One of the most unique elements of the Hamlet character is that he is so human. Many
types of readers can identify with him. Hamlet is imperfect, and he is fretful. Hamlet has
human properties, and it is his humanity that I intend to explore. Indeed it is these human
qualities and imperfections that make his story so tragic. Another tragic part of the play is
the plays irony. Irony is an important tool in the hands of the playwright to achieve both
comical and/or dramatic effect. There is usually little reason for a tragedy to be funny, so
Shakespeare has used this tool to add more tragedy to the play. I will investigate the
nature of this irony. Also, I will investigate the types of conflict that play a major part in
the play and the relationships between Hamlet and the two people who have been closest
Hamlet cannot share his strong feelings and emotions with his mother or his
girlfriend. While his mother is literally sleeping with the enemy, Ophelia has chosen the
side of Claudius because of her father, Polonius. It is especially difficult for Hamlet to
talk to Ophelia. The only other woman in his life, Gertrude, has betrayed his father by
marrying Claudius. Hamlet may be obsessed with the idea that all women are evil, yet he
really does love Ophelia, because when he finds out Ophelia has died, he cries out, "I lov'd
Ophelia; forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my
The ghost provides Hamlet with a dilemma. In Shakespeare's plays, supernatural
characters are not always to be trusted; think of the three witches in MacBeth, who are
instrumental in his downfall. Hamlet does not know whether the ghost is telling the truth
or not. If Hamlet had killed Claudius solely on the ghost's advice, he would certainly have
been tried and put to death himself. There would probably have been a war to choose the
new king. Be...