HamletPrince of Denmark
Relationships: -Gertrude's Son -King Hamlet's Son -Claudius's Nephew -Horatio's Best Friend -Nemesis of Laertes -Ex-Lover of Ophelia Characterization: Plot points
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ClaudiusKing of Denmark
Relationships: -Gertrude's Husband -King Hamlet's brother -Hamlet's Uncle Characterization: Claudius is a morally weak villain who values material things more than he values other people, and the lives of his family. Other men in Hamlet seek justice, and have strong morals. Claudius’s main concern is to stay in power, and to manipulate his way to the fortune. Claudius’s speech is compared to being poured through the ear, which is also the way he killed King Hamlet .Claudius is smart and knows exactly how to use his charm to manipulate Gertrude and take the fortune that is not rightfully his. Overall, Claudius is corrupt, manipulative, and power hungry. It seems that Claudius’s love for Gertrude is sincere, but it also seems to be a strategic move to help him get the throne from Hamlet. Gertrude chose to marry Claudius, and she even defends Claudius over her own son. Claudius’s hatred towards Hamlet starts when Hamlet realizes that Claudius was the one who murdered his father. Claudius is nervous around Hamlet, because Hamlet is trying to expose Claudius’s corrupt, manipulative behavior. Claudius finds a perfect opportunity to get rid of Hamlet without doing it with his own hands when Hamlet murders Laertes's father, Polonius. Laertes already had problems with Hamlet when he was involved with his sister Ophelia, and Claudius manipulates Laertes into becoming more and more angry with Hamlet, and they both plot to kill him. |
LaertesMember of Royal Court
Relationships: -Polonius's Son -Ophelia's brother -Nemesis of Hamlet Characterization: Laertes is mainly motivated by anger and revenge. Laertes's sister Ophelia was driven crazy by Hamlet, and Laertes's father Polonius was murdered by him too. Really, all Laertes wanted was to protect his sister from heartbreak and avenge the death of his father Polonius. Laertes is impulsive, irrational, and is easily manipulated by Claudius. Laertes serves as a foil for Hamlet's lack of vengeful action. Laertes sort of competes with Hamlet at the funeral when he puts on a melodramatic display of mourning for Ophelia at her funeral. Laertes argues that he is more upset, and that he loved Ophelia more than Hamlet did. At the end of the act Hamlet apologizes to him before the duel and Laertes accepts it on a personal level, but he still chooses the poisoned sword. At the end of the duel, after Gertrude has been poisoned, Laertes comes clean and reveals that "The King is to blame", and apologizes to Hamlet "I am justly killed with my own treachery" GertrudeQueen of Denmark
Relationships: -Hamlet's Mother -Claudius's Wife Characterization: Gertrude is portrayed in such a way that there are an infinite number of interpretations concerning her character. Many people think that she was not aware of anything that was going on in her kingdom, and was stupid and idle (as many of the women were portrayed, or expected to be in this time period). Others believe that Gertrude was in on the entire plan, and knew Claudius killed her husband all along. It is my personal interpretation that Gertrude was not aware of Claudius' faults early on in the play, but by the fifth act she had realized that Claudius was not who she thought. Like many of the characters in the play, Gertrude was not what she seemed. The Queen uses different instances to display the stereotypical woman in the 1600s. For example, at Ophelia's funeral, instead of weeping, her last words to her were "Sweets to the sweet. Farewell. I hoped thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife; I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid, and not have strew'd thy grave". She used the "ultimate goal" of a woman's life in the 1600s at her funeral. This suggests that she believes marriage is what women should strive for. However, this ignorance and obedience is still in question, because she knew she had to lie about Ophelia's death in order to give her a proper burial. By Act V, Gertrude has established a long pattern of obedience to her new husband, Claudius, and takes his suggestions when he wants Hamlet to stay in Denmark, have his friends spy on him, and then go back to England. However, the only break she has in this pattern is in Act V, when she drinks the poisoned wine against her husband's command. But why? Why all of the sudden would she stop listening to everything Claudius asks her to do, only to drink poison wine? At the very beginning of the play, in Act I, the ghost of King Hamlet says "Against thy mother aught. And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge To prick and sting her." This foreshadows her death in the fifth act. After she realizes her faults, her motivations change from lustful, to maternal, and she wishes to protect Hamlet. At some point, she realizes that what Hamlet said in Act III was true, and she drinks the wine to protect him. It is slightly evident that she at least suspected Claudius had poisoned the wine, because she conveniently knows exactly what poisoned her and tells Hamlet with her dying breath. This was the only way she would be able to confirm her suspicions without accusing the King of Denmark of murder. She took her own life to protect Hamlet's. |
HoratioRelationships:
-Hamlet's Best Friend Characterization: For the most part, Horatio can really only be interpreted in one way. Throughout the entire story, Horatio is consistently Hamlet’s loyal friend who sticks with him through thick and thin. In some aspects he is the rational side of Hamlet who on some occasions give advises Hamlet against his irrational decision. For example, one of the few instances where Horatio questions Hamlet and his decisions is when he is informed about how Hamlet had both Guildenstern and Rosencrantz killed in England. Even after shortly discovering that he killed two of his friends for almost no reason, he forgives Hamlet very shortly after. Despite the great advice he provides to Hamlet, Horatio doesn't have a big impact on the plot itself because Hamlet more often than not disregards his council. He is the only one to advise against the duel with Laertes. Obviously, if Hamlet had listened to Horatio the play would not have ended the way it did. The end of act five is where Horatio’s love and devotion for Hamlet is more evident than ever. He cares for him so much, that he would rather die, than live on without Hamlet. However this love does not only come from Horatio, rather it is a mutual trust that the two share. While on his deathbed Hamlet proclaims to Horatio that “If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart absent thee from felicity awhile And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain To tell my story”. Hamlet trusts Horatio enough to live on, and truthfully tell the story of what happened and express them in the right words. This trust and loyalty is something that we kept in mind when we made our video. Considering Horatio’s friendly and loyal nature, we decided to make Horatio a dog in the video. A dog is a man’s best friend, will never leave his owner’s sides and is a loyal companion. Therefore we felt it was fitting to portray Horatio in this manner. |