The characters in Hamlet serve in many different roles
throughout the book. Hamlet is a totally different person for every other
character. The different roles that people play in the book, plays a huge role
in the tragic ending. These different relationships cause many problems between
the people. In fact, they actually were the very fiber of the story. Without
these relationships, not a single event in Hamlet would have ever occurred.
Many
of the relationships that were very important were centered on Hamlet himself.
He was a son, a lover, an enemy, and a leader. These roles caused Hamlet to do
many things that ended in his early death. His role as a son made him feel an
obligation to his dead father. This feeling led to his hatred of King Claudius
and the subsequent scheme that led to his own downfall. His role as a lover
also factored into his untimely death. He loved Ophelia; however, his plans involved
leading her to believe he was crazy and had left her. This caused her to kill
herself. Her suicide angered her brother Laertes greatly. He turned this anger
to Hamlet; the person he thought was to blame. All of these events led in turn
to the fight that ended in the death of both of them. Another notable
relationship to the main character was his mother. He loved his mother and
wanted her to understand that the man she had married was evil and had killed
her first husband. This complicated his scheme and may have been a cause of the
resulting tragedy. One of the other very import roles that Hamlet played was
that of a leader. He was a great figure in the kingdom and outside of it, as
evidence by Fortinbras. Hamlet was known by many people and they listened to
him. When he killed the king, the people did not automatically hate him, as
many people would have. Fortinbras even made a speech at the ending of the
story about how honorable Hamlet was. This caused Hamlet to become a hero at
the end of the story and it made Fortinbras the king. This may have also led to
Hamlet’s survival when he was sent to England.
Another man’s relationships played a
major role in the story. This man was King Claudius. Many of his roles in
characters’ lives were instrumental to the ending of this play. The first and
most obvious role was King Hamlet’s brother. As the brother of the king, he
would be able to take the throne of something happened to King Hamlet. He had
much to gain from murdering his brother. Unfortunately for him, it also created
many problems. By murdering his own brother, he made King Hamlet’s ghost very
angry and caused him to tell Hamlet about the murder. This, in turn, caused
Hamlet to start scheming. The scheming led to the deaths of them both. King
Claudius was also a husband. This relationship was a crooked one to begin with.
He married his brother’s wife, just after he had murdered her husband. However,
this was still a very important element of this story. As his wife, Gertrude
tried to protect him from Hamlet. She tried to make Hamlet stay away from his
uncle and get along with him. His last role was his most important. This was
his role as the king. He had complete control over the kingdom and over the
people. He caused Guildenstern and Rosencrantz to be killed and he caused
Laertes to fight Hamlet, leading to his death as well. This was also the main
reason for the murder of King Hamlet. Claudius wanted the power his brother had
and was willing to kill for it. This set off the entire chain of events that
made up the play.
Many other characters played
different roles that affected Hamlet, the king, and the story. One of these
characters is Gertrude. She was the mother of Hamlet, the wife of both Claudius
and King Hamlet, and she was the queen. As the mother of Hamlet, she affected
his decisions and her actions led in part to Hamlet’s hatred of King Claudius.
Another character was Ophelia. She was a sister, a daughter, and a lover. Her
role as a sister led to Laertes fighting Hamlet. Her role as a daughter caused
her to go insane and take her own life. Finally, her role as a lover caused
Hamlet to fight and was another cause of her suicide. King Hamlet was the king,
a brother, a husband, a father, and a ghost. His role as the king led to his
murder and Hamlet’s power. His role as a
brother was also a factor into his death, as Claudius only became king because
he was King Hamlet’s brother. His role as a husband led to Gertrude’s hasty
marriage. She was left alone, without a husband when King Hamlet died, so she
went to the man closest to her previous husband. King Hamlet’s role as a father
was the reason that Hamlet worked to bring Claudius to justice. These are just
the main few characters that played many roles in the great tragedy of Hamlet.
Many of the characters in the play
formed a complex web of relationships that dictated the entire story. The roles
that they played in Hamlet caused the
tragedy and caused the deaths of most of the main characters. Every role that a
character plays in a story can contribute greatly to the outcome. This is
especially true in Hamlet. Each and
every character had a role that led to the ending problems. Many things were
the cause of poor choices, but these choices were caused by the roles the
characters had played throughout their lives. Many of the choices they made
were wrong and they were completely in control of them, but some accountability
should be left in the hands of others, simply because some things are caused by
other people’s actions. These characters all had a great role in the story,
simply because of their relationships. Hamlet
was entirely based on the complex web of relationships and that is the most
important part of the play.
