Hamlet is surely one of the most complex and well analyzed
characters in literature. To describe him in two or three words is challenging, but
consider these. He is conflicted, introspective, and
melancholy.
Hamlet is a very conflicted character. He loves
Ophelia, but must push her away from him--for her welfare as well as his own, as he
tries to determine the truth of his father's death. In regard to avenging Old Hamlet's
death, Hamlet is conflicted between performing his duty as his father's son (exacting a
revenge killing) and actually committing the violent
act.
Hamlet is intensely introspective. He continually
examines his own life, his thoughts, his actions, and his motivations for those actions.
He tries to rationalize his actions or inaction, but he also condemns them, and
himself.
Hamlet is indeed the melancholy Dane. Sadness
permeates almost every thought. He is surrounded by death and obsessed with the idea of
death. His famous speech in the graveyard as he holds the skull exemplifies
this.
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