Denmark's king dies and his brother Claudius marries the king's widow, Gertrude. The ghost of Hamlet's father appears and tells Hamlet that Claudius murdered him. Hamlet plots to expose that Claudius is the true killer. This leads to a series of deadly events, including Hamlet killing Polonius, Ophelia's madness and death, and a final confrontation between Hamlet and Claudius that results in multiple deaths.