Character Study of Hamlet
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Contents |
Act 1
Hamlet is not in a celebratory mood like everyone else in Elsinore. He is dressed in black, he is silent and withdrawn. He shows 5 moods in Act 1
- Disassociation
- Volatile
- Sensetive
- Shows a God fearing Orthodox Christianity
- Superstitious Nature
Disassociation
Hamlet publicly disassociates himself from Claudius with a clever pun;
"A little more than kin, and less than kind" (Act 1, Scene 1)
He then follows up with;
"I am too much in the sun" (Act 1, Scene 2)
Volatile
Hamlet's moods swing from lethargic to tempremental. For the first time he springs to life, when he attacks Gertrude for her suggestion that his mourning is only for show or appearances.
" I know not seems"
Sensitive
The circumstances in the Court of Elsinore all offend and disgust him - his fathers death and his mothers hasty remarriage to her brother in law.
Shows a God - Fearing Orthodox Christianity
He is reluctant to commit to the sin of suicide
Superstitious Nature
Hamlet's total acceptance of the repot of his father's ghost shows this. He has nothing to lose and because he suspects some foul play, he bravely confronts the ghost and promises revenge.
Act 2
Hamlet uses his initiative. He guesses that Rosencrantz & Guildenstern were sent for, that they did not just arrive to visit him out of kindness and support.
The news of the approaching players excites him. We see his love of theatre and his scholarly knowledge of the classics (familiarity with speeches etc). During the performance of the play, he is emotional, it obliges him to analyse his own delay. His response to the Actors imagined grief puts him to shame. In a fit of self hatred, he calls himself vile names; " a whore, scullion, peasant, slave, rogue, john - a dreams, even possibly a coward"
He is furious with his own inertia, he resolves to act soon. First he must devise a trick to test the Ghosts theory.
We see the inconsistency of his character. He fears the Ghost " may be the devil". Even if we suspect that all of these postponements are delaying tactics, there is an interesting virtue to them. They reveal a patriotic concern that the royal throne of Denmark should not earn the reputation of rash violence.
Act 3
Here we witness:
- Hamlet's increasing impatience with the hypocrisy of others.
- His increasing impatience with the sycophancy of the Danish Court.
Both of these are extensions of his general disillusionment with women, "frailty thy name is woman" and with men " man delights not me". At this stage, Hamlet has grown cynical. He is unable to separate Ophelia from his misogyny, he berates her cruelly, denying he ever loved her. "God hath given you one face and you make yourselves another".
This ill-treatment seems undeserved by Ophelia and cruel on Hamlet's part. We can presume that he knows in this act that Claudius and Polonius are listening behind the arras, as he insults Polonius, "That he may play the fool nowhere but in his own house" and speaks a threat to Claudius "thou that are married, all but one shall live".
During the play, Hamlet is over - excited and even somewhat crude. He makes lewd innuendos to Ophelia and tortures Claudius. His mood rises to manic elation when Claudius calls for the lights to come on and storms away. He has an urge to kill but is afraid of hurting Gertrude, who has summoned him for hurting Claudius.
The perfect opportunity to kill Claudius presents itself, since he is praying and is unaware of Hamlet's presence. Hamlet thinks that because Claudius is praying, he will go to heaven and no justice will be done. The golden opportunity passes. We can a accuse Hamlet of pathological procrastination at this point.
In the scene in Gertrudes bedroom, Hamlet surprises us and himself. Maybe his blood-lust is thwarted by not killing Claudius or maybe he really loses control when he kills Polonius in a totally impulsive and motiveless situation. The murder affects Hamlet very little. From now on, he will respond when events befall him. He puts Gertrude through a ritual examination of her own conscience. it is very intense an the Ghost appears.
Act 4
Whimsical Mood
Hamlt enjoys the power he can exercise by refusing to disclose the whereabouts of Polonius' body. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are instructed to seek out the body and fail miserably. Hamlet merely confuses them with riddles. "the body is with the King but the King is not with the body" .
Similarly, during Claudius' interrogation of Hamlet about the disposal of the corpse, Hamlet cannot contain himself and lapses into tasteless,funny remarks about death and decay. His wit is brilliantly displayed "at supper...not where he eats but where he is eaten".
