What are Hamlet's most notable character traits?
- Hamlet. Intelligent.
- Emotional. Intelligent.
- Impulsive. The End.
- Indecisive. Impulsive.
What are some traits that describe hamlet?
What are some traits that describe hamlet? Hamlet's main character traits are sensitivity, world-weariness, and indecision . Over the course of the play, this proves to be a toxic combination for the young prince.
Who are the evil characters in Hamlet?
When it comes to truly dastardly characters in the Bard’s work, Claudius, the uncle of Hamlet, ranks near the top. After poisoning his brother and seizing the crown, he marries Hamlet’s mother, but is haunted by his actions.
What are the characteristics of "Hamlet"?
Characteristics Of Hamlet As A Tragic Hero
- Hero must suffer more than he deserves.
- Hero must be doomed from the start, but bears no responsibility for possessing his flaw.
- Hero must be noble in nature, but imperfect so that the audience can see themselves in him.
- Hero must have discovered his fate by his own actions, not by things happening to him.
What character traits do Hamlet and Horatio have in common?
Hamlet Characters List
- Prince Hamlet. Hamlet, the title role is the prince of Denmark and the protagonist of the tragic play “Hamlet”. ...
- Claudius. Claudius is the primary antagonist of the play “Hamlet”. ...
- Gertrude. Gertrude is the queen of Denmark, mother of Prince Hamlet, and second wife of Claudius. ...
- Polonius. ...
- Horatio. ...
- Ophelia. ...
- Laertes. ...
- Fortinbras. ...
- Rosencrantz And Guildenstern. ...
What is some good traits about Hamlet?
Hamlet was a virtuous and a humble person and cared little for the fact that Ophelia came from a very simple background. His virtuous and princely qualities leave a lasting impression on the mind.
What are Hamlet's physical traits?
Character Analysis of Hamlet From the beginning of the story, he is described as pale and dressed in black, all signs of grief. Hamlet admits that his outward appearance does not come close to showing the grief he feels on the inside. Hamlet had a lot of respect for his father and despises his uncle.
Who is the most important character in Hamlet?
OpheliaOphelia is one of the most important characters in the play Hamlet. Ophelia's character is important in the story because she represents femininity, and Hamlet is able to act out his aggression towards his mother on Ophelia.
What is Hamlet's tragic trait?
The word 'tragic flaw' is taken from the Greek concept of Hamartia used by Greek philosopher Aristotle in his Poetics. Shakespeare's tragic hero Hamlet's fatal flaw is his failure to act immediately to kill Claudius, his uncle and murderer of his father. His tragic flaw is 'procrastination'.
What personality type is Hamlet?
As an INTJ personality type, Hamlet is a methodical, reclusive individual.
What are some characteristic traits?
Some character traits reveal positive aspects of a person's underlying values or beliefs.generosity.integrity.loyalty.devoted.loving.kindness.sincerity.self-control.More items...
Who are the 5 most important characters in Hamlet?
Hamlet.Claudius.Polonius.Ophelia.Gertrude.Horatio.Laertes.Fortinbras.More items...•
What aspects of Hamlet's character are admirable?
Shakespeare's Hamlet Essays: Admiration Of Hamlet Three specific traits that I find admirable of Hamlet are his loyalty, idea of justice, and intellect. I admire Hamlet's values of loyalty idea of justice, and intelligence because these are traits that help shape Hamlet's actions throughout the play.
Why is Hamlet an important character?
The paradox of Hamlet's nature draws people to the character. He is at once the consummate iconoclast, in self-imposed exile from Elsinore Society, while, at the same time, he is the adulated champion of Denmark — the people's hero. He has no friends left, but Horatio loves him unconditionally.
What was Hamlet's chief character flaw?
Hamlet has a tragic flaw in his personality and behavior. His flaw is that he is overly concerned with death and tragedy. This flaw or weakness in Hamlet leads him into a world of chaotic surroundings and madness.
What is Hamlet's weakness?
Indecisiveness In Hamlet Hamlets tragic flaw is his indecisiveness to make decisions. This trait is demonstrated through the entire play and causes Hamlet to his own demise.
Who is the most tragic character in Hamlet?
The Character Of Ophelia In Shakespeare's Hamlet The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is, without question, one of Shakespeare 's most tragic and dramatic plays.
Who is the protagonist in Hamlet?
Hamlet. The protagonist of the tragedy, Hamlet is a beloved prince and a thoughtful, melancholy young man. Distraught by his father’s death, Hamlet is only made more depressed by his uncle Claudius’ succession to the throne and his subsequent marriage to his mother.
Who is Hamlet's best friend?
Horatio. Horatio is Hamlet’s best friend and confidant. He is cautious, scholarly, and a good man, known for giving sound advice. As Hamlet lies dying at the end of the play, Horatio considers suicide, but Hamlet convinces him to live on to tell the story.
What does Claudius do when he realizes Hamlet is not mad?
He remains calculating and unloving throughout the play, driven by his ambition and lust. When he realizes that Hamlet is not mad as he originally believed, and in fact poses a threat to his crown, Claudius quickly begins to plot Hamlet's death.
Why does Hamlet get mad?
He is slowly driven mad by his inability to act on this instruction. Very intelligent, Hamlet decides to fake madness in order to fool his uncle and those loyal to him while he uncovers whether Claudius is guilty for his father’s death—although often his mental health is genuinely in question.
What country is Hamlet from?
Updated January 10, 2020. Most of the characters in Hamlet are citizens of Denmark and members of the royal court, reeling after the death of their king. The characters are deeply suspicious of one another, as it becomes clear that the king may have been murdered—and by his brother Claudius no less. As Hamlet is a tragedy, each character carries ...
Is Hamlet a tragedy?
As Hamlet is a tragedy, each character carries within themselves a tragic characteristic that contributes to their own downfall. But it is in particular the unstable atmosphere of the new court of Claudius that brings about much of the action of the play .
Who is Ophelia in Hamlet?
Ophelia is Polonius’s daughter and Hamlet’s lover. She is obedient, agreeing not to see Hamlet anymore at her father's suggestion and spying on Hamlet when asked by Claudius. She believes that Hamlet loves her, despite his inconsistent courtship, and is devastated during a conversation in which he seems not to love her at all. When Hamlet kills her father, Ophelia goes mad and drowns in the river. Whether this is a suicide is left ambiguous. Ophelia is feminine and almost maidenly throughout the play, though she is able to counter Hamlet’s wit.
Why is Hamlet so interesting?
Hamlet is one of the most intriguing and lasting characters in all of literature because he is so complex. Audiences have analyzed his character traits for centuries, trying to determine the truth of Hamlet 's character from those traits he might feign for his own purposes. Hamlet is quite self-reflective....
Why is Hamlet so complex?
Share Link. Hamlet is one of the most intriguing and lasting characters in all of literature because he is so complex. Audiences have analyzed his character traits for centuries, trying to determine the truth of Hamlet 's character from those traits he might feign for his own purposes. Hamlet is quite self-reflective.
What does Claudius tell Hamlet to do?
At one point in the play, Claudius effectively tells Hamlet to stop moping over the death of his father and move on. But to a sensitive soul like Hamlet, that's always easier said than done. As well as being very sensitive, Hamlet is also world-weary, which for a young man of his age is tragic indeed.
What does Hamlet say to Gertrude after killing Polonius?
After killing Polonius, Hamlet tells Gertrude that he "must be cruel to be kind" (III.iv.178), indicating that any madness or cruelty he exhibits is a act, part of his plan for revenge and part of his plan to set things right in Denmark. Approved by eNotes Editorial Team.
Is Polonius a verbose character?
This is perhaps most comical in his interactions with Polonius, a painfully verbose character. In fact, Polonius is sometimes left addled by Hamlet's witty responses and is only able to ascertain that "though this be madness, yet there is method in ’t.".
Who is Hamlet's closest friend?
Horatio. Hamlet ’s closest friend and most trusted confidant. Horatio wants to help Hamlet get to the root of his father’s loss and take vengeance upon his murderer, but as Hamlet descends into inaction, volatility, and… read analysis of Horatio.
Who is Hamlet's uncle?
Claudius. Hamlet ’s uncle and stepfather, and the new King of Denmark. After the death of Hamlet’s father and Claudius’s brother, the former king, Claudius married his brother’s wife, Gertrude, and assumed the throne of… read analysis of Claudius.
Why does Hamlet come to Elsinore?
The leading player of a troupe of actors who come to Elsinore to perform a play which mirrors the circumstances of Hamlet ’s father’s murder. Hamlet hopes this play will provoke a reaction from Claudius and thus allow him to determine his uncle’s guilt (or innocence) in the king’s death.
Who is Hamlet's opposite?
A young leader motivated to conquer foreign lands, make a name for himself, and avenge his father’s death at the hands of Hamlet ’s own father, Fortinbras is Hamlet’s opposite in… read analysis of Fortinbras.
Who is the royal jester in Hamlet?
Yorick. The deceased royal jester, whose remains Hamlet cradles and plays with after a pair of gravediggers exhume his skull. Hamlet recalls Yorick, in one of the play’s most famous lines, as “a fellow of… read analysis of Yorick.
Who is the father of Ophelia and Laertes?
Polonius. A councilor, or advisor, to Claudius, and the father of Ophelia and Laertes. Polonius is a verbose, faltering old man whose servile devotion to Claudius renders him slimy, untrustworthy, and pathetic in the… read analysis of Polonius.
Who are Hamlet's childhood friends?
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Hamlet’s childhood friends. They cannot serve independently as if they are the same character. They show up in Denmark to spy on Hamlet and report the findings to Claudius.
What does Hamlet discover about his father?
Prince Hamlet is a thoughtful and observant young man. After learning that Claudius murdered his father, Hamlet becomes obsessed with death and an idea of revenge.
Why does Gertrude lie to Claudius about Hamlet's insanity?
When Gertrude learns that Claudius killed Old Hamlet, she experiences shame and guilt. She lies to Claudius about Hamlet’s insanity because she wants to help her son. At the beginning of the play, Hamlet and Gertrude experience some difficulties.
Why is Laertes absent from Hamlet?
He is absent most of the time as he studies abroad. Laertes feels compelled to protect his family’s dignity and name, avenging Polonius’s death. When he learns of Ophelia’s suicide, he starts to behave irrationally. Laertes is not fond of Hamlet from the start, telling Ophelia to be careful with him.
What are Polonius' key character traits?
Polonius’ key character traits are defined by his cynical, controlling, and illusory nature. His patronizing speech to Laertes reveals it in full glory. Polonius advises Laertes to be himself, and at the same time, he sends Reynaldo to spy on him. Polonius can manipulate everyone besides Hamlet and Gertrude.
Why is Hamlet's relationship with Ophelia so complicated?
Due to his misogyny, his relationships with his mother and his beloved Ophelia become complicated. Underneath a layer of cynicism, though, Hamlet has a very affectionate and tender soul. His depression is covering his love.
What is the friendship between Hamlet and Horatio?
Hamlet and Horatio’s friendship is the epitome of relationships based on loyalty and trust. Horatio is intelligent, skeptical, but at the same time, he knows that he has a lot more to learn. That’s why his appearance at the beginning of the play is vital.
Who is Hamlet's mother?
The Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother, recently married to Claudius. Gertrude loves Hamlet deeply, but she is a shallow, weak woman who seeks affection and status more urgently than moral rectitude or truth.
How old is Hamlet at the start of the play?
About thirty years old at the start of the play, Hamlet is the son of Queen Gertrude and the late King Hamlet, and the nephew of the present king, Claudius. Hamlet is melancholy, bitter, and cynical, full of hatred for his uncle’s scheming and disgust for his mother’s sexuality. A reflective and thoughtful young man who has studied at ...
Who is the villain in Hamlet?
Claudius. The King of Denmark, Hamlet’s uncle, and the play’s antagonist. The villain of the play, Claudius is a calculating, ambitious politician, driven by his sexual appetites and his lust for power, but he occasionally shows signs of guilt and human feeling—his love for Gertrude, for instance, seems sincere.
Who is the father of Laertes and Ophelia?
Polonius. The Lord Chamberlain of Claudius’s court, a pompous, conniving old man. Polonius is the father of Laertes and Ophelia. Read an in-depth analysis of Polonius.
What is Hamlet characterised as?
He is often characterised as ‘a man who cannot make up his mind’ . The words that tend to come up when people try to analyse the character or personality of Hamlet are indecisive, delaying, and uncertain, with ‘inaction’ being the key defining feature of what Hamlet actually does during the play.
How old is Hamlet?
The conversation with the gravedigger suggests that Hamlet is 30 years old, although he is still a student, at the University of Wittenberg. He is often characterised as ‘a man who cannot make up his mind’.
Why does Polonius use Ophelia?
Polonius uses Ophelia to try to determine what the cause of Hamlet’s madness is (although Polonius, arrogantly, already assumes he knows that Hamlet is ‘mad for [her] love’). When Hamlet kills Polonius, stabbing him when Polonius is hiding behind the arras in Gertrude’s chamber, Ophelia goes mad and drowns herself.
What was Hamlet's fault?
Certainly, the poet and critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge thought Hamlet’s main fault was his indecision: he detected ‘an almost enormous intellectual activity and a proportionate aversion to real action consequent upon it’ – i.e., Hamlet is better at thinking about doing things than actually doing them.
Who was the playwright who wrote Hamlet's friends?
The contemporary playwright Tom Stoppard considered these two friends of Hamlet to be so significant as to warrant a play of their own: one of his first major successes in theatre in the 1960s was with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, a play named after a line from Hamlet.
Who is Hamlet's mother?
Gertrude is Hamlet’s mother and the wife of Claudius; before that, she was the wife of King Hamlet, making her Queen of Denmark. Hamlet resents his mother having remarried so quickly after his father’s death, even before he learns that the man she has remarried appears to have been responsible for King Hamlet’s demise.
Who is Hamlet's girlfriend?
Although it isn’t openly stated, it is implied that Ophelia is Hamlet’s ‘girlfriend’: his betrothed, the woman he will marry. Like Hamlet, she is part of the royal court, and her father, Polonius, is a lord – so although she isn’t royalty like Hamlet, she would be a suitable match for him in Danish society.
Hamlet
Claudius
Polonius
- Polonius is the main advisor to the king, also known as the Lord Chamberlain. Pompous and arrogant, Polonius is also the overbearing father of Ophelia and Laertes. As Laertes sets off for France to continue his studies, Polonius gives him paradoxical advice, including the famous quotation, "to thine own self be true”—an ironic line from a man who cannot keep his advice con…
Ophelia
- Ophelia is Polonius’s daughter and Hamlet’s lover. She is obedient, agreeing not to see Hamlet anymore at her father's suggestion and spying on Hamlet when asked by Claudius. She believes that Hamlet loves her, despite his inconsistent courtship, and is devastated during a conversation in which he seems not to love her at all. When Hamlet kills her father, Ophelia goes mad and dro…
Gertrude
- Gertrude is the queen of Denmark and Hamlet’s mother. She was originally married to Hamlet’s father, the dead king, but has now married the new king Claudius, her former brother-in-law. Gertrude's son Hamlet regards her with suspicion, wondering whether she had a hand in his father’s murder. Gertrude is rather weak and unable to match wits in an argument, but her love f…
Horatio
- Horatio is Hamlet’s best friend and confidant. He is cautious, scholarly, and a good man, known for giving sound advice. As Hamlet lies dying at the end of the play, Horatio considers suicide, but Hamlet convinces him to live on to tell the story.
Laertes
- Laertes is Polonius’s son and Ophelia’s brother, as well as a clear foilto Hamlet. Where Hamlet is contemplative and frozen by emotions, Laertes is reactive and quick to action. When he hears of his father’s death, Laertes is ready to raise a rebellion against Claudius, but his sister’s madness allows Claudius to convince him Hamlet is at fault. Unlike Hamlet, Laertes will stop at nothing fo…
Fortinbras
- Fortinbras is the prince of neighboring Norway. His father was killed by Hamlet’s father, and Fortinbras is looking for revenge. Fortinbras arrives in Denmark just as the climax is reached. At Hamlet’s recommendation and due to a distant connection, Fortinbras becomes the next king of Denmark.
The Ghost
- The ghost claims to be Hamlet’s dead father, the former king of Denmark (also named Hamlet). He appears as a ghost in the first scenes of the play, informing Hamlet and others that he was murdered by his brother Claudius, who poured poison into his ear while he slept. The Ghost is responsible for the action of the play, but its origins are unclear. Hamlet worries that this specte…
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern
- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two acquaintances of Hamlet who are asked to spy on the young prince in order to figure out the cause of his madness. Both are rather spineless and obedient—Rosencrantz moreso than Guildenstern—and neither is intelligent enough to really fool Hamlet. After Hamlet kills Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern accompany him to England. …