What follows is an overview of the main characters in

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'', followed by a list and summary of the minor characters from the play.Character list collated from Spencer (1980, 61–2) and from Thompson & Taylor (2006a, 140). For Q1 Character names see Thompson & Taylor (2006b, 42) Three different early versions of the play survive: known as the

First Quarto The earliest texts of William Shakespeare's works were published during the 16th and 17th centuries in quarto or folio format. Folios are large, tall volumes; quartos are smaller, roughly half the size. The publications of the latter are usuall ...

("Q1"),

Second Quarto The earliest texts of William Shakespeare's works were published during the 16th and 17th centuries in quarto or folio format. Folios are large, tall volumes; quartos are smaller, roughly half the size. The publications of the latter are usuall ...

("Q2"), and

First Folio ''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...

("F1"), each has lines—and even scenes—missing in the others, and some character names vary.

Overview of main characters

is the Prince of Denmark; he is son to the late King Hamlet, and nephew to the present King Claudius. *

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Drusus and Antonia Minor ...

is the King of Denmark, elected to the throne after the death of his brother, King Hamlet. Claudius has married Gertrude, his brother's widow. * Gertrude is the Queen of Denmark, and King Hamlet's widow, now married to Claudius, and mother to Hamlet. * The Ghost appears in the image of Hamlet's father, the late

King Hamlet The ghost of Hamlet's father is a character from William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet''. In the stage directions he is referred to as "Ghost". His name is also Hamlet, and he is referred to as ''King'' Hamlet to distinguish him from the Prince, ...

(Old Hamlet). *

Polonius Polonius is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet''. He is chief counsellor of the play's ultimate villain, Claudius, and the father of Laertes and Ophelia. Generally regarded as wrong in every judgment he makes over the course of ...

("Corambis" in "Q1") is Claudius's chief counsellor, and the father of Ophelia and Laertes. * Laertes is the son of Polonius, and has returned to Elsinore from Paris. *

Ophelia Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama '' Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet, who, due to Hamlet's actions, ends u ...

is the daughter of Polonius, and Laertes's sister, who lives with her father at Elsinore. She is in love with Hamlet. *

Horatio Horatio is an English male given name, an Italianized form of the ancient Roman Latin '' nomen'' (name) '' Horatius'', from the Roman ''gens'' (clan) '' Horatia''. The modern Italian form is '' Orazio'', the modern Spanish form '' Horacio''. It ap ...

is a good friend of Hamlet, from the university at Wittenberg, who came to Elsinore Castle to attend King Hamlet's funeral. *

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Hamlet''. They are childhood friends of Hamlet, summoned by King Claudius to distract the prince from his apparent madness and if possible to ascertain the cause of ...

are childhood friends and schoolmates of Hamlet, who were summoned to Elsinore by Claudius and Gertrude. * Fortinbras is the crown prince of Norway, and assumes the throne of Denmark after Hamlet's death.

Elsinore sentries

Marcellus, Barnardo and Francisco

Marcellus, Bernardo (or Barnardo) and Francisco are sentries at Elsinore. Francisco gives up his watch to Bernardo in the opening of the play, and it is Bernardo and Marcellus, who first alert

to the appearance of King Hamlet's Ghost. Marcellus goes with Horatio to tell Hamlet about the Ghost's appearance. Marcellus is the most prominent of the three. Barnardo (in F1) is spelled Bernardo in Q2 (Second Quarto) and Barnard in Q1 (First Quarto).

Elsinore entourage

Voltemand and Cornelius

Voltemand and Cornelius are ambassadors sent by the King of Denmark,

, to old King Norway.

Reynaldo

He is a servant to

. (In the "Q1" text, Reynaldo is called "Montano" and Polonius is called "Corambis.") Polonius sends Reynaldo to Paris to spy on what Laertes is doing.

A Gentleman

He informs Gertrude of Ophelia's strange change in behaviour, before Ophelia's first "mad" appearance.

Osric

He is the courtier sent by Claudius to invite Hamlet to participate in the duel with Laertes. (This character is called "Ostricke" in the Second Quarto.) Osric, as well as

, attempts to engage with Hamlet in the elaborate, witty discourse, fully consistent with Baldassare Castiglione's 1528 work, ''

The Courtier ''The Book of the Courtier'' ( it, Il Cortegiano ) by Baldassare Castiglione is a lengthy philosophical dialogue on the topic of what constitutes an ideal courtier or (in the third chapter) court lady, worthy to befriend and advise a Prince or po ...

''. This work outlines several courtly rules, specifically advising royal retainers to amuse their masters with inventive language.

The Players

The Players are a company of actors who arrive at Elsinore Castle. Friends of Hamlet, they had earlier performed in "the city" (presumably Copenhagen), but faced stiff competition from boy performers, so they have traveled to Elsinore to offer Hamlet their services. At Elsinore, they perform a version—which Hamlet has modified and called ''The Mousetrap''—of the play ''The Murder of Gonzago'' in the "play within a play".

First Player or Player King

He is the leader of the troupe of touring actors. In the "play within a play", he takes the part of the king who is murdered.''Hamlet'' 3.2

Second Player or Player Queen

This role was traditionally performed by a man, as were all the female parts in ''Hamlet'', since women did not appear on stage in Elizabethan times.

Third Player

He is also called ''Lucianus'' in the "play within a play". The name may be a reference to ''Lucius'' in the Brutus legend, a source for

Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark ...

' ''

Gesta Danorum ''Gesta Danorum'' ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark an ...

'', itself a candidate source for ''Hamlet''. Plays the role similar to Claudius and kills the king by pouring poison into his ear.

Fourth Player

The ''Mousetrap'' play-within-a-play has a very brief Prologue recited by one of the Players. The First Player may do the Prologue, but if not, a Fourth Player, with a speaking part, is probably required to do it.

Ophelia's funeral

Two Clowns (a sexton gravedigger, and a bailiff)

The bailiff informs the sexton that Ophelia's death was suicide, but the sexton argues the point. Later, the sexton unearths

Yorick Yorick is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet''. He is the dead court jester whose skull is exhumed by the First Gravedigger in Act 5, Scene 1, of the play. The sight of Yorick's skull evokes a reminiscence by Prince Hamlet of t ...

's skull, which leads to Hamlet's famous "Alas, poor Yorick" speech. During the

Interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin '' ...

, all theatres were closed down by the

puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

government. However, even during this time playlets known as ''drolls'' were often performed illegally, including one based on the two clowns, called ''The Grave-Makers'', based on Act 5, Scene 1 of ''Hamlet''.

A Priest, or Doctor of Divinity

He officiates at Ophelia's funeral, and does not give her full Christian burial rites, since the church suspects her death was suicide. Called a "Priest" in the First Folio edition of "Hamlet," his speech prefix in the Second Quarto is "Doct" for Doctor of Divinity, a Protestant clergyman. Thus, the two original "good" printings of the play are in disagreement whether the clergyman is Protestant or Catholic.

Other characters

A Captain

He is a commander in Fortinbras' invading army, and is assigned by Fortinbras to get the license from Claudius for Fortinbras's army to be in Denmark.

Sailors (pirates)

The sailors are two pirates who deliver a letter from Hamlet to Horatio, informing Horatio that Hamlet has returned to Denmark.

English Ambassadors

They appear in the final scene to report that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.''Hamlet'' 5.2.236 onwards

References

All references to ''Hamlet'', unless otherwise specified, are taken from the Arden Shakespeare "Q2" (Thompson and Taylor, 2006a). Under their referencing system, 3.1.55 means act 3, scene 1, line 55. References to the First Quarto and First Folio are marked ''Hamlet "Q1"'' and ''Hamlet "F1"'', respectively, and are taken from the Arden Shakespeare "Hamlet: the texts of 1603 and 1623" (Thompson and Taylor, 2006b). Their referencing system for "Q1" has no act breaks, so 7.115 means scene 7, line 115.

Citations

Sources

* Holland, Peter. 2007. "Shakespeare Abbreviated". In Shaughnessy (2007, 26-45). * Marsden, Jean I. 2002. "Improving Shakespeare: from the Restoration to Garrick". In Wells and Stanton (2002, 21–36). * Maric, Jasminka, "Filozofija u Hamletu", Alfa BK Univerzitet, Beograd, 2015. * Maric, Jasminka, "Philosophy in Hamlet", author's edition, Belgrade, 2018.