Rating of Characters of Hamlet from Most Loving to Least Loving

The character in Hamlet most devoted to love is outstandingly Ophelia, who ultimately goes mad and possibly commits suicide due to love. After Hamlet frightens her away with his madness and her father is murdered, Ophelia becomes delusional and sings of lost love. Her love is uncompromised, for she displays no ulterior motives for her despair.

Laertes follows behind his sister due to his undivided love for his family. His singular goal of revenge in the end of the play and his rage and distress over the deaths of his father and Ophelia demonstrate that his love for them is not only strong, but uncompromised. He, unlike other characters, does not follow motives that are selfish, but instead follows pursuits, such as fencing with Hamlet, that are for the purpose of avenging his family.

Polonius follows his children in terms of being loving. He, like Laertes and Ophelia, has strong concerns for his family. However, his love is marred slightly by his mistrust for his children. He orders Ophelia not to see Hamlet, and also sends someone to spy on his son as he questions Laertes morals. Nevertheless, I believe his love is stronger than the love that Gertrude and Claudius’ love for each other or Hamlet’s love for his late father and family because unlike the remaining characters, Polonius’ love is not heavily clouded by ulterior motives.

Gertrude follows Polonius because though she apparently loves both Claudius and Hamlet, her love for the two is split. Her loyalties and love towards Claudius and Hamlet are divided: she disguises Hamlet’s threats from Claudius as a form of protecting her son, however, she also alerts Claudius to Hamlets’ murdering, betraying her son to her husband.

Claudius is one of the least loving characters in the play, not only because he murders his brother, but because he marries Gertrude not merely for love, but for ambition and status. Claudius is self-centered and consumed by guilt and fear that someone will discover him and shows little or no concern when he discovers Ophelia’s madness and death. Instead, he worries that her death will disrupt his and Laertes’ plans to murder Hamlet. Claudius, due to his self-absorption and lack of concern for others, barely loves. Nonetheless, his love is redeemed slightly by his small amount of love for Gertrude.

Hamlet is the least loving of all the characters despite his apparent concern for his mother and dead father’s ghost because of his lack of consideration of his loved ones during his madness and actions. He frightens his mother and Ophelia and friends in his madness and he does not consider forgiveness of Claudius despite doubts he has about the validity of the ghost.