Characters

Question 1

Hamlet

Answer 1

The Prince of Denmark, the title character, and the protagonist. About 30 years old at the start of the play, Hamlet is the son of Queen Gertrude and the nephew of the present King, Claudius. A reflective and thoughtful young man who has studied at the University of Wittenberg, Hamlet is often indecisive and hesitant, but at other times prone to rash and impulsive acts. Hamlet is bitter and cynical towards his Uncle’s scheming and full of hatred and disgust his mother and Uncle’s “incestuous relationship.”

Question 2

Ophelia

Answer 2

Polonius’ daughter - a beautiful, young woman with whom Hamlet is in love with at the beginning of the play. Ophelia is a sweet, innocent and naive young girl, who obeys her father and brother, Laertes. Dependent on men to tell her how to behave, she gives in to Polonius’ schemes to spy on Hamlet. Even in her lapse into madness and tragic death, she remains maidenly, singing songs about flowers and finally “drowning in the river amid the flower garlands she had gathered”, so Gertrude tells the others in an attempt to disguise her suicide.

Question 3

Gertrude

Answer 3

The Queen of Denmark - Hamlet’s mother who recently married to Claudius. Gertrude loves Hamlet deeply, but she is a shallow, weak woman who seeks affection and status more urgently than moral rectitude or truth.

Question 4

Claudius

Answer 4

The King of Denmark - Hamlet’s uncle and the play’s antagonist. The villain of the play, Claudius is a calculating, ambitious politician, driven by his sexual appetites and his lust for power, but he occasionally shows signs of guilt and human feeling - his love for Gertrude, for instance, seems sincere.

Question 5

Horatio

Answer 5

Hamlet’s best friend, who studied alongside the Prince at the University of Wittenberg. Horatio is Hamlet’s only loyal friend who remains helpful to him throughout the play. After Hamlet’s death, Horatio lives on to tell Hamlet’s story.

Question 6

Polonius

Answer 6

The Lord Chamberlain of Claudius’ court - a pompous, conniving old man. Polonius is the father of Laertes and Ophelia.

Question 7

Laertes

Answer 7

Polonius’ son and Ophelia’s brother - a young man who spends much of the play in France. Passionate and quick to take action, Laertes is clearly a foil and juxtaposition for the reflective Hamlet.

Question 8

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Answer 8

Two slightly bumbling courtiers and former friends of Hamlet from the University of Wittenberg. They are characters summoned by Claudius and Gertrude in order to discover the cause of Hamlet’s strange behaviour through spying on him in secret. They are also dispatched to England by King Claudius to accompany Hamlet and send a sealed order to the King of England demanding that Hamlet should be put to death.

Question 9

Old Hamlet / The Ghost

Answer 9

Hamlet’s dad who was brutally murdered in secret by his own brother, Claudius. Claudius killed Old Hamlet by putting poison in his ear, an act done in order to take Old Hamlet’s kingship away from him and inherit the throne through marrying his wife, Gertrude. Claudius kills Old Hamlet before he gets the chance to repent his sins, meaning he gets sent to Hell in eternal damnation. Old Hamlet later reappears as a ghost to Hamlet, informing him on what has happened and instructing him to avenge the wrongs of his brother through killing him, as well as exposing him for who he really is.

Question 10

Reynaldo

Answer 10

Polonius’ servant who was sent to check on Laertes in Paris. He receives absurdly detailed instructions in espionage from him.

Question 11

Bernando

Answer 11

A soldier who is the first person to see the ghost of Old Hamlet.

Question 12

Marcellus

Answer 12

A soldier who was among the first to see the ghost of Old Hamlet.

Question 13

Francisco

Answer 13

A soldier.

Question 14

Voltemand

Answer 14

A courtier.

Question 15

Cornelius

Answer 15

A courtier.

Question 16

A Captain

Answer 16

A Captain in Fortinbras’ army who speaks briefly with Hamlet.

Question 17

Ambassadors

Answer 17

Ambassadors from England who arrive at the play’s close to announce that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.

Question 18

Fortinbras

Answer 18

A Norwegian Prince who leads an army to Denmark after attacking Poland earlier in the play. Fortinbras arrives on a mission to avenge the wrongs of his Father’s death and kill Old Hamlet, not knowing he has recently passed away. (Old Hamlet killed Fortinbras’ father, who was also called Fortinbras.) Fortinbras enters with ambassadors from England who report that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. Fortinbras is left stunned by the gruesome sight of the entire royal family lying sprawled on the floor dead and moves to take power of the Kingdom. Horatio, fulfilling Hamlet’s last request, tells him Hamlet’s tragic story. Fortinbras orders that Hamlet be carried away in a manner befitting a fallen soldier. Fortinbras delivers the final few lines of the play, representing a hopeful future for the monarchy of Denmark and it’s subjects. The tragedy ends as it begun, with chaos and a hint of disorder: Denmark has been handed to the hands of the young, violent Prince Fortinbras - a foil for Hamlet throughout the play.

Question 19

Osric

Answer 19

A foolish courtier who arrives on Claudius’ orders to arrange the fencing match between Hamlet and Laertes.

Question 20

Yorick

Answer 20

A court jester as well as Hamlet’s old, childhood friend. Hamlet discovers he is dead when he comes face to face with his skull (the first element of tangible mortality he has had to face in the play) in the gravedigger scene. Hamlet describes him as a man “a fellow full of infinite jest.”

Question 21

The First and Second Clowns in Act 5, Scene 1 - The Gravedigger Scene

Answer 21

The clowns are in fact gravediggers, but described as clowns in order to make a serious political point. The gravediggers are peasants or commoners that use their great wit and intellect to get the better of their superiors, other people of higher social status, and each other. “Enter two clowns, with spades.” The two gravediggers are shovelling out a grave for Ophelia; they argue whether Ophelia should be buried in the churchyard, since her death looks like a suicide - according to religious doctrine, suicides may not receive Christian burial.