(Character)
Hamlet (protagonist): Faced with evidence that his uncle murdered his father, evidence that any other character in a play would believe, Hamlet becomes obsessed with proving his uncle’s guilt before trying to act. His tragic betrayal story earns the attention and fascination of the audiences and the readers. He becomes the main character - protagonist of the play in the early stages of the play itself. He is not only betrayed by his uncle, also by his own mother! “Why, she would hang on him as I increase of appetite had grown…yet within a month…” (I.ii.143), “O God a beast… would have mourn’d longer” (I.ii.150). These betrayals not only obsess him against his “new” parents, but his reputation over woman also rots, and his words often indicate his disgust with and distrust of women in general, “Frailty, thy name is woman…” (I.ii.146). All these betrayals lead him to take the ultimate decision, to commit suicide but he does not do it as “self-slaughter” is a sin, he is powerless. His broken heart turns into anger against the antagonist- Claudius. His once strong beliefs are now broken down to piece and he is in a state where he cannot believe anything.
Claudius (antagonist): Hamlet’s major antagonist is a shrewd, lustful king who contrasts sharply with the other male characters in the play. Claudius’s love for Gertrude may be sincere, but it also seems likely that he married her as a strategic move, to help him win the throne away from Hamlet after the death of the king, he assumes leadership without the opinion of others, especially Hamlet, “Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen…” Claudius uses his manipulative techniques as a weapon to convince/force others to his conclusion.
Gertrude: Her existence in the play seems to raise more questions than it answers. The readers do not know if she was involved with Claudius before the death of her husband? Did she love her husband? Did she know about Claudius’s plan to commit the murder? Did she love Claudius, or did she marry him simply to keep her high station in Denmark? However this character cannot be seen as a good figure, as she is referred to as, “Frailty, thy name is woman!” (I.ii.146)
Language: Generally the language used shows a tragic revenge.
