Character Analysis of the Main Characters in Hamlet

I really enjoyed watching Hamlet.I'm not into Mel Gibson as of late, but I think he did an excellent job in Hamlet. His eyes and his expressions really portrayed emotion. I was very pleased with the rest of the cast as well, although I think that Kate Winslet probably played a better Ophelia than Helena Bonham Carter did in this version.

It was interesting to watch Hamlet's spiral into madness. It was unfair of King Hamlet to ask his son to exact revenge. This desire for revenge destroyed Hamlet and everyone Hamlet loved. Hamlet was already emotionally vulnerable and disturbed that his mother would marry his father's brother and so soon after his father's death.

The ghost ruins Hamlet's life and the life of all those around him. Hamlet is unsure whether the ghost is his father or is sent there to trick him. He sets up the trap to prove his uncle guilty. I am not so sure that the ghost wasn't there to trick him. I would think that a father would not want to endanger the life of his son. Even if almost all of the other characters had not died, Hamlet would surely be in major trouble for killing Claudius. The ghost was selfish and thinking only of himself. Hamlet wasn't emotionally strong enough to carry out this grim task.

Hamlet slowly declines into madness while he contemplates carrying out this revenge. He delays killing Claudius, I'm not sure if it's just doubting the ghost. Hamlet probably doubts himself a little bit as well ("Conscious does make cowards of us all."). He is already depressed and this ghost is the final straw. Hamlet fluctuates between moments of mania and moments of depression. He talks about death and wanting to die in his "To sleep perchance to dream" monologue.

"Frailty thy name is woman," is the perfect way to describe Gertrude. She married her husband's brother before his body was even cold. She seems to be ruled by her sexual needs rather than by her brain. She doesn't seem to care who sees her desires. Throughout the movie she is constantly kissing on King Claudius or trying to lure him to the bedchamber.