Prince Hamlet
Prince Hamlet is the protagonist of Shakespeare's tragedy *Hamlet*, a Danish prince who feigns madness while seeking to avenge his father's murder by his uncle.
The character has become a cultural touchstone for brooding indecision and philosophical paralysis: He's being such a Hamlet about whether to take the job.
To play Hamlet or be Hamlet suggests overthinking to the point of inaction.
- DenmarkScandinavian constitutional monarchy
- OpheliaGreek name meaning help
- ghostApparition of the dead
- revengePunishing a wrongdoer
- GertrudeTraditional German feminine name
madness · skull · soliloquy · tragic hero · Elsinore · tragedy · melancholy · dagger · Horatio · throne · betrayal · poison · gravedigger · Yorick · indecision · mourning · feigned · rapier
- literary royaltyKing Lear, Macbeth, King Arthur, Claudius, Richard III
- nobilityking, queen, duke, duchess, baron
Prince HamletFortinbras
Norwegian prince claimant
Laertes · Macbeth · Coriolanus · Tybalt · Achilles
prince, princes, princely, princess, princesses, principal, principality, principle, principles