If the video doesn’t load please try refreshing the page. If the problem persists make sure you have the latest version of the Flash player or watch the videos on our RecAPP iPhone and iPod application.

Remember these names: Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Polonius, Laertes, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern. They’re the supporting cast in Shakespeare’s Hamlet and they all have one thing in common: They think that Hamlet is crazy. You’ll have to wait for Recap 5 to find out if they’re right, but meanwhile, the 60second Recap has the lowdown on Shakespeare’s cast of treacherous players.

Video Transcription:

In this crazy play, it’s Hamlet vs. the rest of the world. Let’s take a look at Hamlet’s former friends—and current enemies—next.

You’d think that a guy could at least count on his parents, right? But Hamlet’s stepdad, the scheming King Claudius, and his treacherous mother, Queen Gertrude, are either busy shipping him off to foreign lands or trying to get him killed. Nice.

So what about the gf? Nothing like the comfort of the girl you love when you’re in trouble, right? But Ophelia—convinced by her father and brother that Hamlet will only break her heart—spurns him. And in Hamlet’s time of need, too. That’s harsh.

(Maybe that’s why I didn’t feel bad for her when she goes crazy in Act IV.)

OK, so forget the family and the gf. At least Hamlet’s friends have his back, right? With names like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, what could his friends be other than fools? Not only do they do Claudius’s dirty work by trying to prove Hamlet mad, they also cart him off to England where poor Hamlet is going to be killed. With friends like that, who needs enemies?

Well, enemies is right because everyone else in this play has it in for Hamlet, too. Polonius, Ophelia’s father, helps Ophelia break Hamlet’s heart. And Laertes, Ophelia’s brother, kills Hamlet with a poisoned sword.

Surrounded by people like that, no wonder Hamlet went crazy …