Hamlet: Infographic

Character Map

Map Map

Plot Element	Scene Name	Scene Description
Exposition	Act 1, Scene 1	The ghost of Hamlet's father appears to the watchmen on the castle battlements.
	Act 1, Scene 2	Claudius delivers his first public speech as king and Hamlet expresses his disgust at his mother's hasty marriage to Claudius.
Rising Action	Act 1, Scene 5	The ghost tells Hamlet that he was murdered by Claudius and urges Hamlet to seek revenge.
	Act 2, Scene 2	Polonius sends Reynaldo to spy on Laertes in Paris, and Ophelia reports to her father that Hamlet has been behaving strangely.
	Act 3, Scene 1	Hamlet delivers his famous soliloquy "To be, or not to be" and rejects Ophelia's love.
	Act 3, Scene 2	Hamlet stages a play to confirm Claudius's guilt, but he delays his revenge again.
	Act 4, Scene 3	Claudius plots to send Hamlet to England to be killed, while Hamlet kills Polonius in a fit of rage.
Climax	Act 5, Scene 2	Hamlet and Laertes engage in a fencing match, during which Laertes wounds Hamlet with a poisoned blade, and Gertrude drinks from a poisoned cup intended for Hamlet. Claudius is also killed in the ensuing chaos.
Falling Action	Act 5, Scene 2	Hamlet forgives Laertes and dies, while Fortinbras arrives and takes over the throne of Denmark.
Resolution	Act 5, Scene 2	Horatio attempts to commit suicide but is stopped by Hamlet, who urges him to tell his story.