Original: O my lord, my lord, I have been so affrighted!
Modern: Oh father, father, I have been so frightened!

Original: My lord, as I was sewing in my closet,
Modern: Father, as I was sewing in my private room,

Original: Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbrac’d,
Modern: Prince Hamlet came to me with his jacket completely undone,

Original: No hat upon his head, his stockings foul’d,
Modern: No hat on his head, his socks dirty,

Original: Ungart’red, and down-gyved to his ankle;
Modern: No garters holding them up, so they hung down around his ankles like chains;

Original: Pale as his shirt, his knees knocking each other,
Modern: As white as his shirt, his knees shaking and hitting each other,

Original: And with a look so piteous in purport
Modern: And with such a sad and desperate look

Original: As if he had been loosed out of hell
Modern: As if he had just been released from hell

Original: To speak of horrors- he comes before me.
Modern: To tell of terrible things—that’s how he appeared before me.

Original: My lord, I do not know,
Modern: Father, I don’t know,

Original: But truly I do fear it.
Modern: But I’m really afraid that it’s true.

Original: He took me by the wrist and held me hard;
Modern: He grabbed my wrist and held it tightly;

Original: Then goes he to the length of all his arm,
Modern: Then he stretched out his arm as far as it would go,

Original: And, with his other hand thus o’er his brow,
Modern: And with his other hand placed over his forehead,

Original: He falls to such perusal of my face
Modern: He began to study my face so intensely

Original: As he would draw it. Long stay’d he so.
Modern: As if he wanted to draw a picture of it. He stayed like that for a long time.

Original: At last, a little shaking of mine arm,
Modern: Finally, he shook my arm a little,

Original: And thrice his head thus waving up and down,
Modern: And nodded his head up and down three times,

Original: He rais’d a sigh so piteous and profound
Modern: He let out such a sad and deep sigh

Original: As it did seem to shatter all his bulk
Modern: That it seemed like it would break his whole body apart

Original: And end his being. That done, he lets me go,
Modern: And kill him. After that, he let me go,

Original: And with his head over his shoulder turn’d
Modern: And with his head turned back over his shoulder

Original: He seem’d to find his way without his eyes,
Modern: He seemed to walk away without looking where he was going,

Original: For out o’ doors he went without their help
Modern: Because he left the room without using his eyes to see

Original: And to the last bended their light on me.
Modern: And kept his gaze fixed on me until the very end.

In Act II, Scene i of Hamlet, Polonius instructs his servant Reynaldo to travel to Paris to spy on his son Laertes. Polonius gives Reynaldo money and letters for Laertes, but more importantly, he provides detailed instructions on how to gather information about his son’s behavior. He tells Reynaldo to approach other Danes in Paris indirectly, mentioning that he knows Laertes and then suggesting minor faults and wild behaviors to see if they confirm or deny such activities. Polonius believes this roundabout method of inquiry will reveal the truth about whether Laertes is gambling, drinking, frequenting brothels, or engaging in other questionable conduct. After giving these elaborate instructions, Polonius dismisses Reynaldo.

Immediately after Reynaldo’s exit, Ophelia enters in a distressed state and tells her father about a frightening encounter with Hamlet. She describes how Hamlet appeared in her private chambers disheveled and wild-looking, with his doublet unbraced, no hat, dirty stockings, and a pale, troubled expression. According to Ophelia, Hamlet grabbed her wrist, stared at her intently as if studying her face, sighed deeply, and then left without speaking. Polonius concludes that Hamlet’s strange behavior is the result of madness caused by love for Ophelia, and he regrets having instructed his daughter to avoid Hamlet and refuse his letters. Polonius decides they must immediately inform King Claudius about Hamlet’s condition.

Hamlet tells the story of Prince Hamlet of Denmark, who is visited by the ghost of his recently deceased father. The ghost reveals that he was murdered by Hamlet’s uncle Claudius, who has now married Hamlet’s mother Gertrude and assumed the throne. Commanded by his father’s spirit to seek revenge, Hamlet struggles with doubt, melancholy, and the moral complexity of his task. To investigate the ghost’s claims and plan his revenge, he feigns madness, which creates tension throughout the Danish court.

As Hamlet deliberates, his erratic behavior affects everyone around him, particularly his love interest Ophelia, daughter of the king’s advisor Polonius. To test Claudius’s guilt, Hamlet stages a play mirroring his father’s murder, which confirms the king’s culpability. However, Hamlet’s actions become increasingly destructive—he accidentally kills Polonius while the old man spies on him, and his rejection of Ophelia contributes to her descent into genuine madness and eventual drowning.

The play reaches its climax when Ophelia’s brother Laertes returns to avenge his father’s death. Claudius manipulates Laertes into challenging Hamlet to a duel, secretly poisoning Laertes’s sword and preparing poisoned wine as backup. The final scene erupts in tragedy: during the duel, both Hamlet and Laertes are wounded by the poisoned blade, Gertrude accidentally drinks the poisoned wine, and Hamlet finally kills Claudius. As Hamlet dies, he names Prince Fortinbras of Norway as Denmark’s next ruler, bringing the cycle of revenge and political instability to a close. The play ends with Fortinbras restoring order to the Danish court as bodies are carried off in a funeral march.