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 (1907 film) Méliès also dabbled in Shakespeare in his 1905 film "The Venetian Looking-Glass", which incorporates the character of Shylock from "The Merchant of Venice". However, these earlier films had merely borrowed elements from Shakespearean works; by contrast, Méliès's 1907 version of "Hamlet" was a true Shakespearean adaptation. Méliès himself played Hamlet. Special effects used in the film included multiple exposures. The film was the first multi-scene cinematic adaptation of any work by Shakespeare. Later in 1907, Méliès made his last Shakespearean film, "Shakespeare Writing "Julius Caesar"", in which Méliès played Shakespeare himself. "Hamlet" was released by Méliès's Star Film Company, and