Hamlet
---William Shakespeare
Introduction :
• Written . About 1602
• One of the “world books”.
• One of the greatest tragedies.
• Most popular play in English literature.
• Highly interesting .
• Remarkable characters.
Characters
Hamlet
The Prince of Denmark,
the title character, and
the protagonist. 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.
Claudius
The King of Denmark,
Hamlet's uncle, and the
play's antagonist. The
villain of the play,
Claudius is a calculating,
and ambitious politician.
Gertrude
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.
Polonius
The Lord
Chamberlain of
Claudius's court, a
pompous, conniving
old man. Polonius is
the father of Laertes
and Ophelia.
Horatio
Hamlet's close friend, who
studied with the prince at the
university in Wittenberg.
Horatio is loyal and helpful to
Hamlet throughout the play.
After Hamlet's death, Horatio
remains alive to tell Hamlet's
story.
Ophelia
Polonius’s daughter, a beautiful young
woman with whom Hamlet has been
in love. Ophelia is a sweet and
innocent young girl, who obeys her
father and her brother, Laertes.
Dependent on men to tell her how to
behave, she gives in to Polonius’s
schemes to spy on Hamlet. Even in
her lapse into madness and death,
she remains maidenly, singing songs
about flowers and finally drowning in
the river amid the flower garlands she
had gathereed.
Laertes
Polonius's son and
Ophelia's brother, a
young man who
spends much of the
play in France.
Passionate and quick
to action, Laertes is
clearly a foil for the
reflective Hamlet.
Fortinbras
The young Prince of Norway,
whose father the king (also
named Fortinbras) was killed
by Hamlet's father (also
named Hamlet). Now
Fortinbras wishes to attack
Denmark to avenge his
father's honor, making him
another foil for Prince Hamlet.
The Ghost
The specter of
Hamlet's recently
deceased father. The
ghost, who claims to
have been murdered
by Claudius, calls
upon Hamlet to
avenge him.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
Two slightly bumbling
courtiers, former friends
of Hamlet from
Wittenberg, who are
summoned by Claudius
and Gertrude to
discover the cause of
Hamlet's strange
Osric
The foolish courtier
who summons
Hamlet to his duel
with Laertes.
Voltimand and Cornelius
Courtiers whom Claudius sends to
Norway to persuade the king to
prevent Fortinbras from attacking.
Marcellus and Bernardo
The officers who
first see the ghost
walking the
ramparts of
Elsinore and who
summon Horatio to
witness it.
Marcellus is
present when
Hamlet first
Francisco
A soldier and
guardsman at
Elsinore.
Reynaldo
Polonius’s
servant, who is
sent to France
by Polonius to
check up on and
spy on Laertes.