Describing Hamlets character:

Like all Shakespeare's tragic heroes, hamlet is a very complex character. He has been described as a tardy avenger,an intellectual genius,a procrastinator, a victim of evil circumstances. Many different aspects of his character, both positive and negative, are revealed in the play. Hamlet is a noble and idealistic youth,studying at the universityof Wittenberg in Germany, who, when the play opens, has recently lost his father. He is deeply sensitive and clearly loved his father, is endowed with a greatness of Mind and possesses an unusual degree of perception and mental agility, qualities that enable him to see through people and master then subtly. We see these qualities in many soliloquies throughout the play.

When we first meet hamlet he is dressed totally in black because he is in mourning for his father, who has just been buried. Hamlet is brooding and we see that he treats his uncle Claudius,the new king, in a very negative and cynical manner. It is clear that hamlet distrusts Claudius and bears deeply hostility towards him. This distrust deepens as the play progresses and we begin to realize that hamlet trusts very few people. In fact, the only person in whom hamlet can confide and whom he trusts in fully is horatio, his close friend and fellow scholar at the university. This lack of confidence and distrust in people in the court of Denmark is shown throughout the play, in particular through hamlet's use of language.Hamlet finds himself surrounded by lies, falsity, in the court of denmark. He feels he is living in a world where people everywhere seem to be acting a part. Hamlet does not know who to trust and who, apart from his friend horatio, he can confide in. So hamlet begins to use language in a particular way in the play. Language furnishes him with a useful safety valve.

We are given the picture of a noble and fine young man of hamlet in the concluding scenes. We learn how he was likely to have 'proved most royal'. Hamlet is truly a much-loved prince who possesses a vast degree of human virtue and ability, and whose death is not only tragic but extremely noble.

BY:Dua El Harram

GRADE:10B