Importance of Minor Characters in Shakespear Essay

In the important plot of Shakespeares famous operate village, small(a) towns father, the king, is murdered, and as a result, village swears visit and ultimately succumbs to madness. Hamlet plays the role of the protagonist, while his uncle, Claudius, serves as the antagonist of the story. Besides the two main characters, there are a number of secondary characters, of unusual importance both to the action and to the themes of the play. some of the themes of the play, including decay and corruption, punish, and look vs. eality, are outlined by dint of the description and progression of the secondary characters. Shakespeare creates minor characters Ophelia, the apparition and Polonius to play a very of the essence(p) role in Hamlet as they shape the thematic elements of the play. The character of Ophelia plays the role of Hamlets love interest and is easily manipulated by her family portraying assorted themes of the play through her actions and behaviour. At the onset of the play Ophelia appears to have her wits about her, with the ability to be objective and coherent when she recognizes the mad behaviour of Hamlet.In act 3 scene 1 during a contentious conversation between Ophelia and Hamlet, he expresses his disgust with Ophelia and women in general, insisting that it hath made me mad. Ophelia is equal to identify the frantic behaviour of Hamlet proclaiming oh what a noble mind is here oerthrown Although Ophelia is of safe mind during this portion of the play, she quickly spirals out of control, losing her mind as a result of the murder of her father.Ophelias insanity is witnessed during act 4 scene 5 when she proceeds to sing everything she says How can you tell the variance between you square lover and some other? Ophelias madness is also described by Horatio when he tells the queen she is importunate, indeed distract says she hears theres tricks I th world, and hems, and beats her heart, spurns avariciously at straws, speaks things in doubt t hat carry but hald sense. The tragic downfall of Ophelia depicted in the play illustrates the theme of decay and corruption. The phantasma of Hamlets dead father, King Hamlet, drives Hamlets determination to avenge his father, setting the revenge plot into motion, a major theme in the play.Upon Hamlet and the ghosts first meeting, he informs Hamlet of his fathers horrible murder by Claudius, encouraging him to avenge the king revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. Before even explaining to Hamlet the details of the murder Hamlet insists haste me to knowt, that I, with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love, may mat my revenge, driving the action of the play forward and initiating the theme. Although Hamlet swears to get revenge quickly his procrastination and uncertainty prevents him from achieving his goal.When Hamlet begins to veer away from his attempt to kill Claudius, obsessing over his mothers behaviour, the ghost returns to remind him of his true purpose d o not forget. This visitation is but to whet thy almost greyed purpose. The ghost is a constant reminder throughout the play of the theme of revenge, encouraging Hamlet to avenge his father. At the beginning of Hamlet, Polonius is introduced as the father of Laertes and Ophelia and is later revealed to illustrate the theme of appearance vs. reality. Polonius has the appearance of a well natured wise old man yet in reality he is a poor excuse for a man whos obsessed with self gain.Polonius enjoys giving advice, including this above all to thine ownself be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any(prenominal) man, insisting that if you are true to yourself, you cannot deceive anyone else. In reality, Polonius is in no position to be preaching about honesty and truthfulness, due to his shady behaviour spying on his children and Hamlet. Polonius presents himself as a very caring father, concerned about his children however, in an attempt to kee p an eye on his son, Laertes, he does not consider the possible repercussions of his plan.Polonius instructs his servant to spread rumors about his son, in the hopes of possibly discovering Laertess true behavior, disregarding Reynaldos protest that that would dishonour him Due to his constant use of subterfuge, the character Polonius is one of the plays best examples of the major theme of appearance vs. reality. It is uncommon in pieces of literature for secondary characters to be of such importance, both to the action and to the themes, as they are in Hamlet.The themes of the play, including decay and corruption, revenge, and appearance vs. reality, are highlighted through the description and progression of the secondary characters. Shakespeare creates minor characters Ophelia, the ghost and Polonius with the intention for them to play a very crucial role in Hamlet shaping the thematic elements of the play. Secondary characters are often used in a play to supplement the main char acters and the story line however Shakespeare creates them with a much great importance to reveal the themes of the play.