HAMLET CHARACTERS

Major Characters: The Older Generation
Claudius: The antagonist of the play and the new king of Denmark. Claudius is the “smiling,
damned villain” of the piece, a devious, lustful, and corrupt politician and master manipulator of
people and circumstances. Despite the darkness in his soul, his seemingly genuine love for
Gertrude and his pangs of conscience over his crimes add a more sympathetic dimension to his
personality.

Gertrude: The Queen of Denmark and Hamlet’s mother. Gertrude’s secret affair with
Claudius, her brother-in-law, culminates in their very public marriage. While Gertrude is a
loving mother to Hamlet, her excessive sensuality and desire for social status motivate her
immoral behaviour.

Polonius: Lord Chamberlain of the Danish court and counselor to King Claudius. Polonius is
the suspicious and controlling father of Ophelia and Laertes. He is a self-important, rather
bumbling schemer and Claudius’ chief spy against Hamlet.

The Ghost: The spirit of King Hamlet, the prince’s murdered father. The Ghost calls upon
Hamlet to avenge his murder by killing Claudius, his uncle/step-father/king, but the true origin of
this spirit is never made clear. Hamlet fears it may be have been sent by the devil to manipulate
him into performing an evil act. Shakespeare is said to have played this role in the first
production of Hamlet.

Major Characters: The Younger Generation
Hamlet: The protagonist of the play and prince of Denmark. He is around 30 years old when
the play opens. Hamlet is the natural son of Queen Gertrude and the recently deceased old king
from whom he takes his name. As a result of his mother’s hasty remarriage to Claudius, her
former brother-in-law, Hamlet’s former uncle is now also his step-father and the new king.
Hamlet’s keen wit, intellectual gifts, and natural tendency to question things make him an ideal
candidate for the studies he has pursued at university in Wittenburg, but the events that bring him
back home to Elsinore Castle have left him cynical and embittered.

Horatio: Hamlet’s one true friend and trusted ally. They attended university in Wittenburg
together. He has a calm, skeptical, and dispassionate outlook that helps to balance Hamlet’s
intellectual and emotional excesses. Hamlet entrusts him with the task of telling his story to the
world after his death

Ophelia: Polonius’ young, beautiful, and emotionally vulnerable daughter, sister to Laertes and
Hamlet’s love interest until he ruthlessly rejects her. Dutiful and obedient, Ophelia passively
accepts her father’s and brother’s commands to reject Hamlet’s advances. She allows herself to
be used as bait in the trap Polonius lays to spy on Hamlet. Her madness and subsequent death
fuel her brother’s desire to take revenge on Hamlet.

Laertes: Son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia. Laertes’ rash and action-oriented approach to
seeking revenge against Hamlet in the last acts of the play contrasts sharply with Hamlet’s
brooding hesitancy over killing Claudius. In this way Laertes is a far more typical revenge
tragedy figure than Hamlet.

Fortinbras: The young prince of Norway. His father, King Fortinbras, was slain by Hamlet’s
father in one-on-one combat on the day Hamlet was born. His fate is parallel to Hamlet’s in that
both have had their rightful place on the throne of their respective countries usurped by uncles.
A military man of action whose name means “strength in arms,” Fortinbras responds to his fate
by raising an army and marching off to do battle. He becomes Hamlet’s chosen successor to the
Danish throne in the final scene of the play.* *Fortinbras’ appearance in the final moments of the play was cut in film versions directed by Laurence Olivier (1948) and Franco Zeffirelli (1991). This gives Horatio the last word and makes it unclear who will rule over Denmark * *

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: Former university friends of Hamlet who are brought to
Elsinore by Claudius to try to find out the true cause of Hamlet’s apparent madness.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are pawns in a deadly game of political intrigue and revenge that
they never fully comprehend.