Free Hamlet Essays: Importance of Minor Characters

Importance of Minor Characters in Hamlet

A now-dead philosopher once said that people need three relationships in life—confidant, lover, mentor. Horatio acts as Hamlet’s confidant, fulfilling that relationship for Hamlet. As a result, we can contrast Hamlet’s dialogue with Horatio to Hamlet’s soliloquies.

In Act III, Scene 2, lines 65-70 Hamlet tells Horatio about his idea: to use the players to prove Cladius’s guilt.

There is a play to-night before the king; 65

One scene of it comes near the circumstance

Which I have told thee of my father's death:

I prithee, when thou seest that act afoot,

Even with the very comment of thy soul

Observe mine uncle… 70

Hamlet isn’t commanding Horatio to do this—the relationship isn’t based on Hamlet’s princehood. Hamlet has fully told Horatio what he suspects. He has confided in Horatio.

From our perspective as readers, this relationship gives us insight into Hamlet’s state of mind. One great question about Hamlet is whether Hamlet is mad. The things Hamlet tells Horatio indicate that Hamlet is perfectly sane. Hamlet declares (alone) in Act II, Scene 2, line 535-538, "Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave,/ That I, the son of the dear murderèd,/ Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,/ Must like a whore unpack my heart with words." These lines alone don’t point toward or away from madness. But look at it with III, 2, 65-70 in mind. We see him resolve to prove Cladius’s guilt; understand the situation as it really is; and talk with Horatio, telling him how he feels. All these things show Hamlet as rational, calculating, perceptive—sane. And we know this because Horatio is there.

In Act V, Scene 2, Hamlet stabbed Laertes, watched his mother die, and poured poison down his uncle’s throat. How can we possibly know what Hamlet is thinking, especially because he will soon be dead himself? Horatio the Confidant is there, the good friend who will listen to Hamlet, who would kill himself to follow Hamlet, who vows to devote his life to Hamlet’s message.

Another big question about Hamlet: Did Hamlet’s revenge come at too great a price? It’s a judgment call: the evidence can be interpreted either way. That there is evidence at all is due to Horatio. In lines 321-328, Hamlet tells Horatio this:

As thou'rt a man,

Give me the cup: let go; by heaven, I'll have't.

O good Horatio, what a wounded name,