Hamlet

Characters

Character Map

Who is who, and who belongs to whom. Click a name to open the character page.

Hamlet Hamlet is the prince of Denmark, son of the dead king and of Gertrude, nephew and stepson of Claudius. He is a student at Wittenberg, which the king wants to keep him from by holding him at Elsinore, and he is in mourning for his father when the court already... Claudius Claudius is the king of Denmark, brother of the dead king, married to the widow Gertrude and uncle and stepfather of Hamlet. According to the Ghost, he killed his brother with poison poured into his ear in the orchard and seduced the queen. He reigns with... Gertrude Gertrude is the queen of Denmark, mother of Hamlet, widow of the dead king and wife of Claudius, his brother. She is the figure the play says least about and, for that reason, is most debated: how much she knows of the crime remains open. The Ghost asks... Polonius Polonius is the king’s counselor, father of Laertes and Ophelia. He loses himself in his own instructions, and the play always shows him in a hiding place: he sends someone to spy on his son in Paris, hides to hear his daughter with the prince, and ends up... Ophelia Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius and sister of Laertes, and the young woman Hamlet courted. She goes mad, sings and hands out flowers in Act IV, and drowns in a stream, after falling from a branch. Laertes Laertes is the son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia. He leaves for France with the king’s permission and, when his father’s death brings him back, gathers a crowd that acclaims him king and invades the castle, and is then drawn by Claudius into a duel with... Horatio Horatio is Hamlet’s friend, to whom he brings the news of the Ghost. He stands beside the prince without being of the court, watches the king’s face for him at The Mousetrap, receives from him the letter about the ship, and survives the duel, as the only one... The Ghost The Ghost has the face and armor of the dead king, Hamlet’s father. It appears to the sentinels on the battlements, then to the son, and says it is held in torment until it purges its crimes. It reveals that it was killed by Claudius, who poured poison into... Fortinbras Fortinbras is the young prince of Norway, whose father lost lands that he wants back. He appears little, and always at the edges: he is the reason for the war preparations on the battlements, the subject of the news from Norway, the army on the plain and, at...

Other characters

Francisco: Sentinel relieved by Bernardo at the start of the play: he thanks him for the watch, says he is sick at heart, and goes to sleep, exiting the stage and never returning. Act I, scene I
Bernardo: Soldier who arrives to relieve Francisco and opens the play by asking "Who's there?". He has already seen the dead king's ghost twice and asks Horatio and Marcellus, his fellow guards, to hurry. Act I, scene I
Marcellus: Soldier who saw the ghost twice and called Horatio to keep watch with him and confirm the apparition. Seeing Hamlet disappear after the ghost, he says that something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Act I, scene I and Act I, scene IV
Voltimand: Emissary whom Claudius sends with Cornelius to the king of Norway, with letters and authority only to deal with him. He returns with the news that the Norwegian king has detained the nephew Fortinbras, and asks for passage for his army. Act II, scene II
Cornelius: Claudius's other emissary to Norway, always beside Voltimand. He carries the letters asking the Norwegian king to restrain his nephew Fortinbras and brings back the answer: Fortinbras has sworn not to attack Denmark and will attack Poland. Act II, scene II
Reynaldo: Servant whom Polonius sends to Paris with a purse of money for Laertes and the mission to spy on him: he is to spread small slanders about the young man among the Danes and listen to what they reply. Reynaldo finds the plan strange, but obeys. Act II, scene I
Rosencrantz: Hamlet's childhood friend, summoned by Claudius and Gertrude to sound him out. Hamlet gets him and Guildenstern to confess that they were summoned. He escorts the prince to England carrying the letters that order his death, and ends up executed. Act II and Act V
Guildenstern: Hamlet's childhood friend, summoned with Rosencrantz to spy on him. After the play, he brings Hamlet the queen's summons and hears that he is no easier to play upon than a flute. He goes with Rosencrantz to England and dies there. Act II and Act III
The First Player: Leader of the troupe of actors who arrives at Elsinore. At Hamlet's request, he recites the speech about Pyrrhus and Priam and agrees to perform The Murder of Gonzago, with the lines the prince will write. Act II, scene II
The Norwegian Captain: Officer of Fortinbras's army whom Hamlet meets on a plain. He says they will take from Poland a patch of land worth nothing, and the answer makes Hamlet reproach himself for not fulfilling his revenge. Act IV, scene IV
The gravediggers: Two gravediggers who dig Ophelia's grave and argue, with wordplay, over whether one who drowns deserves Christian burial. One of them throws the skulls out of the grave and shows Hamlet Yorick's. Act V, scene I
Yorick: Court jester of Hamlet's late father. His skull, tossed up by the gravedigger, moves the prince, who remembers him as "a fellow of infinite jest" and says that Yorick carried him on his back a thousand times. Act V, scene I
Osric: Courtier full of flourishes who brings Hamlet Claudius's challenge: a fencing duel with Laertes, with a wager from the king. Hamlet mocks his pompous language and the hat he does not put on his head. Act V, scene II