Hamlet

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Recommended: Hamlet's relationship with Claudius

When trying to hold someone responsible for Hamlet’s bizarre actions and irrational decisions, simply one character cannot be pinpointed. The only resolution is to measure the extent of the responsibility of each character, and how much their actions influenced Hamlet’s behavior. In the tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare makes it clear that the people closest to the young prince, especially Claudius and Gertrude, are most responsible for turning him from a simple prince into a man with a vengeful mind. The only question that now remains, is how?
The person with the least influence on Hamlet's action is his friend, and his love interest's brother, Laertes. Although the son of a cunning man, Laertes is surprisingly caring and more honest than his father. He acts strong and talks like an intellectual being who knows what he's doing and where he is going, but in reality, he is as clueless about life as the rest of the majority in the royal family. There are very few incidences where Laertes' words and actions are related to Hamlet and influence him directly. An incident regarding the famous topic of Hamlet's love life is an example of his indirect influence. In this scene, he is giving advices to Ophelia about Hamlet, saying that "Then, if he says he loves you/It fits your wisdom so far to believe it /As he in his particular act and place/May give his saying deed, which is no further /Than the main voice of Denmark goes withal" (1.2.24-28). Laertes directly points out to Ophelia that Hamlet has little to no say in whom he chooses to marry, since it's the benefit of Denmark whom he has to keep in mind, and in the end, Hamlet has no say or control over his life, Denmark does. By this point in the play, it is unknown if Laertes has ever h...

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...amlet and Claudius, and it is ironic that in end both characters died in cold blood. Hamlet has self-conflicts not it planning Claudius' murder, but actually doing the job. That's why he loses the perfect chance to kill him while he is praying, is alone, and has confessed to murdering King Hamlet. Claudius is also the reason why Hamlet looks so down on himself and thinks of himself as a coward who chooses silence over revenge.
Each character, despite of their importance, has somehow contributed in Hamlet's transformation to the confused, revengeful man. Though, if one were to specify or name one character who's been most responsible for this transformation, it would be Claudius. The Claudius who, in Hamlet's words, "... hath killed my king and whored my mother/
Popped in between th' election and my hopes/ [and] Thrown out his angle for my proper life" (5.2.65-67).

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