12th Grade Honors English Ms. Clark Hamlet Characters

Click to learn more about a character and their overall story: Hamlet Claudius Gertrude Polonius Horatio Ophelia Laertes Fortinbras The Ghost Back to first slide To Quiz

Hamlet Main Character Son of Gertrude and the dead king (The Ghost) which makes him the prince and next in line Best friend is Horatio Is in love with Ophelia, but will not be able to marry her because of her social rank The ghost will only appear to him Swears revenge on his uncle for the murder of his father and will do anything to get it Murders Polonius by accident thinking it was Claudius Is fatally wounded by Laertes with a poisoned sword during a duel, but is able to kill Laertes and Claudius before his death fulfilling his revenge Names Fortinbras as the next king before his death at the end of the play Back to Menu

Claudius Brother of the dead king (The Ghost) and now rules over the country Marries Gertrude at the beginning of the play Found to be the king’s murderer so he could get the throne and Gertrude Does occasionally show guilt for his crimes Tries to get Hamlet declared insane and sent away from the palace when he learns that Hamlet knows he’s the murderer Tries to poison Hamlet with a drink, but Gertrude drinks it instead on accident and dies Killed at the end by Hamlet Back to Menu

Gertrude Was married to the dead king (The Ghost), but is now the wife of Claudius Hamlet’s mother and cares deeply for him Hamlet suspects her of having a hand in the king’s murder, but discovers she’s innocent towards the end Despite not being apart of the murder it is made clear she may have had relations with Claudius before hand Is killed during the duel at the end of the play by accidentally drinking poison that was meant for Hamlet Back to Menu

Polonius The Lord Chamberlain of Claudius’s court The father of Ophelia and Laertes Is known for spying on the other characters from time to time for Claudius Was spying on Gertrude and Hamlet when Hamlet mistook him for Claudius and killed him Back to Menu

Horatio The best friend of Hamlet and is extremely loyal to him Helps Hamlet throughout the play to discover if the king is truly guilty He is the only character to survive the play Remains alive to carry out Hamlet’s order of making Fortinbras king and to tell the story of what happened to the royal family Back to Menu

Ophelia The daughter of Polonius and sister of Laertes The love interest of Hamlet and wishes to marry him After the murder of her father, she begins to lose her mind and eventually go crazy Due to her mental state and grief, she drowns herself in a pond by the castle Back to Menu

Laertes The son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia Spends most of his time in France gambling his money away and usually just comes back home to get more money Seeks revenge on Hamlet for the murder of his father and works with Claudius to get it Before a duel with Hamlet, he dips his sword in poison so he can kill him with just one cut from the blade In the duel he does cut Hamlet with the blade, but he gets cut as well and dies soon after from it Back to Menu

Fortinbras The young Prince of Norway, whose father the king was killed by Hamlet’s father Now he wishes to attack Denmark to avenge his father’s honor, making him another foil for Prince Hamlet. He is a great leader and it’s because of this that Hamlet names him king before his death at the end He takes the throne and gives Hamlet a proper burial Back to Menu

The Ghost He is the ghost of the recently dead king Father of Hamlet, brother of Claudius, and first husband of Gertrude Appears to Hamlet to tell him that he was actually murdered by Claudius Only reappears one more time to keep Hamlet on his path for revenge Back to Menu

Quiz Which character is left with the task of telling the story of how the royal family fell and Hamlet’s story? Fortinbras Laertes Horatio Back to Menu

Try Again! Fortinbras is the new king at the end of the play, but he arrives after many of the characters have been killed so he has to learn what happened. Back to Quiz

Try again! Laertes is killed at the beginning of the end of the play. He couldn’t be the one to carry on the story because he is dead. Back to Quiz

Good job! Before Hamlet dies he gives his best friend, Horatio the job of telling what happened and making Fortinbras king! Click the arrow to continue

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