Who Is Horatio, The One True Friend?

Horatio is a selfless character who will do anything for Hamlet even if it jeopardizes his individual safety.

Hamlet's friend Horatio is a foil for him because he brings out the revenge and betrayal in Hamlet. He is a listener for Hamlet. Horatio seems to be the only one who is sympathetic of Hamlet concerning the death of his father and his mother's quick remarriage. He is very loyal to Hamlet. Horatio, through

When Hamlet sees the ghost he is shocked that Horatio and Marcellus were being truthful, he immediately starts rejoicing and asking the ghost questions “Say why is this? Wherefore? What should we do?”

Horatio is Hamlet’s best friend in the play whom is let into the mind and secrets of

In the first Act in the play, Hamlet is the last person to see his deceased father. Granted, Hamlet is the only one to speak to the ghost and he is by himself when he does, but the guards and even Horatio, “Before (his) God, (he) might not this believe. . . Without the sensible and true avouch. . . Of (his) eyes. (Act I Scene I Lines 56-8)” serve as witnesses that there is indeed a ghost and it is not just a figment of Hamlet’s imagination.

     Horatio’s most important role as a foil does not become evident until the end of the play. His conversation with Hamlet just before the fatal duel with Laertes provides us with an insight into Hamlet’s state of mind. Horatio advises Hamlet to back down if he does not like the circumstances, and Horatio will attest to Hamlet’s

In this scene, Horatio’s conscience is evident as it displays his unease over Hamlet’s safety. Compared to Dunstan’s emotion of guilt, Horatio experiences fear for Hamlet’s safety and attempts to convince Hamlet to not follow the ghost in fear that he will draw Hamlet into madness. It is this particular moment in the scene that demonstrates the significance of the fifth’s conscience. Later in the play, it is proven to be true that Hamlet has in fact fallen into madness. Both Horatio and Dunstan display the aspect of acting

There are several reasons why Hamlet trusts Horatio to be capable enough to tell his true story. Horatio’s personality traits, his friendship to Hamlet, and his trustworthiness or some of the many reasons Hamlet asks Horatio to tell his story. Hamlet and Horatio are really close friends, and Horatio goes to the extent that he may commit suicide so that he will not have to live without his beloved friend. Horatio is the most intelligent and loyal man to Hamlet in the play despite any of Hamlet’s rash decisions he may make. Hamlet trusts Horatio more than his own life since he discloses any situation that he encounters to Horatio rather than his own parents, “Hath sealed thee for herself, for thou hast been - / As one in suffering all that suffers

We get more insight into Hamlet's mind after he meets the ghost of his father. He is speaking to his confidant and friend Horatio:

       In Act I, Scene II, one is first made aware of the strength of Hamlet's relationship with Horatio when the latter informs Hamlet that he has seen what he believes is the ghost of the former King Hamlet. This introduction to the relationship between Horatio and Hamlet demonstrates the strong bonds of trust and confidence they share. Unlike the other characters who have seen the apparition and would choose to shrink away from it, Horatio, recognizing the ghost for who it might be, tries to make contact with it, albeit unsuccessfully. After this initial contact, and recognizing the significance of what he has witnessed, it is Horatio that takes Hamlet into his confidence to relate what he has seen. "As I do live, my honored lord, 'tis true, / And we did think it writ down in our duty / To let you know of it" (1.2. 220-222). Horatio gives Hamlet a very detailed account of the sighting, answering Hamlet's questions with the honesty and insight of a concerned friend. It is obvious by Horatio's candor that he is neither fearful of Hamlet's response, nor is he concerned that Hamlet will not believe his accounting of the event.

Of Horatio we know best that what distinguishes him from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and indeed from Polonius, Ophelia, Laertes, and Gertrude, is that Claudius cannot use him. Critics have remarked upon Horatio’s ambiguously shifting status at the court of Denmark, and the late William Empson confessed a certain irritation at Hamlet’s discovery of virtues in Horatio that the prince could not find in himself. Yet Shakespeare gives us a Hamlet we must love while knowing our inferiority, since he has the qualities we lack, and so he also gives us Horatio, our representative, who loves so stoically for the rest of us. Horatio is loyal, and limited; skeptical as befits a fellow student of the profoundly skeptical Hamlet, yet never skeptical about Hamlet. Take Horatio out of the play, and you take us out of the play. The plot could be rearranged to spare the wretched Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, even to spare Laertes, let alone Fortinbras, but remove Horatio, and Hamlet becomes so estranged from us that we scarcely can hope to account for that universality of appeal which is his, and the play’s, most original characteristic. (5)

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragic play. Most of the characters in the play have selfish motives at heart. Lust, greed, pride, and revenge are just a few sins that are committed in the play. There are few instances within the play that show goodness and kindness. Hamlet has so many people around him trying to bring him down, but he had one friend that was loyal to him, and that was Horatio. The other key characters in the play were only out for their own good. However Horatio was looking out for Hamlet. Unfortunately, Horatio was the only one.

In the first scene of the play, Horatio gives me the impression that he is ignorant and skeptical but also intellectual. I believe he is ignorant because at the beginning of his encounter with the ghost, he immediately offends the ghost and causes the ghost to leave by acting like he is entitled to the ghost’s response, “By heaven, I charge thee, speak.” He irritates the ghost causing it to exit, leaving the guards without any answers. Horatio is also skeptical because he assumes that the ghost is a bad omen, “And even the like precurse of feared events, As harbingers preceding still the fates And prologue to the omen coming on”. Horatio is also different from the guards because unlike them he is a scholar. We learn that Horatio appears to

A person cannot truly exist without those people around him, just as a play may not be successful without its supporting characters. Horatio and Ophelia are often disregarded as "supporting actors" within the play. They spend very little time onstage, and when they are their roles seem trivial; however, their true purpose is much greater. The characters of Horatio and Ophelia have two very different functions in the play. Horatio is used as a foil for Hamlet, the person to whom Hamlet can discuss his course of action and act like his true self. Ophelia, however, has a major role that is not initially evident. She is the embodiment of how Hamlet's opinion of women changes throughout the play. These two characters have drastically

Before examining Horatio and Hamlets friendship, it is important to look at Horatio as a character, if only to see why he offers such good companionship to Hamlet. From the very beginning of the play, Horatio is portrayed as being part of the old regime, meaning he was loyal to the old King Hamlet and does not necessarily works of the new king and the way he acquired the throne. It is understood that Hamlet and Horatio were not old friends but they at least have known of each other and were amicable because of their close relationship to the old King. (Evans 7) Horatio is characterized as being someone that would never break a loyalty no matter what was offered to him and that is why he can never be a close friend to King Claudius and possibly why he offers Hamlet his friendship regardless of how he is acting throughout the play. (Lucking 4) Hamlet and Horatio may share similar interests in that they both disapprove of what is going on and feel like it is a disgrace to the dead king Hamlet and all that he has worked for and stood for. (Doubt 7) Sharing all of these common feelings towards everything is what defines a friendship in the first place. Another possible reason why Hamlet feels inclined to trust Horatio is that he is the only one that still showed support to Hamlet and felt for him