Main Characters• Claudius: King of Denmark• Hamlet: Son of the former king, and nephew of the present King• Gertrude: Queen of Denmark, and mother to Hamlet• Polonius: Claudius's trusted chief counselor• Ophelia: Daughter to Polonius• Laertes: Son to Polonius• Horatio: Friend to Hamlet• Rosencrantz, Guildenstern: Courtiers, friends to Hamlet• Voltimand, Cornelius: Courtiers• Ghost of Hamlet’s Father• Fortinbras: Prince of Norway• Gravediggers: A sexton and a clown• Osric: A courtier

The play summary

Philosophical Interpretation

•It is expressed when Hamlet says to Rosencrantz: “there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so”.

•Greek Sophists thought that “since nothing can be perceived except through the senses –and since all individuals sense, and therefore perceive things differently –there is no absolute truth, only relative truth”.

Relativist

•The best sample of existentialism is showed in the “to be or not to be” speech.

•Hamlet associates “being” to life and action, and “not being” to death and inaction.

Existentialist

“To be, or not to be, that is the question”.Hamlet by William Shakespeare