Hamlet in modern English, scene by scene

About this translation

Every scene of Hamlet is set out twice: William Shakespeare’s words on one side, and on the other a plain modern English rendering of the same lines, in the same order. It is a way to read the original, not a replacement for it — the rendering says what the text says, and the text is the thing you quote.

Line numbers count the verse lines of each scene in the public-domain Project Gutenberg edition these pages are set from, so they may not match the numbering in a printed edition.

1. Act 1, Scene 1 — Elsinore. A platform before the Castle.Who's there?
2. Act 1, Scene 2 — Elsinore. A room of state in the Castle.Although the memory of our dear brother Hamlet's death is still fresh, and it was right…
3. Act 1, Scene 3 — A room in Polonius’s house.My luggage is on board. Goodbye. And, sister, whenever the winds are favourable and there…
4. Act 1, Scene 4 — The platform.The air bites harshly; it is very cold.
5. Act 1, Scene 5 — A more remote part of the Castle.Where are you going to lead me? Speak, I'll go no further.

1. Act 2, Scene 1 — A room in Polonius’s house.Give him this money and these notes, Reynaldo.
2. Act 2, Scene 2 — A room in the Castle.Welcome, dear Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Besides the fact that we very much wanted to…

1. Act 3, Scene 1 — A room in the Castle.And can you not, by any roundabout approach, get out of him why he puts on this disorder…
2. Act 3, Scene 2 — A hall in the Castle.Speak the speech, please, the way I read it to you, lightly and easily off the tongue…
3. Act 3, Scene 3 — A room in the Castle.I don't like him, and it isn't safe for us to let his madness roam free. So get ready…
4. Act 3, Scene 4 — Another room in the Castle.He will come right away. Be sure you press him hard. Tell him his tricks have been too…

1. Act 4, Scene 1 — A room in the Castle.There's something behind these sighs. You must put these deep heavings of your chest into…
2. Act 4, Scene 2 — Another room in the Castle.Safely hidden away.
3. Act 4, Scene 3 — Another room in the Castle.I have sent people to look for him and to find the body. How dangerous it is that this…
4. Act 4, Scene 4 — A plain in Denmark.Go, Captain, and give my greetings to the Danish king. Tell him that, with his…
5. Act 4, Scene 5 — Elsinore. A room in the Castle.I will not speak with her.
6. Act 4, Scene 6 — Another room in the Castle.Who are these people who want to speak with me?
7. Act 4, Scene 7 — Another room in the Castle.Now your own conscience must confirm that I am innocent, and you must take me into your…

1. Act 5, Scene 1 — A churchyard.Is she to be given a Christian burial, when she deliberately went looking for her own…
2. Act 5, Scene 2 — A hall in the Castle.That's enough about this, sir. Now let me tell you the rest. You remember all the details?