Hamlet

3 Pages 649 Words

Maybe Shakespeare’s Hamlet is rightfully named after the star of the play. After all, he is not only the key character, but the driving force behind most of the questions that are asked about human nature. Hamlet has many traits that contribute to the success of his chacter and the success of the play in general. The three most important characteristics are his indecisiveness throughout the play, his fatalistic views, and his over dramatic persona.

Hamlet’s indecisiveness is evident throughout the play, especially during his dilemma of whether the Ghost is real or has been sent by Satan to trick him into doing something he shouldn’t do. He spends too much time worrying about things that may be and not enough time worrying about the things that matter. In fact, even when it comes down to him trying to figure out why he hasn’t already done something to avenge his father’s death, he is confused. Hamlet seems to be a very confused person all around, even before he “went crazy”, he was misleading to the fact that he hated his mother for marrying so soon after his father’s death. Near the beginning of the play Hamlet says to Gertrude that he “knows” how he feels, not just merely seems to know. However, by the end he has himself questioning that very same comment, just as his mother questioned him in the opening act.

Another of the traits that Hamlet is famous for, and perhaps his most famous trait, would be his fatalistic views, evident when he said, “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends.” at the beginning of Act 5, Scene II. Shakespeare writes Hamlet in as being very fatalistic because it adds to the intensity of the play. He is more willing to put his life on the line for other people, even if those people are already dead. It is this attitude though, that gets him killed in the end. He is too willing to fight Laertes, even though he knows the odds are against him, “there is a special provid...