characters in hamlet
TRANSCRIPT
NAME : Shranti Sitaram HakeClass : M . A -2ND ROLL NO:3057SUB : Drama in EnglishPaper :3.4College : S . M . Joshi College , HadapsarGuided by : Prof. Gaikwad Sir
Characters in HAMLET
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.
About AuthorWILLIAM SHAKESPEARE:• Life spnan:1564-1616• Greatest men of genius.• Bulk & richness of plays.• Eternal source of delight & knowledge for 4
centuries.• Works existed even after 400 years.• 37 dramas,2 long poems & 154 sonnets.• Emperor of the realm literature.
Characters Hamlet
King Hamlet
Gertrude
Claudius
Polonius Laertes Ophelia Horatio
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern
Marcellus & Bernardo Reynaldo Osric
Voltimand & Cornelius Francisco The Clowns Fortinbrass
Hamlet • Hero –the Prince of Denmark.• Student at Wittenberg university.• He is son to the late King
Hamlet.• And also nephew to the present
King Claudius.• Disturbed by his father’s death.• Faced with evidence that his
uncle murdered his father.
• Behaves rashly and impulsively.• Extremely disappointed with his mother for
marrying his uncle.• Desires to see Claudius pay for his crime• He is in love with Ophelia.• Extremely philosophical and contemplative. • He accepts the duel with Laertes . • Finally kills Claudius.• And dies as wounded in a fencing match.
Fencing match
King Hamlet• Ex-King of Denmark.• Father of Hamlet.• Killed by his brother.• Appears as ghost in the
beginning.• Asks Hamlet for revenge.• Plays no active role.
Conversation of Ghost with Hamlet.
Gertrude • The beautiful Queen of Denmark.• King Hamlet's widow.• Married Claudius recently.• Mother to Hamlet. • Loves Hamlet deeply .• Shallow deep woman who seeks affection
and status more urgently than moral rectitude or truth.
• Thinks only about her body and external pleasures.
• Finally dies as drinks poisonous wine by mistake.
Claudius • Present King of Denmark.• Calculating & ambitious
politician• Uncle of Hamlet.• Has killed Hamlets father
and married his mother.• Villain of the play. • Finally killed by Hamlet.
Murder of King Hamlet
Polonius• The Lord Chamberlain of
Claudius’s court. • Father of Laertes and Ophelia.• Warns Ophelia to keep away
from Hamlet.• He is knowing in retrospect, and
ignorant in foresight.• Killed by Hamlet by mistake.
Laertes • Polonius’s son. • Ophelia’s brother.• Student at the University of Paris.• Affects so much by the death of his
father and sister.• Claudius uses him for his purpose.• Challenges Hamlet for fencing
match.• Reveals truth about Claudius and
dies in match at end.
Ophelia • Tragic heroine .• Polonius’s daughter. • A sweet and innocent young
girl, who obeys her father and her brother, Laertes.
• A beautiful young woman with whom Hamlet has been in love.
• Dependent on men to tell her how to behave.
• Dual nature of women in the play.• Affects badly by
her fathers death.• Becomes insane.• Commits suicide
by drowning.• Sympathetic
figure.
Condition of Ophelia Ophelia goes mad Ophelia dies
Horatio • Hamlet’s close friend.• Studied with the prince at
the university in Wittenberg.
• Loyal and helpful to Hamlet throughout the play.
• Remains alive to tell Hamlet’s story.
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern
• Two slightly bumbling courtiers.
• Former friends of Hamlet from Wittenberg.
• Corrupted by the King.• Were asked to discover
the cause of Hamlet’s strange behavior.
Marcellus & Bernardo• Officers on guard at
the castle of Elsinore.• See the ghost first.• And then with
Horatio.
Reynaldo • Polonius’s servant.•Sent to France by Polonius to check up on and spy on Laertes.
Osric •A young courtier at Claudius’s
court.•Appointed as an Umpire of the
fencing match of Laertes and Hamlet .
Voltimand & Cornelius• Courtiers whom
Claudius sends to Norway to persuade the king to prevent Fortinbras from attacking.
Francisco •Francisco is a guard at Elsinore. He is slightly depressed, or at least unhappy about having to work cold nights
The Clowns• Comic characters:First Clown (Gravedigger)• The First Clown is a gravedigger.
He is convinced that Ophelia ought to be considered a suicide.
• He is a joking fellow who sings as he digs, is much given to wordplay, and is proud of his profession.
Second Clown (Gravedigger)• The Second Clown is the first
gravedigger’s straight man. • He is aware that when it comes down
to it, Ophelia is only being properly buried because of her rank.
Fortinbrass • Prince of Norway.• A warlike young man with
energy to spend. • He intends to revenge his
father, Old Fortinbras.• His father old Fortinbrass
was killed in a duel with Old Hamlet and thereby lost some Norwegian lands to Denmark
• Restrained from doing so by his uncle the king of Norway, he invades Poland instead, to capture a useless little plot of land.• This greatly impresses Hamlet. • On his return, he passes through Denmark,
and happens to arrive just as everyone dies. • Since the entire royal family of Denmark is
dead, he claims the throne on the basis of some old connection, Hamlet having already spoken in his favor
Minor characters• The English Ambassadors• The players (actors in “The Mouse Trap” play)• A Gentle man • A Priest• A Captain• Lords• Ladies • Soldiers • Sailors • Servants & Messangers
Conclusion • Thus, Hamlet’s character are
quite interesting and has variations in them.•Major characters are suffered
from huge tragedy.
Thank you! For your ATTENTION.Any questions please?