Hamlet Horatio Essay

761 Words4 Pages

In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Horatio acts as a confidant to the main character, Hamlet. Hamlet says that Horatio is in his “heart of hearts (Act III, Scene II, l.75). Horatio is Hamlet’s closest friend and they both care for each other greatly. Though not many physical actions are committed by Horatio, he plays a significant role in the play. Horatio is an important character as confidant in Hamlet because he provides a person for Hamlet to share his thoughts with, insight to Hamlet’s plans, and verification of Hamlet’s sanity. Throughout the play, Hamlet goes to Horatio when he needs someone to talk to. Horatio takes on the role as confidant to Hamlet. Hamlet has a lot of trust for Horatio, and Horatio does not do anything that would damage that trust. In a play where deception is very prominent, Horatio’s appearance and the reality of his character always seem to be the same. Not only is Horatio trustworthy, but he is also a “scholar” (Act I, Scene I, l.42), and thus is very smart. He is able to understand everything that Hamlet says. Horatio is courageous, as seen when …show more content…

By doing this, Hamlet gains a partner to assist him with implementing and executing his plans. Hamlet sharing his ideas with Horatio also allows the reader to understand what ideas are manifesting in the mind of Hamlet by a different means than Hamlet’s soliloquies. By seeing Hamlet share his ideas with Horatio, the reader is able to see Hamlet’s plans unfold throughout the play. The execution of plans is a theme seen again and again throughout the play, Hamlet makes plans to speak to the ghost, to act insane, to put on a play and find out if Claudius is guilty, along with other plans. Hamlet communicates most of his plans to Horatio, and by doing so, Hamlet also informs the