Minor Characters In Hamlet Essay

Words: 1127
Pages: 5
Open Document
Minor characters play a significant role yet brief role in literature, for instance in Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. Even though their role is brief, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, Laertes, and Polonius contributed to the main character’s identity, and plot and theme development and is essential to the play.
Polonius
Minor characters are also known as flat characters, and according to How To Read Literature Like a Professor, they are static and they lack development in narrative, which is explanation for Polonius’s sudden death. Throughout the play, Polonius provided comic relief for the audience with his talkativeness and egotistical self. Overall, the mood of Hamlet is dark and morbid, Polonius gives the audience a break from that atmosphere and adds an element of humor. Although the audience knows that characteristics of Polonius, he himself is clueless and in denial of it. In Act II, Scene 2, the Queen orders in to speak with “more matter, [and] less art.” He swears to get straight to the point, yet he continues to make wordplay in order to seem smart, but he really isn’t. Hamlet is known to be cruel and blunt and Polonius is his main object of interest for mockery. Hamlet cleverly plays with Polonius with his words and plans, he called him a “great baby,” with the explanation that as …show more content…
Hamlet is clever with his words, while Laertes is skillful with his actions. Hamlet carefully devises his plans and he wants it to go perfectly, that causes him to overthink the situation and continuously delay the murder of Claudius. For instance, Hamlet had the chance to kill Claudius as he was praying, but it is wrong to kill in a church, a holy place. Laertes just simply want to get things done, he does not think about the morality behind seeking revenge or how it is done, whether it’s right or wrong. Laertes said “to cut his throat i’th’ church,” this reveals that he is willing to kill in God’s safe haven for
Show More

Related Documents: Minor Characters In Hamlet Essay

Essay on Characters in Hamlet

What Would Hamlet be without Insanity? The play Hamlet is without a doubt an odd story to read based on what society today has become accustomed to. A brother killing another brother, and then marrying his wife. It is not a typical story in the modern world today. There is a vast variety of different themes that can be traced throughout the play, however the most popular is madness and sanity. Madness and sanity shape the play into what it is, without madness and sanity the play would have no life…

Words 978 - Pages 4

Mr Barnaby Bax Essay

Greenblatt et al, eds, The Norton Shakespeare International Student Edition. Second Edition (New York: W. W. Norton & Co, 2008). Ben Jonson, Volpone ed. Brian Parker and David Bevington (Manchester: Revels Student Edition 1999). A good selection of essays is also available at a reasonable price in Russ McDonald (ed.), Shakespeare: An Anthology of Criticism and Theory 1945-2000 (Blackwell, 2004). This book is not a set text, but it is worth considering purchasing it. 1. Aims and objectives of…

Words 9832 - Pages 40

Gp Essay Mainpoints

GP NOTES 2010 (ESSAY) Content Page 1. Media a. New vs. Traditional b. New: narcissistic? c. Government Censorship d. Profit-driven Media e. Advertising f. Private life of public figures g. Celebrity as a role model h. Blame media for our problems i. Power + Responsibility of Media j. Media ethics k. New Media and Democracy 2. Science/Tech a. Science and Ethics b. Government and scientist role in science c. Rely too much on technology? d. Nuclear technology…

Words 24667 - Pages 99