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Act 1 Analysis (Inciting Incident)
From the first lines of the play, an uneasy atmosphere is immediately presented as the officers see a mysterious figure that they find out is a ghost. The event  that essentially influences  the subsequent occurrences in Hamlet is when Hamlet comes across his dead father's ghost, the past king. The Ghost is the one to deliver the appalling news of how his brother as well as Hamlet's new stepfather, Claudius was the one to kill him. As the Ghost tells Hamlet he must seek revenge: "Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder"(Act 1, scene 5, line 25), this is what ultimately sets the rest of the plot in which Hamlet is constantly thinking of ways he may take his revenge. Before Hamlet discovers that Claudius was the one who murdered his father, he already had bitter feelings towards him, mentioned in Act 1, scene 2 when Hamlet is unsettled about his mother marrying his uncle only two months after his fathers death: "O most wicked speed to post With such dexterity  to incestuous sheets! It is not nor it cannot come to good, But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue" (Act 1, scene 2, line 156-159).  These negative feelings towards Gertrude and Claudius introduced in act 1 are present throughout the rest of the play, leading to the recurring theme of attempting revenge. Since Hamlet is not fond of Claudius to begin with, Hamlet's grudge against him evidently grows stronger, being one of the reasons he is eager to get his revenge. Act one fundamentally foreshadows how Hamlet's internal struggle will be the cause of conflict, driving the plot throughout the play.

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Act II Analysis- Rising Action
The beginning of Act two, is when characters around Hamlet begin to assume he has gone mad based on the way he is acting towards Ophelia. Polonius  anticipates the reason for Hamlet's "madness" may be caused by Ophelia's rejection and brings this news to the King and Queen, to which they decide to send Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to uncover the cause of  Hamlet's behaviour. Although Hamlet implies earlier that he is faking his madness, the question of whether he is doing this due to real insanity or not is implicated throughout the rest of the play. The action in act two that ultimately leads to the climax of the piece is when Hamlet watches a play that resembles his current situation and plans to have actors play it for Claudius to feel guilty for his crime in hopes he admits: "The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king." (Act 2, scene 2, line 583-584). This seems to be a passive attempt for Hamlet to take revenge, which ends up being consistent throughout the play. At the same time, after watching the play, Hamlet realizes his inaction to seek vengeance in which becomes a consistent theme throughout the play as well: " Yet I, A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause, and can say nothing - no, not for a king, Upon whose property and most dear life A dammed defeat was made. Am I a coward?" (Act 2, Scene 2, line 542-547). Hamlet being aware of his inaction but continuing to wait for opportunities and not taking action rests a significant concept in Hamlet as his inability to immediately take revenge on Claudius eventually leads to the death of not only himself, but many other characters as well. As the theme of action versus inaction is the principle reason for the Climax, and is first introduced in Act two, this act provides the proper evidence and foreshadowing to depict why Hamlet does what he does in the following act.

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Act III Analysis- Climax
During the first scene,  Ophelia is sent to speak to Hamlet while Claudius and Gertrude spy on them for them to determine if Hamlet had really gone mad. After listening in, Claudius comes to the conclusion that Hamlet is not insane. In the following scene, the mousetrap play makes an appearance in an attempt to fill Claudius with extreme guilt, which accords to plan, leaving Hamlet certain that Claudius is the one who murdered his father.  In this scene, not only was Hamlet focussed on Claudius, but also his mother. As the queen in the play touches on how she would never marry another man if her husband dies, Hamlet makes small remarks shaming his mother for doing the opposite, which once again depicts his everlasting grudge. After the play finishes, Hamlet catches Claudius confessing to god, and has the perfect opportunity to get his revenge at that moment. Hamlet begins to overthink the situation as he believes if he kills Claudius at that moment, he will be sent to heaven: "A villain kills my father, and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send To heaven. Oh this hire and salary, not revenge." (Act 3, scene 3, line 77-80) Once again depicting how Hamlet's inaction has an effect on his proceeding actions, such as him murdering Polonius. The definitive climax of the play, which appears in act three, scene four - is when Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, thinking it was Claudius: "Polonius Oh, I am slain.

Gertrude O me, what hast thou done?

Hamlet Nay, I know not. Is it the king?" (Act 3, scene 4, line 25-27). As Hamlet kills Polonius, he is committing a violent crime which leads to ongoing conflicts with the King and the son of Polonius, Laertes. Hamlet's actions are what causes Claudius to realize how Hamlet is a threat to him, thus representing the quarrel between the two, which eventually leads to the falling action of the play. In addition, the third act presents the question to the audience if Hamlet may have actually gone insane. After Hamlet murders Polonius, he is quick to deflect the situation back to his mother and her betrayal to his father, "A bloody deed? Almost as bad, good mother, As kill a king and marry with his brother." (Act 3, scene 4, line 29-30) which leads to Hamlet seeing his father's ghost once again. Except this time, Hamlet is the only one able to see and speak to the ghost while Gertrude cannot. Gertrude determines that her son is mad for seeing a ghost, which also poses the question to the audience whether this ghost began to appear only in Hamlet's mere imagination.

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Act IV-Falling Action
Act four begins with Claudius and Gertrude concerned with Hamlet's madness as he kills Polonius, and their solution being to send him off to England. The consequences of Hamlet's violent crime are what ultimately creates the falling action of the play. Firstly, as Claudius sees Hamlet's action as posing a threat to him and his power, he comes to the conclusion that Hamlet is, in fact mad as well as convinces everyone that Hamlet is not only a threat to him but a threat to everybody, making people more eager to send him away and agree with the king: "How dangerous is it that this man goes loose!" (Act 4, scene 3, line 2). With that in mind, not only does Claudius want to send Hamlet away, but he also wants him dead to no longer pose any threat to him. Claudius's plan to have Hamlet killed consists of telling the king of England to have him killed. Hamlet is sent off to England with the same recurring thoughts of how he should have already taken his revenge on the king "I do not know Why yet I live to say "This thing's to do, " Sith I have cause and will and strength To do 't" (Act 4, scene 4, line 42-25). Another result of Polonius's death was the downfall of Ophelia as she goes completely mad. Ophelia had been faced with so many hardships that once Hamlet kills Polonius, it is officially her final straw, causing her to go insane, eventually leading to her death. As for Laertes reaction, once he discovers that Hamlet killed his father, he is eager to seek revenge on Hamlet. With Claudius and Laertes now having the same motives which are to avenge Hamlet, they come up with a plan to kill him by poisoning him: "You may choose A sword unbated, and in a pass of practice Requite him for your father"(Act 4, scene 7, line 137-139). Laertes and Claudius pursuing this plan along with their backup plan to poison the drink is the ultimate falling action of the play as this is what leads to the tragic ending.

Fundamentally, the reason for act four being the falling action is with the killing of Polonius leading to Hamlet being sent away, Ophelia's death as well as Laertes returning from France to take his revenge, this all plays a significant role in how the play play's out.

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Act V-End
Act five begins with posing yet another question for the reader to reflect on which is whether Ophelia committed suicide or whether her death was an accident, determining whether whether she should go to heaven or not. The grave diggers imply that she had killed herself by saying "And the more pity that great folk should have countenance in this world to drown or hang themselves more than their even Christian." (Act 5, scene 1, line 24-26). Hamlet is also amazed to how the gravediggers are unfazed while burying bodies. While during this act, Laertes and Claudius were already set on how they were going to kill Hamlet, Hamlet was still debating on how or if he should Kill Claudius, while at the same time feeling sorry for Laertes: "Does it not, think thee, stand me now upon- He  that hath killed my king and whored my mother, Popped in between th' election and my hopes, Thrown out his angle for my proper life (And with such cozenage!) - is 't not perfect conscience to quit him with this arm? And is 't not be dammed To let this canker of our nature come in further evil?" (Act 5, scene 2, line 67-74). While Hamlet is busy being indecisive and never taking action, the people out to kill him have already made their decision. While Hamlet does not decide what he should do during the time the one he wanted to seek revenge on is plotting to kill him,  instead of it only being one or the other who dies, they all end up dead from their own actions or inaction. In the final parts of the play, Gertrude drinks the drink that was poisoned by Claudius and Laertes, which causes her death. Of course these were not their intentions, causing the beginning of the end for everybody. Hamlet is poisoned with the sword Laertes stabbed him with, which was Laertes goal, however it backfires on him as Hamlet stabs him back with the same sword. Before Laertes dies, he mentions that he forgives Hamlet, ultimately making both of their deaths unnecessary.  After all, Hamlet forces the drink down Claudius's throat, finally getting his revenge. However, it all came with the price of his own life. Ultimately, Hamlet not taking revenge to begin with ends with not only his own downfall, but the downfall of important people around him.
To summarize, this act supports the plot as it depicts every consequence as well as all the results and ending of the play based on past decisions as well as actions made in the preceding acts.

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Claudius Analysis

King Claudius is evidently the antagonist of the play due to his selfishness and his manipulation of situations to match his own benefits. The audience immediately perceives Claudius to be the “villain” in the play as it is revealed he is the one to kill the past king which happened to also be his own brother. However later on in the play, Claudius seems to be somewhat innocent as while everybody is indicating that Hamlet has gone insane, Claudius is more so understanding of Hamlet’s feelings: “Love? His affections do not that way tend. Nor what he spake, though it lacked form a little, Was not like madness” (act 3, scene 1, line 162-164). This plays out to be ironic as in that moment, Hamlet’s state of “madness” did not affect Claudius, therefore Claudius does not seem eager to send Hamlet off to England. However once Hamlet’s madness puts Claudius’s power at risk, Claudius is quick to convince everyone that Hamlet has gone completely mad and must be sent to England immediately: “His liberty is full of threats to all- to you yourself, to us, to everyone” (Act 4, Scene 1, line 14-15). This exemplifies the way Claudius begins to manipulate a situation into making it seem as if it is of everyone's best interest to do something, when the only one gaining the real benefits is him. In the third act, while Claudius is confessing to his murder of King Hamlet, it appears that he genuinely feels guilty: O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven; It hath the primal eldest curse upon't, A brother's murther! Pray can I not, Though inclination be as sharp as will. My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent” (Act 3, scene 3, line 37-41). However at the same time Claudius’s selfishness is revealed as although he feels extreme guilt, he is not willing to give up the benefits of the past king which included power as well as his wife: “May one be pardon'd and retain th' offence?” (Act 3, scene 3, line 57).

The actions Claudius starts to take in act four by telling Laertes that Hamlet was the one to kill his father, Polonius are what ultimately sets himself up for his own death at the end of the story. Claudius’s motive is to gain Laertes on his side: “Now you’ve got to acknowledge my innocence and believe i’m your friend, since you’ve heard and understood that the man who killed  your father was trying to kill me” (act 4, scene 7, line 1-5)  in order to help him kill Hamlet,  leading to the two of them creating a plan to kill Hamlet - which backfires and deflects on themselves, killing both of them. As Claudius is passionate about killing Hamlet for his own selfish needs, his main focus was what he would gain out of Hamlet’s death instead of thinking thoroughly on how he may handle the situation in another manner that would have not lead to the death of anyone. Finally exemplifying how by constantly only thinking of himself, he was the cause of his own death.

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Appearance vs Reality
Appearance versus reality is a consistent theme throughout Hamlet due to the numerous incidents where treachery, lies as well as unfaithfulness between characters are depicted. To begin, starting with the first act of the play, as Hamlet encounters the ghost of his deceased father who gives him the news about his murderer being his own brother, Hamlet states that he will begin to act strangely to appear as if he has gone mad: "Here as before, never, so help you mercy, How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet Too put an antic disposition on)" (1, 5, 170-173). As Hamlet fakes his madness, in the second act it is revealed that to the ones around him it appears he has gone mad, however the reality is that it is a mere distraction. The theme of Appearance versus reality is also presented throughout the play as it is not clear whether Hamlet is only pretending to be mad or whether is doing so influenced by his real hidden insanity. This is shown through Hamlet's behaviour towards women. The way Hamlet seems to always let out his anger and a burst of feelings towards his mother, Gertrude, as well as Ophelia shows his undetected madness that he has gained from other unresolved self-conflicts including not being able to take revenge on Claudius.

In the third act, the conflict between Hamlet and Claudius becomes the principal source of appearance versus reality as Hamlet  is continuously trying to appear as though he has no problems with Claudius while he is actually plotting to kill him. For instance, in act 3, when Claudius asks how hamlet is doing, he responds by saying: "Excellent, i’faith, of the chameleons dish. I eat the air, promise-crammed. You cannot feed capons so.” (Act 3, scene 2, line 86-87). It is clear that to Claudius,  Hamlet seems fine, however dramatic irony is portrayed as the audience knows this is not the case.

Throughout act 4 is when Claudius becomes the main portrayal of deception as he is continuously hiding his true intentions. As Claudius claims he is sending Hamlet to England to be healed from his supposed madness, he is actually sending him to be killed in England. While Claudius has already been planning to have him killed, it appears that he is sending Hamlet to England for Hamlet's benefit: “Hamlet, this deed, for thine especial safety- Which we do tender as we dearly grieve For that which thou hast done- must send thee hence With fiery quickness” (act 4, scene 3, line 40-42).

Appearance versus is present in act 5 as Laertes is also planning to kill Hamlet during the sword fight however he is making it seem as if he does not want to seek revenge for the murder of his father: "I am satisfied in nature,

Whose motive in this case should stir me most

To my revenge. But in my terms of honor

I stand aloof, and will no reconcilement"( act 5, scene 2, 232-234)

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Hamlet's self destructive character is first introduced in the first act of the play when he does not fear following the ghost as he states that he does not value his life: “Why, what should be the fear? I do not set my life in a pin’s fee, Being a thing immortal as itself? It waves me forth again. I’ll follow it” (Act 1, scene 4, line 69-72). The concept of Hamlet not holding much value to his own life is consistent moving forward with the play, which ends up being one of the reasons for his own downfall. For Hamlet, act one fundamentally represents how his life seems to be falling apart from many ends, with his father's death and the soon after marriage of his uncle and his mother. With act two, Hamlet's weaknesses are revealed which is his inability to take action when needed as well as his constant procrastination. Hamlet's dilemma begins as although it seems he is eager to seek revenge for his fathers death, the reason for his procrastination is caused by the fact that murdering Claudius may be against his own conscience as he is yet to be certain that Claudius is the one to commit the murder: "The spirit that I have seen May be the devil, and the devil hath power T' assume a pleasing shape. Yea, and perhaps Out of my weakness and my melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses me to damn me." (Act 2, scene 2, line 577-582) This exemplifies his weak side as he is coming up with excuses to not take revenge on Claudius. Hamlet's chronic stalling becomes the reason for his own downfall as he does not take revenge against Claudius until it is too late.
The third act goes more into depth of the reasoning behind Hamlet's madness and his inability to take action. Hamlet ponders to himself the revolutionary philosophical question of "To be, or not to be?"(Act 3, scene 1, line 57). As Hamlet contemplates whether it is better to be alive or dead, this applies to his conflict that he is having with himself on whether it really is worth it to kill Claudius as being alive in a world that Hamlet sees as meaningless may be the worst punishment of all. Hamlet is also faced with the dilemma of; if all the effort and over thinking to avenge his fathers murder will fulfill his true desires or if it is something he feels forced to do. Act 4 being the act where the characters fates are determined, Hamlet's being a possible death or a possible killing of someone else. As Hamlet's inaction continues even throughout act 4, this foreshadows that Hamlet will most likely never make a decision, leaving someone else or fate to make that decision for him. Another concept leading to Hamlet's own downfall is the fact that Hamlet is obsessed with the thought of taking revenge on Claudius, however, fails to realize that instead of forcing himself to become more bold with violent actions: “From now on, if my thoughts aren’t violent i’ll consider them worthless” (Act 4, scene 4, line 65), he must instead realize what his true intentions are in order to make the decision of finally killing Claudius or letting him be. Ultimately Hamlet is not able to determine a solution for his self-conflict, causing other people (Claudius and Laertes) to make a choice for him which resulted in him finally being murdered by Laertes.