Hamlet

The prince of denmark, and a student at the University of Wittenberg.

Father was morded by Hamlet's uncle Claudius. The queen of denmark, Hamlet's mother is now married to Claudius, the new king of denmark.

Hamlet is melancholy, bitter (verbittert), cynical, full of hatred for his uncle and disgust (Ekel) for his mother for marrying him.
 

When the ghost of Hamlet's father appears and claims (behaupten) to have been murdered by Claudius, Hamlet becomes obsessed (besessen) by avenging (rächen) his father's death but keeps thninking of reasons why he should wait before killing Claudius. Then chastizes (züchtigen) himself for failing to act boldly (mutig, kühn).

He admires (bewundern) characters like Fortinbras and the Player King, who behave passionately (leidenschaftlich) and even violently for NO good reason. But himself he is thoughtful, reflective and philosophical.

At times Hamlet is indecisive (unentschlossen) and hesitant (zögerlich) , but at other times he is prone (anfällig) to rash (übereilt) and impulsive acts of violence (Gewalt).

The king of Denmark, Hamlet's uncle. The villain (Bösewicht) of the play, Claudius is calculating ´, ambitious politician, adept at manipulating otger to his own ends and willing to execute (durchführung), assassinate (mördern), or murder to stay in power.
 

He doesn't understand Hamlet or his motives, but he is quick to perceive (bemerken) Hamlet as a threat (bedrohung) and take decisive (bestimmend) action against him.

He does occasionally (gelegentlich) show signs of remorse (Gewissensbisse) and human feelings- his affection (zuneigung) for Gertrude, for instance, seems sincere (aufrichtig).

-Queen of denmarkt

-Hamlet's mother

-seems clearly to love Hamlet

Lord Cahmberlain

Father of Leartes and Ophelia

good intentions, but tends to underhanded (hinterhältig)

leaps to wrong conclusions

speeches pompous

completely incapable of figuring out wht hamet is up to