# Hamlet — Character guide

> Key figures in Hamlet by William Shakespeare.

- [Hamlet](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters/hamlet.md): 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 
- [King Claudius](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters/claudius.md): 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 con
- [Queen Gertrude](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters/gertrude.md): 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 
- [Ophelia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters/ophelia.md): 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 w
- [Polonius](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters/polonius.md): 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 sententious
- [Laertes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters/laertes.md): 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
- [Horatio](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters/horatio.md): 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 be
- [Ghost](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters/ghost.md): 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 cur
- [Rosencrantz](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters/rosencrantz.md): 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
- [Guildenstern](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters/guildenstern.md): 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 
- [Fortinbras](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters/fortinbras.md): 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
- [Osric](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters/osric.md): Courtier who delivers the fencing challenge to Hamlet.
- [Marcellus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters/marcellus.md): Officer on guard who first sees the ghost.
- [Bernardo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters/bernardo.md): Guard on duty who witnesses the ghost.
- [Reynaldo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters/reynaldo.md): Servant sent by Polonius to spy on Laertes in Paris.
- [Voltimand](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters/voltimand.md): Courtier sent to Norway on diplomatic mission.
- [First Clown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters/first_clown.md): Gravedigger who provides comic relief and digs Ophelia's grave.
- [Player King](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters/player_king.md): Actor in the play-within-a-play, performing The Murder of Gonzago.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters