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HAMLET: Character Analysis
At a Glance
Role: Prince of Denmark
Relationships: Son to Gertrude; nephew to Claudius; friend to Horatio; once lover to Ophelia; rival to Laertes
Core drive: Truth and justice for his father’s murder – without damning his soul
Fatal flaw: Scruple and doubt – a conscience that slows decisive action
Foils: Laertes; Fortinbras
Key scenes: A1S2 – grief and disgust; A1S5 – the charge; A2S2 – antic plan; A3S1 – “To be”; A3S2 – the Mousetrap; A3S3 – prayer; A3S4 – the closet; A5S2 – readiness and end
Overview
The heir apparent to Denmark, Hamlet returns from university to find his father dead and his mother remarried to his uncle, Claudius. Intelligent, witty and fiercely self-aware, he struggles to reconcile private grief, public duty and the terrifying claim of a ghost who demands revenge. His inner life is unusually visible – Shakespeare gives him more soliloquies than any other character – which turns his crisis into a study of conscience, faith and power.
Motives
Hamlet wants a just response to murder – but not at the cost of his soul. The ghost’s charge demands blood; Hamlet’s theology demands certainty. That tension produces delay: he seeks proof, tests appearances and rehearses action in words. His antic disposition shields enquiry; the Mousetrap supplies confirmation; only when chance and necessity align does he act fully. The engine of the part is this conflict between thought and deed.
Key Relationships
Claudius: Political enemy and moral antithesis – smooth, pragmatic, duplicitous. Hamlet exposes him, then destroys him.
Gertrude: Love mixed with disillusionment. Hamlet’s hurt at her haste fuels the Closet Scene; her death shapes his final resolve.
Ophelia: Real affection, strained by distrust and strategy. His cruelty in A3S1 sits beside grief at her funeral.
Horatio: Anchor of truth – steady, rational witness. Hamlet’s confidant and final storyteller.
Laertes: Foil in action – swift where Hamlet hesitates. Their parallel losses end in reconciliation.
The Ghost: Catalyst and conscience. He frames revenge as sacred duty yet forbids harm to Gertrude’s soul.
Key Scenes
A1S2 – Court and grievance: Hamlet’s first public mask; “Seems, madam? nay, it is.”
A1S5 – The charge: The ghost names the murder; Hamlet vows remembrance.
A2S2 – Players and plan: Art as investigation – the Mousetrap conceived.
A3S1 – “To be, or not to be”: Mortality, conscience and fear of error.
A3S2 – Mousetrap: Proof through theatre – Claudius exposed.
A3S3 – Prayer scene: Hamlet spares Claudius – theologically argued delay.
A3S4 – Closet scene: Truth and violence collide; Hamlet confronts Gertrude.
A4S4 – Fortinbras trigger: Seeing action in others stiffens his resolve.
A5S2 – The duel: Acceptance of providence – “the readiness is all.”
Language & Technique
Soliloquy as x-ray: Thought vocalised – arguments turn on antithesis, rhetorical questions and balanced clauses.
Wordplay and surveillance: Puns, double meanings and feints as defence under watch.
Imagery of rot and rehearsal: Denmark as decay; theatre as truth-test.
Verse–prose shifts: Blank verse for high argument; prose for strategy, wit and social manoeuvre.
Quotes
“Seems, madam? Nay, it is.” – insists on reality over ceremonious show (A1S2).
“O, that this too too solid flesh would melt.” – private loathing of corruption and frailty (A1S2).
“The play’s the thing / Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.” – theatre as investigation (A2S2).
“To be, or not to be.” – weighing endurance, action and fear of death (A3S1).
“I will speak daggers to her, but use none.” – intent for words as weapons with Gertrude (A3S1).
“Now could I drink hot blood.” – post-exposure heat tempered by conscience (A3S2).
“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends.” – acceptance of providence guiding hazard (A5S2).
“The rest is silence.” – closing relinquishment, handing truth to Horatio (A5S2).
Themes & Ideas
Appearance vs reality: Masks, plays and spying test what can be trusted.
Memory and duty: “Remember me” frames revenge as sacred obligation.
Conscience vs action: Ethical hesitation against political necessity.
Legitimacy and power: A tainted crown, a prince out of joint.
Mortality: Skulls, graves and final acceptance – human limits acknowledged.
Performance Notes
Play the argument, not the angst. Hamlet is quick-witted and socially agile; melancholy needn’t mean inertia. The antic disposition should feel strategic – different registers with Polonius, Ophelia, Claudius and Horatio. In A3S3, let the theological logic land clearly; in A5S2, lighten into calm – humility before providence and death. Swordplay can mirror the mind: precise, probing, then decisive.
Study Prompts (with suggested answers)
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Benchmark points
Need for proof – fear of damnation and error
Mousetrap as ethical test – not mere procrastination
A3S3 prayer choice – theological reasoning, not cowardice
Suggested answer
Hamlet delays because he refuses to kill on suspicion. The ghost may be a devil; he seeks confirmation through the Mousetrap and reads conscience against appetite. Sparing Claudius at prayer follows a medieval logic – not rewarding repentance but avoiding a deed done in spiritual ignorance. Delay is costly, yet it marks Hamlet’s moral seriousness rather than weakness.
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Benchmark points
Declared “antic disposition” – strategic disguise
Coherent rhetoric with Horatio – sanity in private
Crisis moments – grief and pressure crack the mask
Suggested answer
His public oddity is purposeful – he announces it, manages it and drops it with Horatio. The language stays precise when he chooses. Yet pressure points – Ophelia, the Closet Scene, the voyage – show genuine strain. Feigned madness is the tool; flashes of real distress are the cost.
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Benchmark points
Thought experiment on suffering and death
Fear of the unknown after death restrains self-harm
Returns him to action by reason, not impulse
Suggested answer
The soliloquy tests whether ending pain is wiser than enduring it. The undiscovered country makes suicide morally and rationally unsafe. Hamlet leaves with no neat solution, but the argument clarifies that continuing to act – however uncertain – is the only path left to conscience.
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Benchmark points
Claudius’s state of grace question – appearance vs reality
Revenge as justice, not mere killing
Irony – Claudius cannot truly pray
Suggested answer
Hamlet believes killing at prayer would send Claudius to heaven and thus fail justice. The choice is argued, not craven. Dramatic irony bites – Claudius admits he cannot repent. Shakespeare gives us a tragic hinge where ethics and error cross.
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Benchmark points
Acceptance of providence – “there’s a special providence…”
Readiness replaces control – calmer decisiveness
Final acts shaped by openness to chance
Suggested answer
The letter-switch and survival teach contingency. Hamlet stops trying to script outcomes and embraces readiness. This quietens his anxiety and frees decisive action in A5S2 – reconciliation with Laertes, exposure of the plot, and a just killing of Claudius.
FAQs
Is Hamlet a tragic hero?
Yes – a noble figure whose virtue and flaw are entwined. His conscience elevates him yet slows the deed that would save others.
Does Hamlet love Ophelia?
He does. Strategy and suspicion make him cruel, but his grief at her grave and the earlier letters show genuine feeling.
Why does Hamlet stage the Mousetrap?
To convert suspicion into proof. Theatre reproduces the crime so Claudius must either withstand it or betray himself.
Who are Hamlet’s foils?
Laertes and Fortinbras – men of swift action who throw Hamlet’s reflective nature into relief.
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