Character Analysis of Hamlet

Hamlet is the most well known of Shakespeare's most problematic and elusive plays which can be endlessly read and interpreted, leading to its popularity all over the world. It has attracted many people for centuries with its tragic story of a well educated and thoughtful prince who becomes enigmatic and full of discontent after the death of a beloved father. Through the inconsistent character of the protagonist of the play - Prince Hamlet, readers learn that a passionate, thoughtful, and reasonable person might become someone completely different and opposite of his former self by his excessive grief and hatred.

Prince Hamlet of Denmark is originally a content man. He is philosophical and scholarly, content with being a student at the University of Wittenberg with his close friend Horatio whom he considers to be one of his most trusted friends. He is also dating the daughter of Polonius, Ophelia, whom he loves deeply but turns cold towards soon after gaining knowledge of the tragedy of the late King Hamlet's death when he returns for a visit from school. Hamlet turns to mourning over his father's death which results in Hamlet becoming distrustful, resentful, and rash.

Hamlet finds himself in a painful situation after returning home for his father's funeral. The Court and those people around him seem to have let his father's death pass far too easily. They welcome the new king Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, as a favorable one on his coronation and resume their normal lives as if there is nothing out of the ordinary while Hamlet, alone, continues to sink into a deep ocean of sorrow for the loss of his beloved father. Also, he is so disappointed because of his mother incestful wedding to King Claudius in less than two months after his father's death. He hates his uncle and is disgusted in his mother due to his moral conception and love for his father. In Act I, scene ii, the prince presents himself as a stubborn person because he is the only one who still dresses in black from top to bottom when he first appears in the Court, peacocking out of the lively dressed crowd, and his mother who was dressed in all white. He wants to show them that he is still full of discontent at his father's death. He even expresses clearly how much suffering he is truly in by the way he responds to the Queen:

Seems, madam? Nay it is. I know not "seems."
'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good Mother,
Nor customary suits of solemn black,
Nor windy suspiration of forced breath,
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye,
Nor the dejected havior of the visage,
Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief,
That can denote me truly. These indeed seem,
For they are actions that a man might play:
But I have that within which passes show;

These but the trappings and the suits of woe. (I.ii.76-86)

In the play, the author doesn't mention how close the relationship between Hamlet and his father is, yet the readers can feel the love that Hamlet has for his father is really deep. To him, his father is a great King, a noble father, and a passionate husband. No one can compare with his father. Yet, his mother acts like a ruthless person who rapidly remarries without feeling any guilt. His compulsions to recall his father's memories make him suffer:

So excellent a King, that was to this

Hyperion to a satyr, so loving to my mother,

That he might not be teem the winds of heaven

Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth,

Must I remember? Why she would hang on him (I.ii.139-143)

Through the respect that Hamlet shows his father, we can tell that King Hamlet is someone who can cause Hamlet's obsession

At first, Hamlet simply hates and distrusts King Claudius and resents the "whore-ness" of his mother Queen Gertrude. This leads to Hamlet's sulking and rash persona opposed to his past content and philosophical personality. Hamlet refuses to acknowledge the sovereignty of King Claudius and deeply hates the current situation of Denmark's reigning powers. He becomes resentful and distrusting of everyone, hating King Claudius, resenting his mother for remarrying too quickly, and distrusting of anyone who he thinks is too supportive of King Claudius, including Ophelia who he distrusted after finding out that she was convinced to spy on him by her father Polonius. However, this situation becomes even more extreme when Hamlet discovered that his father death was actually a premeditated murder.

Hamlet's studies were interrupted by the death of his father and his distrust and melancholy became rage and a thirst for revenge when he found out that his father's death was actually a murder. After meeting with King Hamlet's ghost who tells Hamlet that King Claudius was the murderer, Hamlet's scholarly side took over and he became obsessed with proving King Claudius' guilt before making any acts. Hamlet's good side shows again, because he fears that that the ghost may not actually be his late father's spirit, but the devil trying to manipulate him, therefore, he must be certain that it was his uncle who killed his father to the point where "beyond a reasonable doubt" is still unacceptable to him. Hamlet brilliantly manipulates a play for King Claudius to see if Claudius would react in a way that betrays his secret of murdering the King and Claudius' reaction to Hamlet's manipulated play in a way that gives his murderous secrets away. King Claudius later admits in a soliloquy that he did in fact murder King Hamlet. Upon finding out the truth, Hamlet is enraged and dedicates the rest of his life to seeking revenge for his father.

Hamlet's becomes meaningless to him as he realizes that all he wants is revenge for his father, and this is when his persona takes a leaping change. He becomes rash and swift in his acts, such as when he stabs and kills Polonius while he was hiding behind curtains, mistakenly thinking that the figure behind the curtains was King Claudius rather than the relatively innocent Polonius because Hamlet did not bother to even check who was behind the curtains. Because Hamlet was always suspicious of spies around him such as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, he harshly rejects the woman he claims to love, Ophelia, because he finds out that she is also spying on him under her father's orders; in the process, Hamlet denounces all women, including his mother, as disgusting and untrustworthy. Hamlet was always highly intellectual and intelligent, and this turns into an overinflated self esteem and extreme arrogance; possibly because of their haste in getting over the death of King Hamlet. Hamlet belittles everyone that he sees as inferior to himself; he outsmarts men without them realizing it and physically overpowers women as ways to make himself feel superior. One thing about Hamlet that did not change however, was his trust in Horatio, who is the one person that Hamlet does not view as inferior to him and who also

Hamlet's revenge for his father becomes his goal in life and the consequences of killing his uncle do not have any place at all in his psyche; his life is so meaningless that he even contemplates his own death and possibly even suicide in more than one occasion in the play. This selfless thirst for revenge leads Hamlet to courageously face his destiny and fate. Laertes, who hates Hamlet for the murder of his father, challenges him to a fencing match and Hamlet accepts his proposal. This duel leads to Hamlet's demise as he is stabbed by the poison tipped sword of Laertes, but soon after learning that Laertes' sword was poisoned, Hamlet kills Laertes with his own poisoned blade and reconciles with Laertes and learns of King Claudius' murderous plans. Hamlet them accomplishes his life goal by killing his uncle with the same poison tipped blade, and is able to accept his fate, and let go of his anger and hate towards his uncle.

The once scholarly and thoughtful Hamlet changes dramatically throughout the plan. Excessive grief from finding out his father's death caused Hamlet to sulk and resent everyone who has let go of his father's death too easily; not to mention the interruption of his education. The knowledge that his father's death was actually murder planned by his uncle Claudius leads Hamlet to extreme hate and rashness, making him quick to lash out and extremely vengeful of King Claudius. Hamlet's persona changes a lot because of this grief and hate, but in the end, after taking vengeance for his father, Hamlet is able to accept his fate and reconciles honorably.