looked like King Hamlet. This ghost spoke to Hamlet saying that he was the ghost of his deceased father. The ghost told Hamlet how he was murdered by the new king, Claudius, and he ordered Hamlet to avenge his death. After meeting with the ghost, Hamlet was unsure of what to do next. He started acting crazy while he came up with a good plan.

A short time after, Hamlet came up with an idea to prove that Claudius was guilty. He had players perform a scene closely resembling the sequence by which his uncle would have murdered his father. During this important scene, just as the king is being murdered, Claudius rose and cried out "Give me some light. Away!" This proved that Claudius was guilty, making Hamlet even more certain that Claudius must die.

After the play, Claudius felt threaten by Hamlet's madness and decided to send Hamlet away to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Before leaving, Hamlet went to talk with his mother. While talking to Gertrude, Hamlet stabbed Polonius thinking he was King Claudius. The death of Polonius was very hard for Ophelia to deal with and not too long after she died drowning in the river.

Hamlet who was on a ship heading towards England, found out that the letter that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were carrying was a letter requesting that the English kill him. Knowing that information, Hamlet changed the letter so that it told the English to kill Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. While at sea, their ship was attacked by pirates and Hamlet switched boats in the process. He returned to Denmark with the pirates just in time to catch Ophelia's funeral.

Upon Hamlet's return, a fencing match was arranged between him and Laertes. The sword-fighting