Hamlet Analysis Sample

Hamlet Character Analysis
The Prince of Denmark, the title character, and the protagonist. 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. Hamlet is melancholy, bitter, and cynical, full of hatred for
his uncle’s scheming and disgust for his mother’s sexuality. A reflective
and thoughtful young man who has studied at the University of
Wittenberg, Hamlet is often indecisive and hesitant, but at other times
prone to rash and impulsive acts.
Act 1 sets up the circumstances around Old Hamlet's death and Hamlet's
need for revenge – showing us how Hamlet feels about his mother's new
marriage and the promises he makes to the ghost of his father, to avenge
his murder.
O that this too solid flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!
Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d
His canon ’gainst self-slaughter!
O God! O God!
How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world!
This quotation, Hamlet’s first important soliloquy, occurs in Act I, scene

ii (129–158). Hamlet speaks these lines after enduring the unpleasant
scene at Claudius and Gertrude’s court, then being asked by his mother
and stepfather not to return to his studies at Wittenberg but to remain in
Denmark, presumably against his wishes. Here, Hamlet thinks for the
first time about suicide (desiring his flesh to “melt,” and wishing that
God had not made “self-slaughter” a sin), saying that the world is
“weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable.” In other words, suicide seems like
a desirable alternative to life in a painful world, but Hamlet feels that
the option of suicide is closed to him because it is forbidden by religion.
Hamlet then goes on to describe the causes of his pain, specifically his
intense disgust at his mother’s marriage to Claudius.
In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses a series of interactions between the other
characters and Hamlet in order to reveal his complex psychological and
intellectual makeup. It is important to examine, among others, Hamlet's
interaction with Claudius, Gertrude, the ghost, Horatio, Ophelia,
Polonius, and Laertes in order to appreciate the complexity of his
character. Through his conversations with each of these characters,
Hamlet reveals his inclinations and attitudes, indicating his own internal
struggle to find his true nature. One of the ways that Shakespeare reveals
the internal thoughts and feelings of one character is by using the
character's interactions with other characters.
The relationships that Hamlet has with other characters determine how
he is perceived throughout the play. When the relationship between
King Hamlet and Claudius is called into question, other relationships,
such as that between Gertrude and King Hamlet, must be examined. It
is Gertrude's marriage to Claudius that causes Hamlet to mourn so
deeply over his father. Hamlet expects Gertrude to mourn over King
Hamlet mercilessly before marrying Claudius. So what if Hamlet
believes that she did the complete opposite? She mourned very briefly
before marrying him. It is clear that Hamlet still loves his mother. If he
did not, he probably would feel anger towards her. When Hamlet speaks
to his mother about his feelings about the marriage, he describes the
world. He places the word "world" in between Gertrude and Claudius.
It is as if the world actually separates the two. Once again, Hamlet has
this belief that the two being married is wrong because they are too
different from each other. Gertrude knows her son is unhappy. It is one
of the only times that she questions Hamlet about his feelings before
finding out why. In conclusion, it is Hamlet's relationship with Gertrude
that only adds to the intense mourning of his father.
While Claudius may outwardly present himself as a strong and
unwavering leader, he begins to crumble internally as the play
progresses. His mounting fear of Hamlet’s insanity exacerbates his self-
preservation instincts, and the weight of his evil deeds begin to take a
toll on his conscience. Moments such as Claudius’s abrupt departure
from the Players’ performance and his “O, my offence is rank” soliloquy
suggest that he is capable of feeling guilt, and by including this detail,
Shakespeare reminds the audience that he is a complex individual rather
than a stock character. Unfortunately, Claudius’s sense of guilt is not
strong enough to assuage his desire for power. When Gertrude reveals
that Hamlet has killed Polonius, for example, Claudius only expresses
concern for his personal safety and fails to acknowledge that his wife
had been in danger. His need to ensure the continuation of his rule above
all else ultimately leads to his demise. In Act 5, Scene 2, Claudius insists
that, in addition to Laertes’s sharpened sword and the poison on the
blade, a poisoned goblet must be present to guarantee that Hamlet dies.
Ironically, the goblet, a symbol of Claudius’s unchecked greed and
desperation, is the thing that kills both Gertrude and himself. His own
cowardly machination inevitably destroys him.
Hamlet’s major antagonist is a shrewd, lustful, conniving king who

contrasts sharply with the other male characters in the play. Whereas
most of the other important men in Hamlet are preoccupied with ideas
of justice, revenge, and moral balance, Claudius is bent upon
maintaining his own power. The old King Hamlet was a stern warrior,
but Claudius, his brother, is a corrupt politician whose main weapon is
his ability to manipulate others through a skillful use of language. When
it comes to international diplomacy, this influence actually works in
Denmark’s favor. After all, Claudius is the one who manages to
convince the king of Norway to intervene in Fortinbras’s planned
invasion of Denmark. Within the royal court, however, his speech is like
the literal poison that he pours in Old Hamlet’s ear. Claudius has the
ability to convince others to follow his commands regardless of how
morally questionable they may be. Through his charisma and persuasive
attitude, he gets Gertrude to marry him, invites Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet, and turns Laertes into his ally.
Hamlet has fascinated audiences and readers for centuries, and the first
thing to point out about him is that he is enigmatic. There is always more
to him than the other characters in the play can figure out; even the most
careful and clever readers come away with the sense that they don’t
know everything there is to know about this character. Hamlet actually
tells other characters that there is more to him than meets the eye—
notably, his mother, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern—but his
fascination involves much more than this. When he speaks, he sounds
as if there’s something important he’s not saying, maybe something
even he is not aware of. The ability to write soliloquies and dialogues
that create this effect is one of Shakespeare’s most impressive
achievements.
Despite his many flaws—recklessness, cruelty, indecisiveness,
misogyny—Hamlet has remained an enduringly popular and fascinating
character because Shakespeare shows us so much of his inner life that
we cannot help but sympathize with him. Hamlet reveals his mental
state to the audience throughout the play, so the audience remains close
to him and understands his motivations from beginning to end. Rather
than becoming estranged from the audience as he becomes estranged
from himself, like Macbeth, Hamlet continues to question himself and
his actions up until his death.

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Hamlet Character Analysis

This quotation, Hamlet’s first important soliloquy, occurs in Act I, scene

Hamlet’s major antagonist is a shrewd, lustful, conniving king who

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