King Claudius is the antagonist in this play, Hamlet's uncle and new step-father. Throughout the play tensions rise between Hamlet and Claudius even before Hamlet has figured out that Claudius has killed his actual father. Through the play Claudius tries to kill Hamlet before Hamlet can kill him. What makes Claudius a villain is that he is wrong, and Hamlet is right. Claudius is a sneak who murdered and lied. Hamlet commits his murders in the open and suffers the wrongs of his own conscience. Claudius rebels his conscience and refuses to ask for divine forgiveness. Hamlet seeks contrition and absolves himself of guilt before he dies; Claudius receives no absolution and seeks none.
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- Queen Gertrude is the queen of Denmark, Hamlet's mother. She is married to her ex-husband's brother Claudius. Throughout the book there are not many times where Gertrude is alone and we get to view her and only her. She is a woman that people have many different views of, Hamlet believes that she is a weak, even depraved, woman who is motivated by only lust for another. The ghost of King Hamlet calls her his "most seeming virtuous queen." He entreats Hamlet to "Leave her to Heaven / And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge / To prick and sting her." These words could imply that she has reason to be guilty, that she is not blameless. Later, the ghost implores Hamlet to comfort her. "But look, amazement on thy mother sits. / Oh step between her and her fighting soul." Again, he waxes protective of her but implies that she has some reason to be spiritually conflicted.
Hamlet is the Son of Gertrude and Old Hamlet, he was born into royalty and is the Prince of Denmark. He is loved by not only his family but the people of Denmark as well. Hamlet is a funny, sarcastic, and very smart man who knows more than he should. 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 the University of Wittenberg, Hamlet is often indecisive and hesitant, but at other times prone to rash and impulsive acts.
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HHoratio is Hamlet’s close friend, who studied with the prince at the University of Wittenberg. Horatio is the man Hamlet wants to be. He is intelligent, but not driven by his intellectual creativity. Horatio seems to accept the world as it is handed to him, where Hamlet is driven by his impulse question all apparent truths. Horatio loves Hamlet so much that he would rather impale himself on his own sword than live on after Hamlet's death. Hamlet passionately demonstrates his own deep love and admiration for Horatio in his request that Horatio tell Hamlet's story. Hamlet trusts his friend enough to leave him the task of finding the words that will divine the truth. After Hamlet’s death, Horatio remains alive to tell Hamlet’s story.
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Ophelia is Polonius’s daughter, a beautiful young woman with whom Hamlet has been in love. A sweet and innocent young girl, Ophelia dutifully strives to obey her father and her brother, Laertes, allowing Polonius to use her in his scheme to spy on Hamlet. When her father dies, her sanity unravels, and in her madness she paints a scathing picture of young men as sexually exploitative and unfaithful, and her mad speeches about flowers conceal implied condemnations of Claudius and Gertrude.
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