Ophelia: Ophelia is the daughter of the king's counselor, Polonius and the sister of Laertes. Hamlet and Ophelia are involved in relationship together. Her father and brother give her wrongful advice, so she doesn’t take Hamlet's advances. Ophelia is just caught in the middle throughout the play and is just collateral damage. She is used by Hamlet, is used as a puppet by her father and the king. In the end she is driven mad because the man she loves killed her father. She is driven in the end to take her own life.
Laertes: Laertes is Ophelia's brother, and the son of Polonius. He is the foil character to Hamlet. At the beginning of Laertes gives Ophelia advice about her relationship, then he leaves for France. He later comes back after his father has been killed. Laertes then wants revenge for the murder of his father and agrees to try and murder Hamlet with the King (Claudius). Laertes and Hamlet are bitter rivals till the end. Laertes fights Hamlet, and in the end kills Hamlet before he dies.
Claudius: He is the brother of the old King, King Hamlet, he is Hamlet’s uncle and new dad, and the new husband to Gertrude. Claudius is new King of Denmark. Claudius murdered King Hamlet. After the play, Claudius realizes that Hamlet knows what he has done. Hamlet, throughout the play, is constantly plotting against him; he is the object of Hamlet's malicious intent. He wants Hamlet killed, but doesn’t want to do it himself. He tries to get others to do it for him, this shows how manipulative he is throughout the play. While he succeeds in his plan to kill Hamlet, he dies in the process.
Gertrude: She is the Queen of Denmark, Gertrude is Hamlet’s mother, she was married to King Hamlet, and the newly made wife of Claudius. Within the play she is a loving mother to Hamlet, but confused and clueless to what is going on. Gertrude is the cause of much of his distress; for to Hamlet, it seems as though Gertrude has married for lust, and seems to have no recollection of his father’s kindness and loving ways as Hamlet sees it. He is tormented by how to punish her for her ways until the ghost of the old King appears to him and tells him to let “Heaven” handle her. In the end she drinks poison that was meant for Hamlet, she dies as she has been the whole play, clueless.
Rosencrantz/Guildenstern: The are two characters that are loyal to no one but Claudius and Gertrude. The are sent to do things by them, such as talk to Hamlet and find out why Hamlet is gone mad. They end up being killed in England because Hamlet switches a note to say to have them killed instead of himself.
Ghost/King Hamlet: The ghost is a small character, but plays a big part. The ghost first appears to the reader in the first act. The ghost only appears a handful of times in the story, but is the cause for Hamlet doing the things he does. Hamlet follows the ghost to figure out why he looks so much like his father. The ghost tells him the Claudius poisoned him and killed him in his sleep, so Hamlet must revenge his death and kill Claudius. Hamlet then goes on from here to get his version of revenge, and eventually kills Claudius in the end. The ghost was Hamlet’s father, was married to Gertrude, and his brother is Claudius. King Hamlet dies before the beginning of the play. Hamlet spends his time trying to revenge his father.
Horatio: This is the only person Hamlet trusts and is honest with throughout the story. Besides Hamlet talking to himself, his conversations with Horatio are the only other time we know he is being honest. During the play the reader sees that Horatio is calm and rational. He is such a good friend that in the end he is even willing to commit suicide so that he can die with Hamlet.
Polonius: He is the father of Laertes and Ophelia. He also is the King’s advisor and is a very wordy character throughout the story. He is loyal to no one in the story. He is not able to figure out why Hamlet is acting crazy. Polonius ends up being killed when he is listening to Hamlet and Gertrude having a conversation, by Hamlet.
Hamlet: He is the Prince of Denmark and the son of Gertrude and the late King Hamlet and the nephew of Claudius. Hamlet is the heir to the throne. Before the start of the play his father dies and later the reader learns that he was actually murdered by Hamlet's uncle. Once Hamlet learns of this he says he will get revenge for his death, but it takes him a while to do this. Hamlet’s fatal flaw is his inaction. Hamlet had the chance to kill Claudius, but he thought he was praying so he didn’t which was the climax of the story. Hamlets in action the get his revenge was the downhill that causes the deaths of many people. Hamlet is smart and slightly mad. He is also foils with Laertes, and in the end Hamlet is killed by Laertes poisoning him, he dies after he finally gets his revenge and kills Claudius by making him drink the rest of the poisoned wine that his mother drank.
Laertes: Laertes is Ophelia's brother, and the son of Polonius. He is the foil character to Hamlet. At the beginning of Laertes gives Ophelia advice about her relationship, then he leaves for France. He later comes back after his father has been killed. Laertes then wants revenge for the murder of his father and agrees to try and murder Hamlet with the King (Claudius). Laertes and Hamlet are bitter rivals till the end. Laertes fights Hamlet, and in the end kills Hamlet before he dies.
Claudius: He is the brother of the old King, King Hamlet, he is Hamlet’s uncle and new dad, and the new husband to Gertrude. Claudius is new King of Denmark. Claudius murdered King Hamlet. After the play, Claudius realizes that Hamlet knows what he has done. Hamlet, throughout the play, is constantly plotting against him; he is the object of Hamlet's malicious intent. He wants Hamlet killed, but doesn’t want to do it himself. He tries to get others to do it for him, this shows how manipulative he is throughout the play. While he succeeds in his plan to kill Hamlet, he dies in the process.
Gertrude: She is the Queen of Denmark, Gertrude is Hamlet’s mother, she was married to King Hamlet, and the newly made wife of Claudius. Within the play she is a loving mother to Hamlet, but confused and clueless to what is going on. Gertrude is the cause of much of his distress; for to Hamlet, it seems as though Gertrude has married for lust, and seems to have no recollection of his father’s kindness and loving ways as Hamlet sees it. He is tormented by how to punish her for her ways until the ghost of the old King appears to him and tells him to let “Heaven” handle her. In the end she drinks poison that was meant for Hamlet, she dies as she has been the whole play, clueless.
Rosencrantz/Guildenstern: The are two characters that are loyal to no one but Claudius and Gertrude. The are sent to do things by them, such as talk to Hamlet and find out why Hamlet is gone mad. They end up being killed in England because Hamlet switches a note to say to have them killed instead of himself.
Ghost/King Hamlet: The ghost is a small character, but plays a big part. The ghost first appears to the reader in the first act. The ghost only appears a handful of times in the story, but is the cause for Hamlet doing the things he does. Hamlet follows the ghost to figure out why he looks so much like his father. The ghost tells him the Claudius poisoned him and killed him in his sleep, so Hamlet must revenge his death and kill Claudius. Hamlet then goes on from here to get his version of revenge, and eventually kills Claudius in the end. The ghost was Hamlet’s father, was married to Gertrude, and his brother is Claudius. King Hamlet dies before the beginning of the play. Hamlet spends his time trying to revenge his father.
Horatio: This is the only person Hamlet trusts and is honest with throughout the story. Besides Hamlet talking to himself, his conversations with Horatio are the only other time we know he is being honest. During the play the reader sees that Horatio is calm and rational. He is such a good friend that in the end he is even willing to commit suicide so that he can die with Hamlet.
Polonius: He is the father of Laertes and Ophelia. He also is the King’s advisor and is a very wordy character throughout the story. He is loyal to no one in the story. He is not able to figure out why Hamlet is acting crazy. Polonius ends up being killed when he is listening to Hamlet and Gertrude having a conversation, by Hamlet.
Hamlet: He is the Prince of Denmark and the son of Gertrude and the late King Hamlet and the nephew of Claudius. Hamlet is the heir to the throne. Before the start of the play his father dies and later the reader learns that he was actually murdered by Hamlet's uncle. Once Hamlet learns of this he says he will get revenge for his death, but it takes him a while to do this. Hamlet’s fatal flaw is his inaction. Hamlet had the chance to kill Claudius, but he thought he was praying so he didn’t which was the climax of the story. Hamlets in action the get his revenge was the downhill that causes the deaths of many people. Hamlet is smart and slightly mad. He is also foils with Laertes, and in the end Hamlet is killed by Laertes poisoning him, he dies after he finally gets his revenge and kills Claudius by making him drink the rest of the poisoned wine that his mother drank.