Characters in Hamlet Characters in Hamlet What follows is an overview of the main characters in William Shakespeare's "Hamlet", followed by a list and summary of the minor characters from the play. Three different early versions of the play survive: known as the First Quarto ("Q1"), Second Quarto ("Q2"), and First Folio ("F1"), each has lines—and even scenes—missing in the others, and some character names vary. Marcellus, Bernardo (or Barnardo) and Francisco are sentries at Elsinore. Francisco gives up his watch to Bernardo in the opening of the play, and it is Bernardo and Marcellus, who first alert Horatio to the appearance of
Characters of Shakespear's Plays weakness is made to undermine his strength. Hazlitt often focuses, as well, on specific traits by comparing the characters not to those of real life but to characters in Shakespeare's other plays, comparing, for example, Iago with Edmund in "King Lear". His interest in the art of drama emerges even more obviously when he compares Iago with the villainous character Zanga in Edward Young's "The Revenge" (1721), still a popular play in Hazlitt's day. For Hazlitt, "Othello" is especially notable for the interplay between the characters, and the way Shakespeare communicates the slow and gradual "movement of passion [...] the