HAMLET — Character Analysis (Traits, Key Scenes and Quotes)

Overview

Prince of Denmark, student and son of Queen Gertrude and the late King Hamlet. Returning to Elsinore, he learns from the Ghost that Claudius murdered his father and commits to remember and revenge. He probes the court behind an antic disposition, uses the visiting Players to expose Claudius, confronts Gertrude in the closet scene, kills Polonius by mistake, is sent to England with secret orders for his death, escapes at sea, returns to Denmark and dies in the poisoned duel, having killed Claudius and named Fortinbras heir.

Core Traits and Motives

Intelligent and questioning – trained in scholarship, quick with wordplay, suspicious of appearances.
Conscience-led – seeks proof and ethical clarity before acting, which slows but sharpens his revenge.
Performative and strategic – adopts an antic disposition to mislead eavesdroppers and buy time.
Loyal in friendship – trusts Horatio as honest witness and moral counterweight.
Politically alert – reads policy and optics, from the play’s staging to his public apology to Laertes.

Arc in Five Beats (With Outcomes)

Charge and Vow (1.2–1.5)
The Ghost names Claudius as murderer; Hamlet vows revenge and secrecy.

Inquiry and Exposure (2.1–3.2)
Feigns oddness, tests Polonius, rejects Ophelia under surveillance, stages The Mouse-trap; Claudius betrays guilt.

Private Collision and Blood (3.4)
Confronts Gertrude; stabbing through the arras, Hamlet kills Polonius, turning inquiry into open crisis.

Removal and Return (4.3–4.6)
Shipped to England with a death warrant, he rewrites the letter, escapes during a pirate skirmish and returns to Elsinore.

Public Reckoning (5.2)
Accepts hazard and providence, apologises to Laertes, fights the duel; Gertrude, Laertes, Claudius and Hamlet are poisoned; Hamlet kills Claudius and yields Denmark to Fortinbras.

Key Scenes to Study

1.5 – Oath and purpose: revenge framed as memory, duty and secrecy.
2.2 – Method revealed: testing Polonius, distrust of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, plan for the Players.
3.1 – “To be, or not to be”: thought versus action, fear and conscience.
3.2 – The play within the play: performance as proof, Claudius’s visible conscience.
3.4 – The closet scene: truth-telling, Polonius’s death, renewed command from the Ghost.
5.2 – The duel: public apology, poisoned plot, justice and succession.

Essential Quotes (With One-Line Gloss)

“Seems, madam? Nay, it is.” – insists on reality over ceremonious show (1.2).
“O, that this too too solid flesh would melt.” – private loathing of corruption and frailty (1.2).
“The play’s the thing / Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.” – theatre as investigation (2.2).
“To be, or not to be.” – weighing endurance, action and fear of death (3.1).
“I will speak daggers to her, but use none.” – intent for words as weapons with Gertrude (3.2).
“Now could I drink hot blood.” – post-exposure heat tempered by conscience (3.2).
“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends.” – acceptance of providence guiding hazard (5.2).
“The rest is silence.” – closing relinquishment, handing truth to Horatio (5.2).

Performance and Essay Angles

Appearance versus reality – how Hamlet uses acting to read truth and how ceremony hides guilt.
Delay and decision – conscience, evidence and consequence versus Laertes’s speed and Fortinbras’s discipline.
Language as action – wit, riddling and staged speech as tactical tools.
Public apology – the duel scene as ethical and political stagecraft.
Providence and agency – the late turn from calculation to acceptance in 5.2.

Study Prompts

Map each test Hamlet sets (Polonius, R&G, the King) – what is learned and what is risked.
Compare Hamlet’s private aims with his public acts in 3.2 and 5.2 – what changes.
Track the ethics of revenge: where does conscience slow justice and where does it refine it.
How do letters and plays function as instruments of policy in a surveilled court.

Short FAQs

Why Does Hamlet Delay?
He seeks proof and a fitting moment, balancing conscience, optics and danger.

Is Hamlet’s Madness Genuine?
He chooses an antic disposition yet is strained by grief and pressure.

Why Spare Gertrude?
The Ghost forbids harm to her, leaving judgement to heaven and conscience.

Why Name Fortinbras?
A practical settlement for succession and order after a poisoned court.

For Students and Teachers

Designed for GCSE, A Level, IB, AP (US) and Canadian provincial curricula. Use the line-by-line modern English beside the original for close reading, scansion, rehearsal choices and essay planning.

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