Hamlet is the main character and protagonist in the play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare. Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark. He is the son of Queen Gertrude and King Hamlet, who was murdered by his uncle Claudius. Hamlet is a very unique individual and handles many situations in unusual ways. Hamlet is an extremely intriguing and complex character that appears to change with every different perspective. Shakespeare has done an absolutely fantastic job with capturing true human characteristics with Hamlet. Hamlet bounces back and forth with his emotions so inconsistently that one never knows what he is about to do next. One moment he is rational, and the next he is not. One moment he wants to plan things out, and then he does things. The ghost made the whole situation for Hamlet seem even that much more unreal. He already wished that all of the recent events he had to deal with were not real. He then has to deal with the reality of this ghost. It seems to influence him terribly and takes a negative toll on his emotions. This occurrence continues to further diversify Hamlet’s feelings and emotions (Snider, 67). The last major external influence is the company of others (Snider, 71). How hamlet responded had a lot to do with the actions done by others and himself. A person’s environment greatly affects how they handle oneself and situations around them. Due to Hamlet’s extremely ludicrous environment and unusual circumstances, he is just that much more of a complicated and elaborate character (Bristol). Another major thing that contributed to Hamlet’s complexity was his utter hatred towards Claudius. From the get go Hamlet never liked him. He felt Claudius was immoral and almost worthless. After the ghost of his father told Hamlet that Claudius was responsible for his death, he hated his uncle just that much more. That hatred soon turned into something much more though. It transformed into a desire for revenge. Before he did anything though, he had to be positive that Claudius was the one responsible, so Hamlet tested his innocence. Claudius failed the test and Hamlet was then positive that he was responsible for the murder of his father (Mitchell, 34-37).
