Original: Ay, springes to catch woodcocks! I do know,
Modern: Yes, these are traps to catch foolish birds! I know very well,

Original: When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul
Modern: When passion runs hot, how carelessly the heart

Original: Lends the tongue vows. These blazes, daughter,
Modern: Makes the mouth speak promises. These flare-ups, daughter,

Original: Giving more light than heat, extinct in both
Modern: Give more flash than warmth, and both die out

Original: Even in their promise, as it is a-making,
Modern: Even as the promise is being made,

Original: You must not take for fire. From this time
Modern: You must not mistake for real fire. From now on

Original: Be something scanter of your maiden presence.
Modern: Be more sparing with your time and company.

Original: Set your entreatments at a higher rate
Modern: Value your attention more highly

Original: Than a command to parley. For Lord Hamlet,
Modern: Than just responding whenever he calls. As for Lord Hamlet,

Original: Believe so much in him, that he is young,
Modern: Understand this much about him: that he is young,

Original: And with a larger tether may he walk
Modern: And with a longer leash he can roam

Original: Than may be given you. In few, Ophelia,
Modern: Than you are allowed. In short, Ophelia,

Original: Do not believe his vows; for they are brokers,
Modern: Do not believe his promises; for they are go-betweens,

Original: Not of that dye which their investments show,
Modern: Not the honest kind their outer appearance suggests,

Original: But mere implorators of unholy suits,
Modern: But merely beggars for dishonorable purposes,

Original: Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds,
Modern: Speaking like holy and righteous pimps,

Original: The better to beguile. This is for all:
Modern: The better to deceive you. This is my final word:

Original: I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth
Modern: I do not want, in plain language, from this moment forward

Original: Have you so slander any moment leisure
Modern: You to waste a single moment of free time

Original: As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet.
Modern: By having any conversation or talk with Lord Hamlet.

Original: Look to’t, I charge you. Come your ways.
Modern: See to it, I command you. Now come along.

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.