Characters in Hamlet He is the courtier sent by Claudius to invite Hamlet to participate in the duel with Laertes. (This character is called "Ostricke" in the Second Quarto.) Osric, as well as Polonius, attempts to engage with Hamlet in the elaborate, witty discourse, fully consistent with Baldassare Castiglione's 1528 work, "The Courtier". This work outlines several courtly rules, specifically advising royal retainers to amuse their masters with inventive language. The Players are a company of actors who arrive at Elsinore Castle. Friends of Hamlet, they had earlier performed in "the city" (presumably Copenhagen), but faced stiff competition from boy performers, so they
Hamlet (Thomas) nervous character by the use of dotted-note rhythms, a chromatic melody line, and high-range woodwind instruments. The excerpt below ends with 3 bars of florid solo flute music which foreshadows Ophélie's coloratura singing later in the opera. She is worried that Hamlet's grief will blight their happiness (Ophélie: "Hélas! votre âme" – "Alas! your soul") and is concerned that, since Claudius has given Hamlet permission to leave, Hamlet will flee the court. Hamlet protests he cannot make promises of love one day, only to forget them the next. His heart is not that of a woman. Ophélie is distraught at