Hamlet in Modern English
The most famous play in English, in plain modern English. This page gives you Hamlet complete — the full story act by act, plus the legendary speeches (“To be, or not to be,” “Alas, poor Yorick”) with Shakespeare’s original lines beside clear modern paraphrases written for this site. For any line we haven’t covered, paste it into the Shakespeare-to-modern translator above.
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The Story in Brief
In Denmark, Prince Hamlet’s father has died and his mother has hastily married his uncle Claudius — who is now king. The ghost of Hamlet’s father reveals he was murdered by Claudius. Hamlet vows revenge but is paralyzed by thought, feigning madness while he plots. He confirms Claudius’s guilt with a play-within-a-play, but his delay costs everything: he kills the wrong man (Polonius), his beloved Ophelia drowns herself, and in a rigged fencing match nearly everyone dies — including Hamlet, who finally kills Claudius with his last breath.
Act-by-Act Summary
Act 1 — The Ghost
On the castle walls, sentries see the ghost of the dead king. Prince Hamlet confronts it and learns the terrible truth: his uncle Claudius poured poison in his father’s ear. “Remember me,” the ghost commands. Hamlet swears revenge — and begins acting strangely to hide his plans.
Act 2 — Madness, Feigned or Real?
Hamlet’s “madness” puzzles the court. Polonius thinks it’s love for Ophelia; Claudius suspects deeper trouble. A troupe of actors arrives, and Hamlet hatches a plan: stage a play showing a king murdered exactly as his father was, and watch Claudius’s reaction.
Act 3 — The Play’s the Thing
Hamlet delivers the “To be, or not to be” soliloquy, then cruelly rejects Ophelia. The staged play makes Claudius panic — guilt confirmed. But when Hamlet finds Claudius praying, he can’t kill him (a soul in prayer might go to heaven). Instead he confronts his mother and — hearing a noise behind a curtain — stabs Polonius, hiding there.
Act 4 — The Unraveling
Claudius sends Hamlet to England with secret orders for his execution, but Hamlet escapes and returns. Ophelia, shattered by her father’s death, goes mad and drowns. Her brother Laertes returns thirsting for revenge, and Claudius plots with him: a rigged fencing match with a poisoned blade.
Act 5 — The Reckoning
In a graveyard, Hamlet holds the skull of Yorick, the court jester of his childhood, and meditates on death. At Ophelia’s funeral he clashes with Laertes. The rigged duel goes catastrophically wrong: the queen drinks the poisoned cup, Laertes and Hamlet are both cut with the poisoned blade, and dying Hamlet finally kills Claudius. “The rest is silence.”
Famous Scenes in Modern English
Each scene below shows Shakespeare’s original words (public domain) beside our own modern-English paraphrase.
Act 1, Scene 5 — The Ghost Speaks
Shakespeare’s words
I am thy father’s spirit,
Doom’d for a certain term to walk the night.
In modern English
I am the spirit of your father, condemned to walk the earth at night for a set time.
Then comes the accusation: Claudius murdered him — and Hamlet must avenge it.
Act 1, Scene 3 — “To thine own self be true”
Shakespeare’s words
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
In modern English
Above everything else: be true to yourself — and then, as surely as night follows day, you cannot be false to anyone.
Polonius’s farewell advice to his son Laertes — the most quoted fatherly counsel in literature.
Act 2, Scene 2 — “What a piece of work is a man”
Shakespeare’s words
What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason,
How infinite in faculty!
In modern English
What a masterpiece a human being is! How noble in thinking, how limitless in ability!
Bitter irony: Hamlet praises mankind while disgusted by the humans around him.
Act 3, Scene 1 — “To be, or not to be”
Shakespeare’s words
To be, or not to be — that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
In modern English
To live or not to live — that is the question. Is it nobler to endure the insults and injuries of cruel fate…
He’s weighing existence itself: suffer life’s pain, or end it? The speech continues for 33 lines.
Act 3, Scene 1 — “Get thee to a nunnery”
Shakespeare’s words
Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?
In modern English
Go to a convent. Why would you bring more sinners into this world?
Hamlet’s cruel rejection of Ophelia — he may know they’re being watched.
Act 5, Scene 1 — “Alas, poor Yorick!”
Shakespeare’s words
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio.
In modern English
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him well, Horatio.
Holding the jester’s skull, Hamlet faces what kings and clowns share: we all come to this.
Translate Any Line Yourself
Meet a line we haven’t covered? Paste any passage from the play into the translator at the top of this page — it decodes Shakespeare’s English into modern words instantly.
Hamlet FAQs
What is “To be, or not to be” actually about?
Whether to go on living. Hamlet weighs enduring life’s suffering against ending it — and fears what dreams (an afterlife) may come after death. It’s philosophy, not just sadness.
Is Hamlet really mad?
That’s the 400-year-old question. He announces a plan to “put an antic disposition on” (fake madness), but his grief and rage are real. Shakespeare leaves it deliciously uncertain.
How long is Hamlet?
It’s Shakespeare’s longest play — about 4,000 lines, up to four hours uncut. Most productions trim it.
Are these paraphrases copied from study guides?
No — every modern-English paraphrase on this page was written originally for this site. Shakespeare’s lines are public domain; the plain-English versions are ours.
Why doesn’t Hamlet just kill Claudius immediately?
Because he needs proof (hence the play-within-a-play), because killing a praying man might send him to heaven, and — most honestly — because thinking is Hamlet’s nature and action isn’t.
What should I read next?
Our Macbeth in modern English for a hero who acts too fast, Romeo and Juliet for young passion, or decode any speech with the Shakespeare to Modern English translator.
