Character Analysis: Hamlet

1. "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 passeth show, These but the trappings and the suits of woe." (I.2.76-86)

Hamlet is explaining to his mother that with all his different physical acts of grief that he shows, whether its dressing in black, crying continually, etc. he will never be able to tell her or show her the terrible pain that roars on inside him. It is unable to be shown. This shows the basis of Hamlet's actions for everything that he does in the remainder of the play. Though he does eventually become very angry and revengeful, the center of it all is his sadness of the death of his father.

2. Yes, by heaven! O most pernicious woman! O villain, villain, smiling, damnèd villain! My tables!—Meet it is I set it down that one may smile, and smile, and be a villain. At least I’m sure it may be so in Denmark. (writes) So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word." (I.5.104-109)

Hamlet has been struggling with how to deal with the death of his father. He has been depressed and sadness has overtaken him. However, the ghost of his father tells Hamlet to take revenge on his (Young Hamlet's) uncle, the King, for the death of his father, because Claudius killed Hamlet's father. This is a huge turning point for Hamlet in the play and also for the plot in the play. Everything begins to become dark in the remainder of the book.

3. "Observe mine uncle. If his occulted guilt Do not itself unkennel in one speech, It is a damnèd ghost that we have seen, And my imaginations are as foul as Vulcan's stithy." (III.2.80-84)

This shows the tremendous trust that Hamlet has in his dear friend Horatio, who seems to be the only person Hamlet really trusts.

4. "A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm." (IV.3.27-28)

Hamlet is now beginning to attack his uncle with verbal abuse. He tells his uncle that even though he is a king, he is still as low as a worm and he should be thought of as that. Hamlet, whether insane or sane, is dealing with his grief now through anger and hate towards his uncle.

5. "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath borne me on his back a thousand times, and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. —Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now to mock your own grinning? Quite chapfallen? Now get you to my lady’s chamber and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come. Make her laugh at that.—Prithee, Horatio, tell me one thing." (V.1.185-195)

Hamlet sees the skull of his once good friend and fellow jester, Yorick, in the graveyard where Ophelia is being buried. Hamlet begins to realize the frailty of life and its brevity. Hamlet's whole mindset on death is now much more intensified and it now has much more value to him. Life is not just fun to him now, it is serious and short, and he wants to make the most of it.

Hamlet Act V.2

     This is such a great scene! Finally, some action...some violent action! That is what is exciting! There were many deaths in this last scene, some were predictable while others were actually quite unpredictable. The King was bound to die, every reader knows that. However, it is quite surprising to see the Queen die as well. Out of each death, the one that truly deserved the death was Claudius. When one goes through his "resume," one will see that he is a murderer, an adulterer (to a certain extent), a prideful man (concerning the crown), and a revengeful man as well. Now, Claudius at one point did feel sorry for all the things that he had done; however, he excused that sorry feeling. He never followed through with his repentant spirit. Rather, he continued to act wickedly and actually plotted to kill Hamlet rather then ask for forgiveness from him. Claudius is definitely the man who well deserves his death. The one who least deserves his death is Laertes. One can easily respect Laertes. For one, he is one out of the two characters who die forgiving another person, or rather who die a respectable death. Hamlet is the other person who dies forgiving Laertes for fighting/killing him (Hamlet). Anyway, Laertes dies saying this: "Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet. Mine and my father's death come not upon thee, nor thine on me!" (V.2.330-332). This quote explains how Laertes' heart truly was when he died. Therefore, what quantifies deserving death is someone who no matter how they lived, died with his/her heart set on sin, destruction, and pride; like Claudius. Laertes displayed pure unselfishness even in the hardest time to display such humility: during his last, few breathes. Laertes died with honor, not because of how he lived, but because of how he died.

Hamlet Act V.1

     The gravediggers, though they may seem insignificant, are actually extremely important in the plot of this book. Hamlet has been concocting a plan to kill his uncle, who is also the king, Claudius because he killed Hamlet's father who was the king before. Hamlet's whole thought process throughout the book is revengeful and at certain points heartless. All he wants is to have his revenge on the king. However, the gravediggers really put life in perspective for young Hamlet. The gravediggers are digging a grave for the young woman Ophelia, who had just killed herself, and Hamlet and Horatio came up to the two diggers and began to talk to them (one of them did leave during the conversation (V.1.61-62)). As the diggers dug, Hamlet saw all these skulls all over the ground and the diggers were throwing them over their shoulders like there was no issue; however, Hamlet began to think about the brevity of life (V.1.76-81). Life is much too short to just have fun. Hamlet realized this in that time and he wanted to take every opportunity in this life. "Dost thou think Alexander looked o' this fashion I' th' earth?" Hamlet said as he contemplated life's brevity (V.1.199-200).  Hamlet has been having this perverted outlook on life, in that he believes in just having fun. However, the gravediggers have put life in perspective for Hamlet. Life is no longer eternal now to Hamlet, it is now very mortal and brief. He longs to now take life as seriously as possible. He wants use every opportunity he gets and make the most of them. Life is no longer everlasting, it is rather extremely brief. Hamlet is a changed man now because of these gravediggers. Thy are extremely important in this pay for that very reason of changing the mind of Hamlet indirectly. 

Hamlet Act IV.6 and IV.7

     Hamlet really does seem to trust Horatio. Hamlet does not trust anybody, even his own mother. He does not trust Rosencrantz or Guildenstern or anybody. However, he does seem to trust his good friend Horatio. Why is that? It seems that Horatio has shown that he is a faithful friend in the past. Remember, they both went to the same college together and they are both extremely close with each other. Horatio has proved himself to be a good friend towards Hamlet because never throughout the book so far has Horatio betrayed hisclose friend Hamlet like so many others had already, including his own mother. Horatio has proved himself a faithful friend.

     The relationship between Cluadius and Laertes is based solely on feeling. There is no substance at all in their relationship. All Claudius cares about is using Laertes to fulfill his own plans and desires, and it is the same for Laertes. The fact that Claudius is the King is great for him (Laertes) because he can use him for basically anything, including getting revenge on Hamlet. It seems that their entire relationship is based on the idea a seeking the death of Hamlet. Hamlet killed Polonius, so Laertes wants revenge on him, and Claudius just wants Hamlet dead because he (Claudius) knows that Hamlet knows that Claudius killed Hamlet's father just so Claudius could be king. Another thing that the King wants from Laertes is his submission to the king. "Will you be ruled by me?" (IV.7.58) The King asked Laertes, concerning if they would come together to kill Hamlet. It is interesting because they both do not care about the other person at all, they only want to fulfill their own desires, and they use each other to do that. It seems like a relationship that probably will not last very long.

Hamlet Act IV.4 and IV.5

     Hamlet feels quite uneasy about the Norwegians crossing over Denmark to be able to get to Poland so that they may have a bloody battle for a piece of land that is almost entirely insignificant besides the name of it (IV.4.18-22). Honestly, one can understand why Hamlet could be a little confused and even a little troubled about it as well. However, the main reason that he is so troubled is because he begins to see his own heart and how he has been dealing with the whole situation with Claudius. He wants to kill the king, but he has not taken much initiative to do so yet. Hamlet sees the Norwegians and how they are fighting for something that is not important at all and it makes him look down on them for not fighting for something bigger, yet realizes his ownself and he hasnt fought for what he thinks is very important, which is to have revenge on Cluadius. It's interesting to see what is going to happen next. It seems like Hamlet's plan is starting to lose control a little bit.

     Laertes and Hamlet both have fairly similar characteristics. For instance, Hamlet shows his superiority not only as a male, but also a person when he talks to his mother and the king. He is very confident in his speech with the king and he is also very controlling to his mother when he tries to tell her of her sin and Cluadius' sin (III.4.54-88). Laertes also does the same thing with Claudius when he approaches him with pure confidence when he (Laertes) thinks that the king killed his father. Laertes runs up to the king and breaks the door down because of his rage at the king (IV.5.111). Both Laertes and Hamlet are both similar in that they both display confidence when handling certain situations. Sometimes this is good, but sometimes this is very bad and it gets them in trouble, or rather, will get them in trouble.

Hamlet Act IV.1, IV.2, and IV.3

     Gertrude, who immediately after her confrontation with Hamlet, goes and tells her husband of what Hamlet has done, that is, killing Polonius. She goes on to tell Claudius about what happened, and he summons Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to go retrieve Hamlet, along with the body, and bring him to Claudius. Gertrude and Claudius both seem to treat Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with firmness, yet not with any rudeness or hate towards them. They are very scared for the rest of the kingdom with Hamlet roaming around; however, the Queen and King seem to treat Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with firmness and haste that is all.

     "The body is with the King, but the King is not with the body" (IV.2.27-28) means that though the King does have a physical body, he does not have a part in the kingship of Denmark, or in the political body. The kingship of Denmark belongs to one person, and that is Hamlet Sr. Who knows, maybe Hamlet is saying that he should be king, but either way, the interpretation of this quote is that though Claudius does have an actual physical body, he has absolutely no right to the kingship of Denmark.

     It's funny; yes, Hamlet did hide Polonius' body from the King, but he soon revealed to him where it he hid it (IV.3.35-37), which was under the stairs in the castle lobby. What seems to be the only reason that Hamlet hid Polonius' body is so that Hamlet could send his uncle a message that even "...a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar" (IV.3.30-31). Hamlet, it seems from the text, wants to bring Claudius as low as humanly possible without killing him just yet, and that may mean through little things such as hiding Polonius' body from him. Hamlet is very clever in many of his answers, especially to Claudius. For instance, Hamlet was asked where Polonius' body was and he replied saying that he was at supper. He began to explain that he was having supper with the worms who were eating his dead body (IV.3.16-25). Hamlet wants to bring his uncle as far down as possible so that he may experience the true pain and suffering that he deserves.

Hamlet Act III.3 and III.4

     Hamlet's soliloquy while he is on his way to kill Claudius is extremely gripping. Hamlet longs to have revenge on his uncle; however, he does not want to kill his uncle while he (Claudius) is praying for forgiveness. Rather, he wants to kill him when he is doing something sinful. Hamlet says that he wants to kill him "When he is drunk asleep, or inhis rage, or in th' incestous pleasure of his bed, at game a-swearing, or about some act that has no relish of salvation in't..." (III.3.89-92). So, it is tough to believe that Claudius really does hear Hamlet. If he did hear Hamlet, then he would have most likely said something to him about it, but rather he just says, "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. Words without thoughts never to heaven go" (III.3.97-99). From what the script tells the reader, it does not seem like Claudius hears Hamlet's soliloquy.
    
     Gertrude is very upset when Hamlet begins to tell her of the way he feels about her marrying the murderer of his father and her husband. One can only sympathize with Gertrude because of her weakness and brokeness towards Hamlet. "...Thou hast cleft my heart in twain" (III.4.157) means that she is torn between Hamlet and her second husband. She loves her son, more then anything in the world, but she would also love to continue to be Queen and have a husband who "loves" her and "cares" for her both emotionally and physically. Hamlet goes on to beg his mother to "Confess yourself to heaven, repent what's past, avoid what is to come, and do not spread the compost on the weeds to make them ranker" (III.4.150-153). She loves her son; however, it is tremendously difficult for her to give up the satisfaction of royalty, sex, and "romance." Gertrude is torn between herself and her son; the only question is who will she pick?