... the king and queen are suffering from severe guilt. Gertrude realizes she has not waited long enough to mourn her husband's death, while Claudius feels utterly distraught about murdering his own brother. These actions threw Hamlet into a state of insanity, seemingly resulting in an emotionally unstable state. Hamlet uses this to deceive his family members and friends in order to cause ... poisoned by the evil king. After Hamlet defeats Laertes in a portion of the match, the King offers a toast to Hamlet saying, "Stay, give me drink. Hamlet, this pearl is thine, here's to thy health! Giv...

• Word Count: 750
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... by divine will or by chance. A complex personality at the play's start, Hamlet is all the more fascinating because he undergoes dramatic character development. Claudius: A usurping villain who kills his own brother, Claudius is clearly the source of the rottenness that pervades Denmark. He is a clever "monster," who is able to devise plots and plans that conceal his intentions and to ... , and he abets Claudius's efforts to control Hamlet. Polonius is capable of subterfuge, but he is also a somewhat ridiculous figure, a "doting" father who hands down well-meaning platitudes like "To thin...

• Word Count: 782
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... a minor character whose deceitful ways show the audience that he is one of many characters who lack sincerity and integrity. Throughout Hamlet Polonius is a hypocrite who looks out for his own interests, and betrays those he should be loyal to. These aspects of his character are exposed in his relationships with the King, Ophelia, and Laertes. Polonius is two-faced in ... son further prove his two-faced, betraying nature. Polonius sends Laertes off to France with a few words of wisdom in Act I Scene iii, lines 59-81. "This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the...

• Word Count: 398
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... is another talk between Hamlet and Horatio. Hamlet and Horatio are better friends now. Hamlet really accepts Horatio as a friend, he even trust him with is whole heart ("Horatio when ... thine, Hamlet", 4.6.13-30) . Later they meet near a graveyard and, as the sight of skulls being thrown about by the gravedigger leads Hamlet back into morbid reflections on death and decomposition ... disclosures of the ghost and about the further plan to test Claudius through the performance of a play. After Ophelia's funereal they talked for a while, Hamlet talks about Claudius and his own order for t...

• Word Count: 719
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School