The protagonist and hero of the story is Prince Hamlet. Throughout the play he tries to avenge his father’s death by killing his murderous uncle Claudius. He loves and admires his father which is demonstrated when he describes King Hamlet to Horatio as “a man. Take him for all in all. I shall not look upon his like again.” However, Hamlet is indecisive about killing Claudius and this is one of his major flaws.
The threshold guardian and herald in the story is the ghost of Hamlet’s father. It is this ghost that sends him on his task to get revenge and kill Claudius. This sets in motion Hamlet’s descent into madness, and ultimately the death of the entire Denmark royal family.
Hamlet’s allies in the story are Horatio and Marcellus. They are loyal to Hamlet and have his best interest at heart. This is best shown when they try to stop Hamlet from following the ghost of his father in Act 1. Horatio expresses his concern that
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She is a pawn in everyone games and has no real control over her life. In the beginning Laertes warns her that Hamlet’s affections for her will not last “Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting, The perfume and suppliance of a minute.” Later in the story, Hamlet tells her that they can not and will never be together. In fact, she is better off being in a nunnery. Then Hamlet her kills her father Polonius as he says “(from behind the arras) Oh, I am slain.” Finally, she takes takes her life in her hands by drowning herself.
The shadow in the story is Claudius. Hamlet describes Claudius as a “A murderer and a villain” who is “not even a not twentieth part the tithe Of (Gertrude’s) precedent lord”. Claudius killed Hamlet’s father and took Hamlet’s place as the rightful King of Denmark. He also constantly creates plots to kill Hamlet such as sending a letter to the King of England to execute him, putting poison in his wine and also poisoning the tip of Laertes’ sword.