Hamlet- (protagonist)
• More to him then meets the eye
• Extremely philosophical
• Stabs Polonius (didn’t know it was him)- then becomes very angry, and gets the role of a madman. He upsets other characters with this angry approach
• Extremely sad, bitter- disconnected with the state of affairs in Denmark, and his family
• Upset with his mother marrying his uncle (Gertrude marries Claudius)
• Tells Ophelia he doesn’t love her, and she gets very sad
• Considers the option of suicide
• Son of queen Gertrude, and late King Hamlet
• Cant make a decision, and waits to long to make decisions
Claudius – (antagonist)
• The King of Denmark
• Hamlet’s uncle
• The villain of the play
• Claudius is a calculating, ambitious politician, driven by his sexual appetites and his lust for power
• Occasionally shows signs of guilt and human feeling—his love for Gertrude, for instance
Gertrude
• The Queen of Denmark
• Hamlet’s mother, recently married to Claudius
• Gertrude loves Hamlet deeply, but she is a shallow, weak woman who seeks affection and status
• Does care how she gets attention, just wants it (could be negative or positive attention)
Polonius
• The Lord Chamberlain of Claudius’s court
• A cocky, pig headed, full of himself old man
• Polonius is the father of Laertes and Ophelia.
Horatio
• Hamlet’s close friend
• Studied with the prince at the university in Wittenberg.
• Horatio is loyal and helpful to Hamlet throughout the play
• After Hamlet’s death, Horatio remains alive to tell Hamlet’s story.
Ophelia
• Polonius’s daughter, a beautiful young woman
• Whom Hamlet has been in love
• Ophelia is a sweet and innocent young girl, who obeys her father and her brother, Laertes.
• Dependent on men to tell her how to behave, she gives in to Polonius’s schemes to spy on Hamlet
• Even in her journey into madness and death, she remains maidenly, singing songs about flowers and finally drowning in the river amid the flower garlands she had gathered.
Laertes
• Polonius’s son and Ophelia’s brother
• A young man who spends much of the play in France
• Passionate and quick to action
• Laertes is clearly a foil for the reflective Hamlet
Fortinbras
• The young Prince of Norway
• Father the king (also named Fortinbras) was killed by Hamlet’s father (also named Hamlet)
• Now Fortinbras wishes to attack Denmark to avenge his father’s honor, making him another enemy for Prince Hamlet
The Ghost
• The specter of Hamlet’s recently deceased father
• The ghost, who claims to have been murdered by Claudius, calls upon Hamlet to avenge him
• However, it is not entirely certain whether the ghost is what it appears to be, or whether it is something else
• Hamlet speculates that the ghost might be a devil sent to deceive him and tempt him into murder
• The question of what the ghost is or where it comes from is never definitively resolved.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
• Two slightly stupid courtiers
• Former friends of Hamlet from Wittenberg
• Who are told by Claudius and Gertrude to discover the cause of Hamlet’s strange behavior.
Osric
• The foolish courtier who summons Hamlet to his duel with Laertes.
Voltimand and Cornelius
• Courtiers whom Claudius sends to Norway to persuade the king to prevent Fortinbras from attacking.
Marcellus and Bernardo
• The officers who first see the ghost walking the ramparts of Elsinore and who summon Horatio to witness it
• Marcellus is present when Hamlet first encounters the ghost.
Francisco
• A soldier and guardsman at Elsinore.
Reynaldo
• Polonius’s servant, who is sent to France by Polonius to check up on and spy on Laertes
How each character dies
Hamlet the Elder - poisoned (through the ear) by his brother Claudius
Polonius- stabbed (through the arras) by Hamlet
Ophelia - accidently drowned when she went crazy
Gertrude- drinks poison intended for Hamlet by Claudius
Claudius- stabbed with poisoned sword, and then made to drink the rest of his own poisoned drink
Laertes and Hamlet - stabbed with the same poisoned sword
Themes
The Impossibility of Certainty
The Complexity of Action
The Mystery of Death
The Nation as a Diseased Body
Symbols
Yorick’s Skull- discovered In the graveyard
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