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Jacob Ellsworth
Mrs. Carter
AP Literature and Composition
7 February 2015
The Characterization of Hamlet
As Hamlet has become one of Shakespeare's most acclaimed plays, critics have
developed a wide range of differing opinions on the complex characterization of its protagonist,
Hamlet. Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses soliloquies to advance this characterization
and describe Hamlet's true feelings, which the objective point of view that he adopts does not
fully explain. Using these soliloquies along with multiple literary devices, Shakespeare describes
Hamlet almost entirely as a revenger, or one driven mad by his thirst for revenge and whose
conflict is created from this need for revenge.
Before he even learns that his father was killed by his uncle, Hamlet already makes his
hatred toward his uncle clear, and seems to want revenge on Claudius for simply marrying his
mother. In his first soliloquy of the play, Hamlet primarily expresses his anger toward his mother,
but could not help mentioning his uncle as he said, "My fathers brother, but no more like my
father / Than I to Hercules" (H I.ii. 356). Hamlet loved his father, and therefore uses this allusion
(which compares himself to a Greek myth) in order to display the difference between his uncle
and his father. This hatred that Hamlet already had for Claudius served as a catalyst to his mad
quest for revenge after his encounter with his father's spirit. The spirit explained to Hamlet that
his uncle had not only taken his mother through marriage, but also his father through murder.
After this encounter, Hamlet uses another soliloquy to reveal his new conflict in which he has
been instructed by the ghost to avenge his father by murdering his uncle. Hamlet calls Claudius
a smiling, damned villain and accepts the contract, saying "It is 'Adieu, adieu! Remember
me.' / I have swornt" (H, I.v. 844). It is clear that his hatred for his uncle and newfound mission

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has already begun to drive Hamlet insane, degrading his character from a respectable prince to
a mad, revenge-driven killer.
As the plot of the play moves on, Hamlet encounters new problems with his mission
which cause him to descend even deeper into his pit of madness. Hamlet's sole priority is to
take revenge on Claudius, and because Claudius is the king and therefore the most protected
man in the country, he cannot find the means to do so. In a soliloquy, Hamlet calls himself a
"rogue and peasant slave," referring to his inability to kill Claudius (H II.ii. 1622). He uses this
ironic metaphor to explain that while he may be a prince, Hamlet is a slave to his circumstances
because they do not allow him to perform the one action that he knows he needs to do.
Eventually, Hamlet creates a plan that he believes will give him leverage over his uncle. Before
a show is performed to Claudius, Hamlet says that he will have these players / Play something
like the murder of my father / Before mine uncle (H II.ii. 1669). Hamlet carries out this plan, and
after the play he finds Claudius praying alone, and views it as a chance to finally take revenge.
But Hamlet hesitates as he says, A villain kills my father, and for that / I, his sole son, do this
same villain send / To heaven (H III.iii. 2354). Hamlet fears that by killing his uncle he will send
him to heaven. He hates Claudius so viciously that he is unwilling to do it, and therefore still
unable to take his revenge. Hamlet feels hopeless, which causes him to even debate suicide as
he recites the famous lines, To be, or not to be, that is the question" (H III.i. 1749). In the middle
of the play, Hamlet's character becomes hopeless, depressed, and nearly suicidal on top of his
madness.
After Hamlet encounters his uncle praying, he speaks to his mother, and is driven by his
madness to kill Polonius, who was spying on them. Claudius, unsure how to handle the
situation, sends Hamlet to England in an attempt to have Hamlet killed. The attempt is
unsuccessful, and Hamlet returns to Denmark with an almost completely changed state of mind.
In his last soliloquy, Hamlet calls himself one part wisdom / And ever three parts coward (H

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IV.iv. 2831). Hamlet hates himself for being unable to kill his uncle in the past. He explains that
while some wisdom may have stopped him, it was mostly due to his own cowardice. When
Hamlet hears that Fortinbras had embarked on a quest to take a worthless land simply for its
name, he notices the absurdity of the quest and marvels at how Fortinbras can risk what is
mortal and unsure / To all that fortune, death, and danger dare, / Even for an egg-shell (H IV.iv.
2840). Hamlet uses this metaphor to explain that if Fortinbras can risk everything for a simple
"egg-shell," then he should not be too cowardly to complete his own quest, which he believes to
have an exceptionally nobler purpose. Hamlet believes that he still has cause, and will, and
strength, and means / To dot," and therefore resolves that from then on his thoughts be bloody,
or be nothing worth! (H IV.iv. 2855). Hamlet commences to complete his quest for revenge, this
time without allowing any measure of cowardice or wisdom to hinder him.
As Shakespeare characterizes Hamlet, he illustrates that Hamlet can be considered both
a static and dynamic character. Hamlet's grievance of his father's death never changes, nor
does his hatred for his uncle, but it is evident that Hamlet's state of madness is ever changing
throughout the play. Hamlet's quest for revenge changes him from a respectable prince to a
depressed and suicidal madman and then even to a bloodthirsty killer with nothing left to lose.
His characterization as a revenger eventually brought upon Hamlet as well as many of those
around him the tragic death that concludes the play.