Hamlet Character Analysis

Spying and entrapment reveal character traits, expose family betrayal, and set up manipulative plot developments in the play Hamlet. Polonius and King Claudius entrap Ophelia to prove Hamlet’s insanity displaying Polonius’ insensitive and self-centred nature. Polonius doesn't care about Ophelia. His insensitivity reflects on how little his ability to comfort Ophelia is. A man just barged into her room with pants around his ankles and there's nothing to be said.

Hamlet kills Polonius and Gertrude becomes scared as to what is going to happen with Hamlet. Claudius betrays her trust by taking advantage of it and takes matter into his own hands. Claudius solution to the problem is to have Hamlet sent to England, where he is going to be safe from the law and will not have to deal with any consequences for his actions. " O Gertrude, come away! The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch. But we will ship him hence, and this vile deed. We must, with all out majesty and skill, Both countenance and excuse" (4.1.28-32). Claudius makes Gertrude believe he is setting this up because he wants to protect Hamlet. But even though the audience knows the real reason as to why he is doing this. He is sending Hamlet to England to be killed. " By letters congruing to that effect, The present death of Hamlet" (4.3.66-67).

He, wanting to determine why Hamlet has been acting mad, decides to spy on him when he is with Queen Gertrude. When talking to Gertrude before Hamlet has entered, Polonius states, "He will come straight. Look you lay home to him. / Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with / And that your Grace hath screened and stood between / Much heat and him. I'll silence me even here. / Pray you, be round with him" (III.iv.1-7). Hearing Hamlet coming, Polonius hides behind a tapestry. Hamlet enters and is rude to his mother. He tells her that she has offended King Hamlet by marrying Claudius. When Gertrude asks Hamlet if he has forgotten who she is, he replies with "No, by the rood, not so. / You are the Queen, your husband's brother's wife, / And (would it were not so) you are my mother" (III.iv.19-21). Hamlet then tells his mother to sit, and that he is going to hold up a mirror so she can see who she truly is. When Gertrude asks Hamlet if he is going to murder her, Polonius cries out for help from behind the tapestry. This leads to Hamlet thinking that Claudius is the one hiding, so he thrusts his sword into the tapestry, killing Polonius. Polonius' death leads to many further struggles between characters. When his children, Ophelia and Laertes, hear the news of their father's death, they do not take it well. Ophelia goes mad. She begins singing songs about her father's death - "He is dead and gone, lady, / He is dead and

The final way that Laertes acts as a foil to Hamlet occurs once again when Claudius and Laertes are discussing Laertes’ actions to achieve his vengeance. Claudius gives Laertes advice saying, “That we would do/ we should do when we would; for this ‘would’/ changes” (4.7.134-136). Claudius is warning Laertes that if he waits long enough, he will probably end up not doing anything at all and will not achieve his goal of vengeance. This quote spoken by Claudius is quite similar to when King Hamlet’s ghost meets with Hamlet earlier in the play to warn him about how he was killed by Claudius and that he must get revenge. King Hamlet’s ghost also warns Hamlet saying, “Taint not thy mind” (1.5.92), telling him to not over think his plan because otherwise he will not pursue his vengeance. After Claudius warns Laertes to not get side tracked, the audience is reminded of King Hamlet’s ghost telling Hamlet to not over think because then their plans will not be pursued. This scene acts as a foil towards Hamlet because soon after the conversation, Laertes does pursue his plan of seeking vengeance, whereas Hamlet has been working on his plan the whole play, and has still not started to execute it.

Hamlet's surrounding are increasingly affected by his flaw. Hamlet begins to forget all important obligations in his life and neglects his responsibilities, causing other problems. One very important commitment Hamlet has which he lets go is his relationship with Ophelia. Ophelia becomes very confused and hurt. Hamlet hurts her in a couple of ways. First, he neglects her, and second, he insults her. "Ha, ha! Are you honest??Are you fair??That if you be honest and fair, your honesty should admit no discourse to your beauty. ?I loved you not? Get thee to a nunnery." Then Hamlet kills Polonius, Ophelia's father, which in turn makes her go mad and in her madness she commits suicide. Hamlet loses objectivity. He does not respect the King nor his mother's feelings. Hamlet meets with his mother and insults her. He calls her a whore and a sinner for marrying a murderer. Since he knows that the King is a murderer, he attempts

Hamlet is considered to be Shakespeare's most famous play. The play is about Prince Hamlet and his struggles with the new marriage of his mother, Gertrude, and his uncle and now stepfather, King Claudius about only two months after his father’s death. Hamlet has an encounter with his father, Old King Hamlet, in ghost form. His father accuses Claudius of killing him and tells Hamlet to avenge his death. Hamlet is infuriated by this news and then begins his thoughts on what to do to get revenge. Hamlet and Claudius are contrasting characters. They do share similarities, however, their profound differences are what divides them.Hamlet was portrayed as troubled, inactive, and impulsive at times. Hamlet is troubled by many things, but the main source of his problems come from the the death of his father. “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, or that the everlasting had not fixed his canon 'gainst self-slaughter” (Act 1, Scene 2). In this scene, Hamlet is contemplating suicide, which is caused by the death of his father and the new marriage of Gertrude and King Claudius. This scene shows the extent of how troubled Hamlet is. Even though Hamlet’s father asked him to avenge his death, Hamlet is very slow to act on this throughout the play. “Now might I do it pat. Now he is a-praying. And now I’ll do ’t. And so he goes to heaven. And so am I revenged.—That would be scanned. A villain kills my father, and, for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven” (Act 3, Scene 3). This scene shows King Claudius praying, while Hamlet is behind him drawing his sword but decides not to kill

Hamlet proves himself a temperamental, twisted character in William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. The Prince of Denmark conveys his facetious demeanor with his behavior and sharp tongue, especially in scenes with Ophelia and Gertrude. Although Hamlet’s situation is difficult and easily sympathized by viewers, his aggression should ultimately be focused on his murderous uncle.

Hamlet is an interesting character who is mourning the recent death of his father, as well as the recent marriage of his mother to his uncle. So, in his grieving mind, when Hamlet hears news that some guards have seen the ghost of his father, he curiously investigates with them. To his dismay, the news is true, and Hamlet confronts his fathers ghost, who claims he was murdered by his own brother and asks Hamlet to avenge his murder. After calming down, Hamlet reasonably thinks that the ghost could be an evil spirit, so he sets up a test to prevent himself from blindly killing an innocent man. He sets up a play that mimics the murder of a powerful monarch in a way similar to the details of his father's death. Upon viewing the play, the king stands up and yells to stop the play and leaves quickly. Hamlet accomplishes his goal of finding out the truth without raising flags about him knowing the truth. Unfortunately Claudius suspects him after some questionable events and Claudius orders a try on his life. Claudius sends Hamlet to England with orders in a letter for the King to execute him stating “The present death of Hamlet. Do it England; For like the hectic in my blood he rages, And thou must cure me.” (4,3,69-71). When discovered by Hamlet in a passionate rage he replaces the letters with ones demanding his school friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to be executed in his place. Condemning men oblivious to their transgressions to death, a casualty of innocence that

His actions were not justified in the treatment of his mother Gertrude. When the ghost of Hamlet’s father appeared he told Hamlet not to blame Gertrude and to tell her not to sleep with the king. When he enters his mother’s room, he thinks that someone is hiding behind the curtains. Hamlet stabs and kills Polonius thinking he is the king. He makes many accusations against Gertrude which was against the ghost intentions. He tells her that she loves Claudius merely after the king dies. He tells her that she has married Claudius not even two months after the king’s death. Because Hamlet had made these accusations against Gertrude, she had felt guilty because she had stated that HAmlet’s words felt like daggers in her ears and repeatedly told him to stop. The ghost of king Hamlet appears and tells Hamlet not to blame Gertrude. Because of this Hamlet’s actions are not justified because he has gone against the ghost’s instructions of blaming Gertrude and the delay of the killing of

Hamlet starts off with the funeral of the dead king Hamlet. Gertrude his wife is married to his brother Claudius. (EWW Emoji). Hamlet jr is in depression and then the ghost of the King Hamlet is the cherry on top. The ghost tells him to seek revenge and Hamlet is ready. Hamlet edits the play "The Murder of Gozago" to confirm that Claudius did kill the King. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern also die because of their own bad deeds. And the ending is just a big mess. Polonius is accidently killed by hamlet but, Hamlet feels no ways. Laertes, Polonius' son, and king Claudius plan to kill Hamlet. So, during the fencing match Gertrude drinks the poisonous drink that was for Hamlet and the swords are switched. Hamlet gets hold of the poisonous one and stabs Laertes then the King and makes him drink poison. Hamlet also got wounded in this mess and dies too. Horatio is the only one to survive. Tragic!

Many critics question Hamlet’s sanity, and the question still remains unanswered. Is his personal search for revenge driving him crazy, or the fact that he has to put up a different façade for numerous occasions to conceal his own doubt? Hamlet’s motives throughout the play seem uncertain, is he driven by anger to seek revenge, or is it a part of his mixed emotions in result of his fathers death and the corruption of Denmark? Shakespeare seems to suggest that Hamlet is intending to act on his impulse to avenge his fathers murder by killing Claudius, yet he also seems to be combatting some sort of bigger confusion within himself.

Furthermore, Sterling points out how it is illogical for hamlet to assume that Claudius is the one behind the curtain as right before Hamlet goes to talk to Gertrude “he passes the kneeling Claudius and mistakenly believes that the king is praying” (Sterling par. 2). This indicates that it would not make sense that Claudius would arrive in Gertrude's Room and hide before Hamlets arrival. In addition Polonius's disapproval of Hamlet for his daughter Ophelia, who Hamlet is in love with, would be another motive for Hamlet to commit this crime. Despite the numerous motives Hamlet has to kill Polonius his ultimate revenge, as instructed by the ghost, is to kill Claudius and “thus, to sanction his murder of Polonius, the prince must pretend that he mistakes the courtier for Claudius” (Sterling par.

Gertrude realizes Hamlet’s madness after this and speaks to Claudius about it. Hamlet is so paranoid that he kills the once love of his lives father and doesn’t even feel guilty about it even after he finds out who it truly was behind that curtain.

In the Act of Hamlet, Or “No Fear” Hamlet was a very “Confused Teenager”. Hamlet lived the good life, he didn't have to worry about the problems of the people. Hamlet didn’t know what to do after the tragedy of losing the King Hamlet Sr. Hamlet loved his father and his mother very much. Soon after finding out that his father was Murdered. Hamlet went crazy with hallucinations. Hamlet’s story is completely unreal. The Question is, “ Is Hamlet crazy or is he just playing everyone for a fool”.

Throughout the play, Hamlet is ambitious to avenge his father’s death. In the end of act one, Hamlet realizes the truth and the cause of his father’s death. For instance, the ghost of Hamlet’s father told Hamlet to “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.” His father demands revenge and Hamlet swears to avenge his father’s death showing that he is willing to do anything to achieve it. In Act three, Hamlet finally puts his desire for revenge into action. He does this by re-enacting a scene of the death of Hamlet’s father. Hamlet uses the players to prove King Claudius’s guilt and becomes successful because King Claudius exits immediately after what he has seen. During the duel with Hamlet and Laertes, Gertrude is dead after she drinks the poison Claudius gave to Hamlet. Hamlet is gone mad about it and forces King Claudius to drink the poison as well. This shows that Hamlet is ambitious to kill Claudius and gets the King`s crown after doing so. Though he mainly focuses on getting the job done by avenging his father`s death, but he has other things that he is ambitious to do.