Character guide

Hamlet

major

Also known as Prince Hamlet, Lord Hamlet, young Hamlet, the Dane, Hamlet the Dane, noble Hamlet, Cousin Hamlet

Hamlet is the heir whose father is barely cold before his mother weds his uncle, and he wears his mourning like an accusation against everyone still feasting. He is brilliant, corrosive, and paralyzed by the gap between what he suspects and what he can prove, so he turns his grief into performance and his performance into a trap. His feigned madness and his hunger for certainty drive the play's central question: what does a thinking man do when action feels both necessary and impossible?

King Claudius

major

Also known as King, the King, King Hamlet, King Laertes, King Sweet Gertrude, King Gertrude, King Pretty Ophelia, King A Norman, King Part, King Ay, King Thanks

Claudius rules with a politician's ease, deploying spies, flattery, and staged encounters to manage his stepson's dangerous moods. He is affectionate to Gertrude, generous to Laertes, and ruthless in private, and his conscience flickers just often enough to make him more than a villain. His need to keep Hamlet contained while keeping his own hands clean sets the court's machinery of surveillance and delay in motion.

Queen Gertrude

major

Also known as Queen, Queen Hamlet, Queen O, Queen O Hamlet, Queen Good Hamlet, Queen Alack, Queen Drown'd, sweet Hamlet

Gertrude moves through Elsinore as its gracious center, urging Hamlet back to his 'wonted way' and trusting her new husband's judgment on everything. When Hamlet finally turns on her, she discovers she cannot answer the charges he hurls, only feel them land. Her divided loyalty between son and husband makes her the quiet pressure point in every scene she enters, and her blindness is as consequential as anyone's scheming.

Ophelia

major

Also known as sweet Ophelia, Ophelia Belike, Ophelia Ay, pretty Ophelia

Ophelia is the court's most watched young woman, courted by Hamlet, instructed by her brother, commanded by her father, and used by the king as bait. She returns Hamlet's letters and endures his cruelty without knowing what has changed, her obedience costing her the one thing she wanted. Her songs and flowers later give voice to grief the men around her have no language for, and her presence measures the human cost of Elsinore's politics.

Polonius

major

Also known as Polonius Marry, Polonius Ophelia, good Polonius, Polonius God, Polonius Ay, Polonius Behind, Polonius Madam, Polonius Honest, Exit Polonius

Polonius manages the court's information with fussy confidence, forbidding Ophelia to see Hamlet, sending Reynaldo to spy on Laertes, and volunteering to test the prince's madness himself. He mistakes his own sententiousness for wisdom and treats his children's lives as material for his theories. His meddling and his certainty that he understands Hamlet make him both comic and fatal, and his schemes push the play toward its first irreversible act.

Laertes

supporting

Also known as young Laertes, good Laertes, Laertes Farewell, Laertes A Norman, Laertes Ay, King Good Laertes

Laertes is the court's polished young man abroad, affectionate to his sister and dutiful to his father, warned to keep his affections in the rear and his honor intact. He is everything Hamlet is not: decisive, unburdened by metaphysics, and willing to translate grief directly into deed. His departure for France removes the one person who might have protected Ophelia, and his return, when it comes, will be the play's most dangerous homecoming.

Horatio

supporting

Also known as Horatio So, Horatio O, Horatio Within, Horatio Marcellus, Horatio This lapwing, Horatio Peace, Horatio E'en, Horatio Look, Horatio Ay, Exit Horatio, good Horatio

Horatio is the Wittenberg student who greets Hamlet after the ghost's first appearance and swears to keep the secret, standing apart from the sycophants and spies who crowd Elsinore. Where Rosencrantz and Guildenstern bend toward the king's favor, Horatio offers nothing but honest counsel, and Hamlet prizes him precisely because he has no revenue to gain by flattery. His calm skepticism — he doubts the ghost until he sees it — makes him the audience's reliable witness as the tragedy tightens.

Ghost

supporting

Also known as Ghost of Hamlet's father, Exeunt Ghost, Exit Ghost

The Ghost appears first to the watch and then to Hamlet, claiming to be the murdered King Hamlet and naming Claudius as his killer. He commands revenge but leaves the method and the morality to his son, a burden that curdles into obsession and feigned madness. He returns once more in the closet scene, whetting Hamlet's 'almost blunted purpose' while remaining invisible to Gertrude — a reminder that the dead may haunt a marriage as much as a conscience.

Rosencrantz

supporting

Also known as gentle Rosencrantz, Rosencrantz Ay, Rosencrantz Ho, Reenter Rosencrantz, Exeunt Rosencrantz, Enter Rosencrantz

Rosencrantz arrives at Elsinore with Guildenstern at Claudius's invitation, ostensibly to comfort Hamlet but actually to report on his state of mind. Hamlet sees through the ruse almost at once, calling him a sponge that soaks up the king's countenance and will be wrung out when no longer useful. His cheerful compliance with power makes him a quiet study in how ordinary men become instruments of a court's darker business.

Guildenstern

supporting

Also known as gentle Guildenstern, Rosencrantz Guildenstern

Guildenstern accompanies Rosencrantz to Elsinore on Claudius's commission, reporting back that Hamlet 'keeps aloof' with a 'crafty madness' and will not be sounded. He is the cooler, more formal of the two, and Hamlet's contempt for the pair sharpens as their errand grows more dangerous. Their willingness to serve whoever holds power turns them into a mirror of the play's central question: what does loyalty mean when it can be bought?

Fortinbras

supporting

Also known as young Fortinbras, Prince Fortinbras, Fortinbras of

Fortinbras is the son of the old Norwegian king slain by Hamlet's father, now leading troops through Denmark under license from Claudius. His campaign against Poland is almost absurdly trivial — 'a little patch of ground that hath in it no profit but the name' — yet he commits to it with a spirit Hamlet can only envy. Encountering the captain on the plain, Hamlet is stung into his final soliloquy: 'My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!' Fortinbras embodies the decisive honor Hamlet cannot summon.

Osric

minor

Also known as Osric Of Laertes, Osric Rapier, young Osric, Osric Sir

Courtier who delivers the fencing challenge to Hamlet.

Marcellus

minor

Also known as Marcellus It, Marcellus Bernardo, Marcellus Good, Marcellus Horatio

Officer on guard who first sees the ghost.

Bernardo

minor

Also known as Marcellus Bernardo, Francisco Bernardo

Guard on duty who witnesses the ghost.

Reynaldo

minor

Also known as Reynaldo Ay

Servant sent by Polonius to spy on Laertes in Paris.

Voltimand

minor

Also known as Cornelius Voltimand, Cornelius, good Cornelius

Courtier sent to Norway on diplomatic mission.

First Clown

minor

Also known as Clown, First Clown Faith, First Clown Ay, First Clown Sings, Clown Ay, Clown Sings

Gravedigger who provides comic relief and digs Ophelia's grave.

Player King

minor

Also known as Player, Anon

Actor in the play-within-a-play, performing The Murder of Gonzago.

Francisco

minor

Also known as Francisco Bernardo

Soldier on watch at Elsinore.

Cornelius

minor

Also known as good Cornelius, Cornelius Voltimand

Courtier sent with Voltimand to Norway.

Second Clown

minor

Also known as Second Clown Why, Second Clown

Assistant gravedigger who argues with the First Clown.

First Priest

minor

Also known as First Priest

Priest officiating Ophelia's burial, questioning its rites.

Player Queen

minor

Actress in the play-within-a-play, playing the queen.

Lucianus

minor

Player who murders the king in the play-within-a-play.

Yorick

minor

Former court jester, whose skull Hamlet discovers in the graveyard.

Captain

minor

Also known as Captain God

Norwegian army captain who speaks with Hamlet about Fortinbras's campaign.

Messenger

minor

Also known as Messenger Sailors

Sailor bringing letters from Hamlet to Horatio.