Change Of Hamlet

In the play Hamlet, Shakespeare tells the story of the tragedy of a kingdom in which their king has died (which leads to the depression of the main character) and the kingdom ends up in the hands of the King’s brother. The main character finds out the truth about his father’s death and takes the responsibility to avenge his father. Although Hamlet is one of the best plays during Shakespearean times, it would be really interesting if the play was written at a different time. For example, if the play were to be written in 21st century, in England, it would change the plot, roles of character (each one would consider their own acts), and the outcome of the play.

There would be a change in the plot in the sense that Hamlet might not have even believed

that his father’s ghost was roaming around the castle depending on religious belief. This would lead to Hamlet not knowing what happened to his father and he would end up getting worse on his depression while Claudius would continue to rule the kingdom. Another scene that would be changed if Hamlet never knew who killed his father would be Polonius’s death. This scene would change if Hamlet caught Polonius and Queen Gertrude talking to one another, although Hamlet wouldn't know what they are talking about, he would end up telling Claudius about this encounter and Claudius would take it as an act of cheating, but Claudius would blame Polonius and not Queen Gertrude due to his love for her and Polonius would have to suffer a severe punishment. Although the punishment would lead to death, it wouldn't be by the hands of Hamlet.
The difference in the role of characters would be significant because it would change the way in which Hamlet would communicate with the others or the other way around.

For example, when Ophelia goes crazy due to her father’s death, her role or actions would change by her immediately going for Hamlet and could either blame him for her father’s death or find a way to get him killed or exiled. Another result would be that once Laertes finds out about his father’s death, he would go straight for both Claudius and Hamlet and kill them both without a second thought, which would later result in Laertes taking over the throne and change the whole kingdom to more violent ideas. This would end up changing the whole tone to the play by making it more gruesome or slightly more depressing depending on the way that Claudius and Hamlet are

killed.
The outcome or ending of the play would also change if Hamlet were to have done his actions as soon as he had decided to.

For example, in the “Mousetrap” scene, Hamlet should have been able to kill Claudius while that was going on because the fact that Hamlet had already gained evidence that Claudius killed Hamlet’s father due to Claudius’s face of guilt, it gave Hamlet the chance to strike and get revenge for his father. Although the people would consider Hamlet as a murderer, he would have to explain to everyone why he did his actions and from there he would have to be judged either negatively or positively. Another way how the play could have ended would be in the scene of the sword fight between Laertes and Hamlet, Hamlet confesses about what he knows about the poisoning of his father and everyone turns on Claudius and Laertes confesses of both the poisoned blade and drink (to fully prevent Queen Gertrude from drinking it). Once they have confessed, they would both kill Claudius and Hamlet would have avenged his father and Laertes would have felt some type of relief from killing the “source” of his father’s death as well. This would later on create a bond between Laertes and Hamlet in which they would try to maintain the kingdom stabilized from any conflicts after a while. Also, Hamlet would actually be able to receive the message that Fortinbras would send to him after the battle that he had went through and confront Fortinbras himself. Depending on how the conversation

goes, it would either create war or peace between both kingdoms.
If Hamlet were to be done in the 21st century in England, it would recreate or bring back the importance of the genre of tragedy and many people would like to bring back the thoughts to the original creator of the play, William Shakespeare. Although as original as the play were to have been in Shakespeare’s time, a modernized version of the play with different plot and outcome would make it more relatable to certain people like play attendees, authors, and Literacy Majors. This would also encourage authors to create their own adaptations or versions based off of the ideas of the play to help get their career further.