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Rachel Gruber
Mrs. Carter
AP Literature & Composition
10 February 2014
Who is Hamlet?
Throughout William Shakespeares infamous play, Hamlet, Prince Hamlets
character is professed through several interpretations. Critics perceive him to be the
melancholic, the dreamer, or even the lover. After looking over the many reviews
about Hamlets character, one can come to the conclusion that he is most associated
with the Oedipal Son, and the revenger. Both of these descriptions of Hamlets
character portray the many issues that occur within his family throughout the play.
An Oedipal Son approach to Hamlets character is referred to as a sons
unhealthy attachment for his mother (Class Handout). The reader can sense Hamlets
disapproval of Queen Gertrudes hasty marriage to his uncle, the new King Claudius. It
had been little over a month, and she had already found a new husband. Hamlet says,
Frailty, thy name is/ woman!... a beast, that wants discourse of reason,/ Would have
mournd longer---married with my/ uncle,/ My fathers brother, but no more like my
father/ Than I to Hercules (H.I.ii.21). His anger towards his mother is caused by her
swift remarriage to Claudius, saying that he could never be a father to him like King
Hamlet was. By calling his mother frail, Hamlet is saying that she has succumbed to
the power that comes with being the Queen of Denmark, and finding a new husband to
Comment [C1]: Delete word
Comment [C2]: Change to (H I.ii.21)
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rule as King was the most important thing to her after King Hamlet passed. It was a
marriage of most wicked speed and Hamlet is being forced to mourn his fathers death
more quickly than he is mentally prepared to do. Queen Gertrude has caused Hamlet so
much pain, that he contemplates suicide. By saying, and by a sleep to saw we end/
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks/ That flesh is heir to (H.III.i.85),
Hamlet is stating that if he were to sleep, sleep being a metaphor for death, he will no
longer have to feel the anguish that comes with being a part of the royal family.
The other side to Hamlets persona is his lust for revenge. The reader does not
see this side of Hamlet until the ghost of his father appears to him in the woods and tells
him how Claudius is the person who murdered him. In complete and utter shock,
Hamlet says, Yea, from the table of my memory/ Ill wipe away all trivial fond records,/
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,/ That youth and observation copied
there;/ And thy commandment all alone shall live/ Within the book and volume of my
brain (H.I.v.41). By saying that he is willing to wipe his memory clean of everything
he has learned in the past, Hamlet is swearing to avenge his father, whatever the cost
may be. By doing so, he will soon lose sight of his true self and cause others to question
his sanity. To catch Claudius, Hamlet devises a plan to watch the Kings reaction to a
play by changing the ending to where someone kills the king. Ultimately, this plan is
successful because Hamlet does indeed catch the conscience of the king (H.II.ii.80).
Now that Hamlets assumption has been verified, he vows to kill Claudius in an act of
sin, saying, When he is drunk asleep,And that his soul may be as damnd and black/
As hell, whereto it goes (H.III.iii.113). Hamlet does in fact kill Claudius when he forces
him to drink the poisoned liquid in the goblet and stabs him with a poison tipped sword,
Comment [C3]: Change to (H III.i.85)
Comment [C4]: Change to (H I.v.41)
Comment [C5]: Change to (H III.iii.113)
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intentionally meant to kill Hamlet. Hamlet fulfills his promise to his father, but it costs him
his own life in the end.
Shakespeare depicts Hamlet as many things throughout this play, yet the
Oedipal Son and the revenger are the ones that are most pronounced when
contemplating Hamlets character. He loathes his mother for remarrying so quickly,
especially since she married her husbands murderer. However, Hamlet cannot shake
the fact that even though his mother does not always make the best decisions, she is
still his mother and he loves her regardless. His rage for his mother and step father
make his revenge seeking behavior that much more dangerous and unclear; the reader
never knowing what Hamlet is truly capable of until the final act in the play. Hamlet
says, O, from this time forth,/ My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!
(H.IV.iv.135). Hamlet is past the point of thinking rationally, his bloodthirsty nature
clouding his better judgment, close to the point of no return. Hamlets character is easily
summed up with the descriptions of a boy who is too attached to his mother, and a man
who is hell bent on avenging his fathers death.

Comment [C6]: Change to (H IV.iv.135)