< Hamlet
Hamlet/Characters
Alternate Character Interpretation is applicable to pretty much everyone here.
Hamlet
- Adult Child: If he is indeed 30 (see writers can't do math), he very much qualifies.
- Anti-Hero: Type IV
- Byronic Hero: Borderline example, but fits.
- Deadpan Snarker: Immensely so.
- The Ditherer: His Fatal Flaw, according to many critics.
- Double Entendre: Fond of making these, especially around Ophelia.
- Emo Teen: In the productions where he really is a teenager, at least.
- Hidden Depths: Still hidden to this day, in fact.
- Jerkass: At his worst...which is often.
- Kill Him Already!
- Lost in Character: One possible interpretation of the character.
- Mommy Issues
- Mood Swinger
- Obfuscating Insanity
- Pungeon Master: An uncommonly melancholy master, but every other word out of his mouth is a Double Entendre or Stealth Insult.
- Sword Over Head: Ironically, things would have worked out much better if he had taken the opportunity.
- Tragic Hero
- Writers Cannot Do Math: Leading to problems with calculating his age. While he is a student (which at the time wouldn't have put him past his late teens or early twenties), the gravedigger indirectly mentions that he is about thirty. Real-life casting issues may have played a role here.
- You Killed My Father
Claudius
- Big Bad
- Boisterous Bruiser: Sometimes played this way.
- Casanova
- Dirty Coward
- Dirty Old Man: How Hamlet sees him.
- Evil Prince
- Evil Uncle
- Ignored Epiphany: Actually comes close to repenting at one point, but he can't make himself give up the kingdom. Instead he gives up any thoughts of atoning and just concentrates on being King.
- It's All About Me
- Manipulative Bastard
- Not So Different: His actions and those of Hamlet, specially regarding the letter to England, are rather similar.
- Rasputinian Death
- Succession Crisis
- Villain with Good Publicity: Seems this way at first, especially to Hamlet.
Ophelia
- Break the Cutie
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Hamlet and Ophelia could be seen as a deconstruction.
- Driven to Suicide: Probably, unless she was just so insane she didn't take heed to her clothes soaking up water while lying in a river. This is all, of course, open for debate.
- Flower Motifs
- Kill the Cutie
- Love Hurts: Especially for the love interest in a Shakespearian tragedy.
- Mad Oracle: Possibly in her mad scene.
- The Ophelia: The Trope Namer.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: At least as far as her father is concerned.
- Talkative Loon
- Temporary Love Interest
Laertes
- Anti-Villain: Types II and III.
- Big Brother Complex
- Brother-Sister Incest: Implied in some productions.
- Chekhov's Gunman: He is introduced in the first act and appears briefly in two scenes before departing for most of the play. He returns to play a major role in the final act.
- Dead Little Sister: Ophelia
- Defeat Means Friendship: With Hamlet
- Foil: For Hamlet, who Lampshades it.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Killed by the same poisoned blade he uses to kill Hamlet.
- Hot-Blooded
- My Sister Is Off-Limits
- Redemption Equals Death
- You Killed My Father: His reaction to his father's death stands in stark contrast to Hamlet's behaviour. While Hamlet's hesitation to seek revenge proves to be his undoing, Laertes is quite the opposite. After hearing that Polonius has been killed, he immediately jumps to the conclusion that Claudius is responsible. He returns to Denmark with an army of supporters, bent on committing regicide.
Polonius
- Brevity Is Wit: While one of his lines is the Trope Namer, Polonius himself averts his advice to spectacular effect.
- Captain Obvious: His Last Words, if anyone was unsure.
- The Consigliere: Certain interpretations see him even as The Man Behind the Man regarding Claudius
- Idiot Ball: Takes it and runs with it.
- Lack of Empathy: He may try to look like he has empathy, but would anyone who has empathy try and test if a relationship is real by making his daughter pretend to dump the guy?
- Love Makes You Crazy: Abides by this philosophy regarding Hamlet and Ophelia.
- Obfuscating Stupidity
- Overprotective Dad
- Purple Prose: His standard manner of speaking, played for laughs with the advice given to his son, as well as the trope naming line for Brevity Is Wit.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Seems to think he's in a Star-Crossed Lovers play rather than a revenge tragedy.
Gertrude
- Christmas Cake: When an actress is past her prime, she is said to be "playing Gertrude" (ie: rather than Ophelia).
- Parent with New Paramour
Fortinbras
- The Ace
- Foil
- Hot-Blooded
- Only Sane Man: Out of the Hamlet/Laertes/him trio, he's the only one that gets things done and doesn't end up dead.
Horatio
- Goodnight, Sweet Prince
- Ho Yay: With Hamlet
- I Should Write a Book About This
- Only Sane Man
- Secret Keeper: Swore an oath with Hamlet concerning the Ghost of Old Hamlet.
- Together in Death: Attempted at the end, but a dying Hamlet stops him.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
- Ambiguously Gay: Especially in Franco Zeffirelli's version.
- Perspective Flip: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
- Those Two Guys
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