Prince hamlet is a university student who enjoys contemplating difficult philosophical questions. Polonius is a verbose, faltering old man whose servile devotion to claudius renders him slimy, untrustworthy, and pathetic in the eyes of hamlet. Character list for hamlet from the folger shakespeare. It might be hard for many of us in the modern world to connect with some of shakespeares characters, especially renaissance royalty. Hamlet s uncle and murderer of hamlet s fatherclaudius is a cunning politician whose lust for power and the queen set the plays tragic acts in. William shakespeares hamlet follows the young prince hamlet home to denmark to attend his fathers funeral. Polonius is determined to do whatever it takes to stay in the good graces of the king and queen, and invents many different ways of spying on hamlet in an attempt to win the. These two events are the cause of hamlet s distress and disgust in act 1, and form the basis of the revenge plot. About thirty years old at the start of the play, hamlet is the son of queen gertrude and the late king hamlet, and the nephew of the present king, claudius. He returns to denmark from the university of wittenberg. Hamlet is the melancholy prince of denmark and grieving son to the recently deceased king in william shakespeares monumental tragedy hamlet. Thanks to shakespeares skillful and psychologically astute characterization, hamlet now is considered to be the greatest dramatic character ever created. In the end, hamlet proves to be an exceedingly existential character.
Act 1, scenes 15 the story of hamlet is so famous, it is easy to forget that at the beginning of the play, hamlet is unaware of the fact that his father was murdered by his uncle. Analysis of hamlet by william shakespeare hamlet is a story about a prince who wants revenge on the new king for killing his father. Hamlet is a very unique individual and handles many situations in unusual ways. Detailed analysis of characters in william shakespeares hamlet. By the end, hamlet decides that he is no longer going to deprive himself of the revenge he so badly desires against claudius, so he kills him. Tools of characterization character analysis speech and dialogue. The king of denmark, hamlets uncle, and the plays antagonist. Free hamlet character analysis essay exampleessays. Get free homework help on william shakespeares hamlet. Shrouded in his inky cloak, hamlet is a man of radical contradictions he is reckless yet. Hamlet is shocked to find his mother already remarried to his uncle claudius, the dead kings. Hamlet study guide contains a biography of william shakespeare, literature essays, a complete etext, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. She is the daughter of polonius, the chief councillor to the king of denmark. Hamlet because the king blamed hamlet for killing his father, polonius.
Hamlet character list hamlet the prince of denmark, the title character, and the protagonist. Download pdf cliffsnotes shakespeare s hamlet book full free. Prince hamlet is introduced as a reflective, slowtoact character. Hamlet characters from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Hamlet is a complex character with multiple character traits that lead him through his many confusing and often conflicting actions throughout the play. Table of contents 2 the nature of hamlet s character. Gertrudes role in hamlet abstract typically, gertrudes character in productions ofhamlethas been limited by her guilt and sexuality. Essay on character analysis of hamlet 964 words bartleby. The main characters in hamlet are prince hamlet, the deceased king hamlet, claudius, gertrude, ophelia, polonius, laertes, and horatio. Hamlet is the son of king hamlet and queen gertrude. Hamlet is melancholy, bitter, and cynical, full of hatred for his uncles scheming and disgust for his mothers.
Hamlet s friends, rosencrantz and guildenstern, to watch him. Hamlet s body is taken offstage with the honors due a soldier. The character hamlet from shakespeares tragedy hamlet explores these existential questions, seeking truth and understanding as he tries to come to grips with his fathers death. When polonius, the pompous lord chamberlain, suggests that hamlet may be mad with love for his daughter, ophelia, claudius agrees to spy on hamlet in conversation with the girl. Hamlet has fascinated audiences and readers for centuries. Hamlet is melancholy, bitter, and cynical, full of hatred for his uncles scheming and. Certainly, the poet and critic samuel taylor coleridge thought hamlet s main fault was his indecision. Hamlet is one of the most iconic plays that has been studied in depth for over 400 years. Need help on characters in william shakespeares hamlet. These brief discriptions of main characters in hamlet along with some hamlet character analysis will help you impress your friends and neighbors with your knowledge of literature. An analysis of the person or the inner self of hamlet, an analysis of his relations with different characters in the play, namely, gertrude, his mother, claudius, his new stepfather, ophelia, his love and his school friends, would help give an insight to the contradictions in the character hamlet that shakespeare has attempted to portray. From the moment we meet the crestfallen prince we are enraptured by his elegant intensity. Along with gertrude, ophelia is the only other female character in the play, ophelias actions and trajectory are unfortunately defined by the men around read full character analysis get the entire hamlet litchart as a printable pdf.
Posted by nicole smith, dec 6, 2011 poetry comments closed print. Though charged by the ghost of his dead father to avenge his murder, hamlet is caught up. As always, hamlet moves from the particular to the general, and he asks why humans put up with their burdens and pains when they have a means of escape with a bare bodkin. A councilor, or advisor, to claudius, and the father of ophelia and laertes. Hamlet study guide please see the main page for the complete play with explanatory notes for each scene. Hamlet hamlets seven soliloquies philip allan literature guide for alevel 3 philip allan updates unhappily or not at all. However, shakespeare deliberately leaves the extent of gertrudes historic involvement with claudius as both his lover and potential accomplice in murder unclear. The character of polonius in hamlet from litcharts the. Other important themes in hamlet relationship between father and son. Ophelia character analysis in hamlet english summary. Hamlet is the main character and protagonist in the play hamlet by william shakespeare. But though hamlet certainly seems mad, he does not seem to love. Shakespeare makes it clear that the stakes riding on some of these questions are enormousthe actions of these characters bring disaster upon an entire kingdom. Hamlet character list kenton county school district.
The villain of the play, claudius is a calculating. Hamlet the prince of denmark, the title character, and the protagonist. Hamlet study guide explanatory notes, character analysis. About thirty years old at the start of the play, hamlet is the son of queen gertrude and the late king hamlet, and the nephew of. Problem play and revenge tragedy the hamlet and ophelia subplot the norway subplot in hamlet introduction to the characters in hamlet hamlet plot summary the purpose of the murder of gonzago the dumbshow. Hamlet is a deep thinker, focusing on impossible to answer questions about religion, death, truth. The exact date of publication is unknown, however, many believe that it was published between 1601 and 1603. Hamlet is the prince of denmark, the son of the recently deceased king hamlet, and the protagonist of the play. Hamlet and claudius were major ond round character and.
In william shakespeares tragedy, hamlet, the main character, hamlet, is incredibly dynamic. Character list for hamlet from the folger shakespeare library edition characters in the play the ghost hamlet, prince of denmark, son of the late king hamlet and queen gertrude queen gertrude, widow of king hamlet, now married to claudius king claudius, brother to the late king hamlet ophelia. Indepth character analysis, critical essays, and insight into the novels literary devices will help unlock the novels deeper layers. Analysis of act five of shakespeares hamlet character analysis of horatio comment on hamlet s to be or not to be soliloquy staging for shakespeares hamlet. An actual production of hamlet takes place at the same time as the interview show, and the characters go back and forth between three spaces. Hamlet characters and analysis a research guide for students. With themes of tragedy, love, revenge, family and many more, the play causes a reader to ask questions that can be only answered by shakespeare. He is the son of queen gertrude and king hamlet, who was murdered by his uncle claudius. Polonius s daughter, laertes sister, and hamlet s lover.
Hamlet by william shakespeare summary, themes, and analysis. Character list for hamlet from the folger shakespeare library edition. He is introspective, thinking a lot about his actions he seeks the truth so that he can be certain that what he does is the right thing, especially when carrying out the revenge wished for by the ghost of his death father he is indecisive and fails to decide what to do throughout, until the tragic ending it seems he has a duty to perform, but does not know how to go about it. Analysis and discussion of characters in william shakespeares hamlet. Plot summary characters hamlet the prince of denmark, son of gertrude, nephew of claudius, and heir to the throne. Cliffsnotes shakespeare s hamlet available for download and read online in other formats. However, lacking the social and political conventions that confined elizabethan england, it would seem that there is another possible interpretation of hamlet s mother. Pdf cliffsnotes shakespeare s hamlet download full pdf. Hamlet is a tragic play written by william shakespeare somewhat in 1599.
The antagonist of the play and the new king of denmark. Learn all about how the characters in hamlet such as hamlet and polonius contribute to the story and how they fit into the plot. Hamlet characters page 1 of 2 there will be 18 actors in this nac production of hamlet, nine of whom will take on other roles in addition to being members of the troupe of travelling players. Most people believe that revenge and the events drive the story, but hamlet s plot and actions are driven based on the conflicts between two characters and themselves. The words that tend to come up when people try to analyse the character or personality of hamlet are indecisive, delaying, and uncertain, with inaction being the key defining feature of what. Introduction to hamlet hamlet is arguably the greatest dramatic character ever created. One of the many talents of the playwright william shakespeare was that he broke the limiting mold of the onedimensional character by representing characters in all of their human complexity. Contents page introduction ix thetragedyofhamlet i appendixi. Three different texts of hamlet were published in shakespeares time. This is not an example of the work produced by our essay writing service. The creators of sparknotes hamlet characters from litcharts. Ophelia character analysis in hamlet ophelia is the one seemingly loved by hamlet who is the protagonist of the play written by shakespeare. Shakespeare has developed a character whose conflicts of interest and personality traits combine to lead him through actions that eventually led to his ultimate downfall, along with many of his.
While he stays true to this characterization for almost the entire play, he does undergo a transformation by the end of the play. King hamlet s death and gertrudes wedding to claudius happen immediately prior to the opening of the play. Read our detailed notes below on the play hamlet by william shakespeare. Hamlet begins the play a depressed, angry young man who is.