In William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, the protagonist undergoes many different character traits that develop throughout the play. Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, is the son of King Hamlet who is murdered before the play begins. Prince Hamlet's mother Gertrude, the Queen of Denmark, moves on with her life very quickly after her husband is killed. She gets remarried to no other than her brother-in-law, Claudius the very next day. In the beginning of the play, Hamlet receives a visit from a ghost that is perceived to be Hamlet's dead father. This ghost then tells Hamlet that his new stepfather, Claudius killed King Hamlet. The rest of the play is Prince Hamlet seeking revenge upon King Claudius for killing his father. .
In the beginning of the play, Hamlet is very emotional at the fact that his father was just killed. In this matter, when he was visited by the ghost that claimed he was Hamlet's father; he supressed those feelings of emotion because he didn't think this ghost was actually real due to mental state he was in after losing a parent. Hamlet says "Let me not burst in ignorance; but tell Why thy canoniz'd bones, hearsed in death, Have burst their cerements (1.4.46-48). He has become confused on the appearance of this ghost. He knows that such thing is not real but his emotions are making him believe it. While his encounter with the ghost, he tells Prince Hamlet he needs to seek revenge on Claudius because he is in fact the one who poured poison into his ear to kill him. The ghost of his father is the catalyst to Hamlet's anger and want for revenge. Hamlet is angry that his mother has, in a way, forgotten about his father by moving on so quickly. He now realizes that his uncle was the one who killed his father and this fuels the fire of fury. .
As Hamlet's character develops, he fakes madness in order to learn the truth about his father's death. In doing this Hamlet loses sight of who he actually is.
