Character analysis of

Hamlet
Cindy Ortiz

English 102
12/10/09
Mrs. Goffe-McNish
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Table of content

Essay 1 The Connections to themes of Hamlet in the play Hamlet by

William Shakespeare

pgs 3-7

Essay2 The Characteristics of Hamlet in the play Hamlet by William

Shakespeare pgs 8-11

Essay3 The relationships of Hamlet and other characters in the play

Hamlet by William Shakespeare
pgs 12-14

Appendix Image one and picture two

pg 15

Bibliography
Pg16
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Cindy Ortiz

Mrs. Goffe-McNish

English 102

12/10/09

The connections to themes of Hamlet in the play Hamlet by

William Shakespeare

The themes of a story such as the ones in the play Hamlet by William

Shakespeare give it an appealing plot. Hamlet has numerous links to the

many themes of the play which he carries throughout the development of

the play. A theme is a thought or idea the author presents to the reader that

may be deep, difficult to understand, or even moralistic. Cleansing is the

freeing of a place, person, or society from something wrong or unwelcome.

Deceit is the act or practice of deceiving; concealment or distortion of the

truth for the purpose of misleading; duplicity; fraud; cheating. Tragedy is a

serious play with a tragic theme, often involving a heroic struggle and the

downfall of the main character. Hamlet is a young man who is tortured with

the decision of taking revenge on his uncle in order to avenge his father’s

death. The representation of cleansing, deceit and tragedy are the three of

the many themes that Hamlet finds himself in the midst of.
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Hamlet executes a major part in the cleansing that takes place in the

play because he is one of the main cleansers. He is also a one of the many

flawed characters in the play which pollutes it. Hamlet begins to display foul

acts as his tactics include murder. His moral is put into question after

plotting to kill Claudius. “At least I’m sure it may be so in

Denmark. (writes)So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word. It is “Adieu,

adieu. Remember me.”I have sworn ’t” (1.5). This occurs after he finds out

that his father was murdered by Claudius. This horrible act makes his uncle

Claudius a spoiled character as well and someone who must withdraw from

the play in order to carry on with the cleansing of the tragedy. Hamlet now

begins to show signs of him developing into a flawed character with the loss

of morality. Although In Hamlets time period it was common to avenge a

love one and it would be acceptable, it is still seen as brutal act. In the

process and mix-up of killing Claudius; Hamlet kills Polonius thus blemishing

his moral. Hamlet begins to shows poor feelings after killing Polonius stating

afterwards; “Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell.I took thee for thy

better. Take thy fortune. Thou find’st to be too busy is some danger” (3.4). In

development of the play he is led to fight against Leartes and unintentionally

kills him too. His indecision of wether to kill Claudius lead him to the

discovery that he is not strong enough to handle the revenge of his father

hence making it one more of his many flaws. “Am I a coward? Who calls me

“villain”? Breaks my pate across? Plucks off my beard and blows it in my

face?Tweaks me by the nose? Gives me the lie i' th' throat As deep as to the

lungs? Who does me this? Ha! 'Swounds, I should take it, for it cannot beBut I
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am pigeon-livered and lack gallTo make oppression bitter, or ere thisI should

have fatted all the region kites With this slave’s offal.” Hamlet is at lost of all

that is right due to the mix up occurring in his life. In end he is one of the

many characters that die in order to maintain the play spotless of all flaws.

Deceit is one of the biggest issues Hamlet has a hard time dealing with

considering he is hit with all kinds of cynical acts all at once. He also has to

deal with the death of his father and the secondary effects the death of a

father may bring him. Even though there is not much told about the royal

family’s relationship with each other; it can be assumed that there was some

kind of respect from Hamlet to his uncle and mother. He is let down by his

uncle Claudius who after committing the sneaky act of marring his mother;

takes the throne and expects to receive some kind of warm acceptance from

hamlet “This unprevailing woe, and think of us As of a father. For let the

world take note, You are the most immediate to our throne, And with no less

nobility of love Than that which dearest father bears his son” (1.2). Hamlet is

not happy with the poor decisions his uncle Claudius, but is not as upset as

he is with his mother. Hamlet is let down in the beginning of the play by his

mother who marries his Uncle Claudius. The disillusion that Hamlet’s mother

causes him has a great impression on his view on women. He views women

as frail individuals with no hope of prevailing out of what they are and what

they are meant to be. He sees women as people who cant help themselves

because they are weak and feels that his mother is willing to stoop low in

order to remain queen.“A little month, or ere those shoes were old with

which she followed my poor father’s body, Like Niobe, all tears. Why she,
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even she—O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason would have

mourned longer!—married with my uncle (1.2). His relationship with

Opheliais negatively impacted as he breaks off their sentimental relationship

in a very cruel way. “For virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall

relish of it. I loved you not.”(3.1). Hamlet also received a considerable

deception from his father as he has a remembrance of him as much more

than his father, but saw him in great admiration “He was a man. Take him

for all in all. I shall not look upon his like again.” (1.2). Hamlet is stunned by

the things his father tell him that he has sinned and therefore finds himself

“Doomed for a certain term to walk the night And for the day confined to fast

in fires, Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purged

away”.(1.5). Despite the fact that this can be a discontentment Hamlet is

considerate of his misdeeds. Hamlet is dazed from the number of despicable

acts that have occurred in his life.

The theme of tragedy in the play is the main focus of the story line in

which Hamlet finds himself wrapped around. A tragedy is well known for the

breakdown of a good man in the same way as Hamlet is a decent man and

ends up corrupting his decency in the midst of his struggle with revenge. The

play opens up with a good wholesome image of a son mourning his late

father. As the story progresses he encounters his fathers ghost and discovers

that his death is the responsibility of King Claudius. He is angered at the

tough that Claudius has killed his father and now taken his place. Hamlet is

ready to take revenge and has a lot of motivation to do so. Although his

father’s ghost told him to avenge his death; he questions if killing is the right
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thing to do. Hamlet is tormented with the entire catastrophe that his life has

turn into and does not Know if its easer to take action right away or if it is

easier to be the better person and let things be as they are . “Whether ’tis

nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or

to take arms against a sea of troubles, And, by opposing, end them?”(3.1)

He tries to avoid killing and ops for the mouse tramp, a play based on the

murder of the king in order to verify that what the apparition is true. As the

play progresses Hamlet finds what he believes a chance to kill the, but he

actually kills Polonius. In this situation he demonstrates a colder side of

himself. He does not have any consideration when bringing about the death

of his childhood friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern after discovering that

they had betrayed him. He loses trust in many of the people that surround

him and leading him to talk among himself.

A story always contains some kind of theme that maneuvers the plot of

the story. The themes of the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare associate

with Hamlet and the occurrences in his life. The evolution of an ethical man

into a corrupt man and leading to destruction is seen in the character Hamlet

in the play. The deceits of most of the closest around him affect who he

becomes and leads him to his death. The breakdown of Hamlet begins by

him slowly changing from a decent man into a flawed character. His life is a

tragedy because he is no longer to say that his father is with him and that

his relatives truly are gentle people. He has to live with the imperfections of

life, but he could not live with the thought of it being that way thus leading

to his tragic end.

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Cindy Ortiz

Mrs. Goffe-McNish

English 102

12/10/09

The Characteristics of Hamlet in the play Hamlet by William

Shakespeare
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Shakespeare’s play Hamlet exhibits poor principles of a royal family

where many characteristics come into lucid view. The play of Hamlet is one

of Shakespeare’s well-known tragedies as it displays the many

characteristics of a man as result from poor circumstances. Characteristic is

the pertaining to, constituting or indicating the character or peculiar quality

of a person or thing. Emotional is the pertaining to or involving emotion or

the emotions. Psychological is pertaining to, dealing with, or affecting the

mind. Hamlet is a young man who is tortured with the decision of taking

revenge on his uncle in order to avenge his father’s death. A character’s

qualities define who it is or who it will become as the story develops. The

psychological and emotional characteristics are some of the characteristics

displayed by Hamlet in accordance with varying events.

Hamlet’s psychological characteristics become vivid after he speaks to

his father’s apparition. “The Ghosts most reinventing words to Hamlet-

Adieu,adieu, remember me” 1.5.91) are taken to heart , and perhaps to mind

and spirit, By hamlet , for he repeats those very words of course(Kozokowski

par.4) Kozokowski belief that he might of been psychologically scared with

his fathers words. His mind goes into a state of disbelief since his father’s

ghost is speaking to him and confessing of committing “foul crimes” (1.5).

Hamlet distinguishes his father as a highly regarded man “He was a man.

Take him for all in all. I shall not look upon his like again.” (1.2). Hamlet’s

father also informs him that Claudius is responsible for his death and

demands that Hamlet “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. (1.5).

Even tough he acts very vengeful in the presence of his father’s spirit “Haste
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me to know’t, that I, with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of

love, May sweep to my revenge” (1.5); He is merely a man and delays to

take action. Hamlet in reality is a decent man who is frightened of the

outcome of his actions and is swift to analyze how Claudius’s death will be

and were it will take him, but leisurely to pursue it. When he is given the

perfect chance to go in for the kill and justifies his dismay with excuses;

“He’s praying now. And now I’ll do it. And there he goes, off to heaven. And

that’s my revenge.”(3.3). Hamlet gives the situation more than enough turns

in order to avoid taking action. As the play progresses his soliloquies reveal

how psychologically he to some extent strengthens by strategizing other

ways to take action. Rather than screaming to the world his plans, he

remains discrete and divulges a so-called madness to the people in the

palace. Although he makes-believe that he has gone mad in realty he begins

to believe it so that much of his words hint lunacy. Hamlet’s state of mind is

distressed because what his life was no longer exists.

A second event that plays with his psychological status is that shortly

after his father is dead his mother marries his father’s brother Claudius

“Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven or ever I had seen that day,

Horatio. My father—methinks I see my father.”(1.2). His family once seemed

genuinely immaculate now illustrates its true colors. He no longer trusts the

women in his life because in his mind he sees them as petty entities. He is

not fully psychologically stable as he begins to converse with himself

consequence of the mistrust he feels towards the people in the palace

including his mother. Hamlet now gives the people around him the illusion
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that he has gone mad. “He waxes desperate with imagination”. (1.4). He

finds it hard to deal with number of negative events and at one point begins

to weaken as he starts to think of suicide as an escape to his problems. “To

be, or not to be? That is the question—Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to

suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a

sea of troubles, And, by opposing, end them” (3.1). The loss of trust among

those closest to hamlet has greatly impacted his aspect on individuals.

The circumstances he finds himself in affect his relationship with his

love interest Ophelia. He is emotionally shattered and finds it hard to show

his true emotion as he demonstrates in this excerpt “for virtue cannot so

inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you not.”(3.1). Hamlet

does not want to admit that he once fell for a woman as he denies ever

being in love or having any kid of attraction towards her. It is as if he were

putting up a wall in order to not fall under her womanly enchantment. He

cannot see Ophelia as nothing more than as a harlot who would only keep

him company in order to obtain some kind of gain. He uses his mother’s

actions as examples to support his theory. He asks her to stay away and as

if, it would help him from avoiding temptation.

Hamlet finds it hard to deal with the death of his father as any other

son would and shows much emotion. He is one of the few people that still

mourns his father’s death and does not approve of the sudden marriage of

his mother with her brother in law. As the play develops, he begins to show

negative sentiment towards his family. He acts out as if he is has nothing to

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say about the weeding, but speaks viciously about it when he is alone. He

does not try to demonstrate how much it truly bothers him. Hamlet does not

speak about his feelings so much because of strategy, but also out of feeling

resentment against his mother. He knows he can no longer trust his mother

and finds the need to keep her guessing because he is no longer concerned

with her emotion.

The characteristics of a character are crucial in order to understand it

and Hamlet’s characteristics come out when he is hit upon extreme

situations. Hamlet begins to reveal two of his traits as the catastrophe

develops. Although not many of his physical and other characteristics

appear, much is exposed from his psychological traits. It is clear trough this

characteristic that Hamlet was greatly impacted with puzzling. The reader

gets a better insight into what Hamlet is experiencing during his struggle

with the death of his father and marriage of his mother. The description of

these attributes gives the reader some aspects as to hamlets emotional and

psychological contributions are to the book.

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Cindy Ortiz

Mrs. Goffe-McNish

English 102

12/10/09

The relationships of Hamlet and other characters in the play

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

The relationships in the novel are mostly superficial and weekend by

incidence in the play. Hamlet is character in the novel that looses significant

relationship, but keeps one that fallows him until the end. Relationship is a

significant connection or similarity between two or more things, or the state

of being related to something else. Hamlet is a young prince who deals with

the death of his father and the marriage of his mother and his uncle shortly.

Queen Gertrude the queen of Norway and mother to hamlet. Ophelia is

Hamlet’s love interest and daughter of Polonius. Horatio is a close friend and

fellow student of Hamlet. Hamlet interacts and holds relationships in play

with many several characters such as queen Gertrude, Ophelia and Horatio.
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One of the most important relationships in the play is with Queen

Gertrude because she is his mother. The connection a son and a mother

have seems to be broken for Hamlet and his Gertrude since he no longer

esteems her as son would. He is mad at her for taking poor action after his

father’s death by weeding her brother in law. He bashes her with the lowest

of words as comparing her to an animal “Why she, even she—O God, a beast

that wants discourse of reason would have mourned longer!—married with

my uncle” (1.2). He now perceives her as a week being that she would steep

low and marry in order to remain queen. His relationship has weakened and

in his perspective can’t be mended. Although Hamlet seems to be the most

hurt out of the situation, Gertrude feels his resentment and worries about

her son or so she makes others belief. She knows that her actions were

shallow and that he hurt her son in process of getting what she sought after.

“I doubt it is no other but the main: His father’s death and our o'erhasty

marriage.”(2.2). She is aware of the damage that she has done their mother

and son bond, but does not try to mend it. She is truly egotistic individual

that took action only thinking out her own benefit. Instead of helping her son

she stays in the throne as she throws herself into the arms of Claudius a man

who killed her own husband.

Due to the lost of trust and much deceit from Hamlet’s Woman figure,

he now views women as shallow individuals that use their charm to enchant

men. While it is pretty clear that something happened before the misfortune

of the royals, it is not clear how well developed their relationship was. By

hints in the gifting of Hamlet to Ophelia it can be assumed that it was

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sentimental. He is fearful that Ophelia might be just as his mother and may

want something out of him. He does not show affection towards her because

he does not want to fall for what he believes may be a trap. He is pitiless and

tells her to “Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of

sinners?”(3.1). His demishing words hurt Ofelia and left her heartbroken to

hear such hard words from someone she felt good about. As the play

continues Hamlet ends up killing Ophelia’s father and leaves her with even

more devastation than before. This something she found too hard to deal

with and giving her reason to take her life. Hamlet never gets the chance to

patch things up with her and in the end confesses that his true feelings. “ I

loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers Could not with all their quantity of

loveMake up my sum. What wilt thou do for her” (5.1) .Taught their

relationship began deteriorating long before her death there was no chance

to save their relationship now that she was lifeless.

Despite the fact that no much is mentioned between the relationship of

Hamlet and his friend Horatio there is a lot that critics have to say otherwise

of the importance it has . “Regarding the Playwright’s tragic dramatization of

friendship, most critics have focused on Hamlet, particularly the Danish

prince’s friendship with the loyal Horatio”. (Janet Witalec par.1) Their

relationship is crucial to keep Hamlet somewhat sane because otherwise he

would find himself alone a Horatio is one of the few people in the play who is

not flawed and who lives all the way through the end. He keeps Hamlet

company and tries to help him as much as possible. Their relationship gives
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the impression that it is hamlet’s only genuinely clean one that he has.

Considering he was betrayed by two of his childhood friends. It can be

settled that Horatio is there for Hamlet in a hard time in his life “Having

returned from Wittenberg to find his father dead and mother remarried to his

uncle Claudius Hamlet relies on Horatio” (Janet Witalec par.2) In Hamlet’s

final breaths Horatio shows his loyalty by wanting to die with him “I’m more

like an ancient Roman than a corrupt modern Dane. Some of this liquor’s still

left in the goblet. Just as any good friend Hamlet shows his humanitarian side

and asks Horatio to save himself . He also relies that Horatio will clear the

blemished reputation he is leaving behind. To all which Horatio agrees and

as Hamlet is dying ; he dismisses him with amiable words. “Now cracks a

noble heart.—Good night, sweet prince, And flights of angels sing thee to thy

rest!—(5.2) As a good friend Horatio keeps Hamlet in good company until the

very end and although he might of also questioned his sanity, he was always

on his side.

The relationships in the play that include hamlet suffer as

consequence of the betrayal from some, but others manage to survive. As

the play demonstrates one bad relationship can ruin another such as it did

for hamlet and the relationship with his mother and Ophelia. After the

betrayal of his mother his other relationship with Ophelia begins to weaken.

Even though both of those relationship go sour; Horatio’s bond with Hamlet

can be can be judged as stronger than it was before since he was the only

character he really relied on to give him some kind of support. The

relationships he lost were inevitable, but it is heartbreaking to see the

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rupture of what are suppose to be closest bonds an individual has with a

mother a lover.
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(Image 1)Hamlet being visited by his father’s ghost

(Image2)Hamlet putting up a barrier between him and Ophelia.

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Citation

1.Kozokowski,StanleyJ. “Shakespeare’sHamlet.’.”The Explicator.

55.3(spring1997):p126. LitratureResources from Gale. Gale. Dutchess

Community College Lib-SUNY.9 Dec. 2009.http://go.gale.com/ps/start.do?

p=sunydutchess.

2.“Friendship.@ Shakespearean Criticism.

Ed.JanetWitalec.Vol.83.Detroit:Gale,2004.LiteratureResources From Gale.

Gale. DutchessCommunity College Lib-SUNY. 9Dec.2009

http://go.gale.com/ps/start.do?p=LitRG&u=sunydutchess .

3. Shakespeare, William. (1604). Hamlet . England : First Signet Classics.

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