Who is Hamlet?

One must ask when reading the play Hamlet, who is Hamlet? Is he the villain or the good guy? Is he a tragic hero? Is he mad? Unfortunately, the play allows each reader to develop its own opinion. Therefore, I will be speaking about my opinion regarding Hamlet’s identity. I believe that Hamlet is intellectual, cunning, condescending, morally judgmental, immature, and crazy. I know my interpretation is extremely negative but I can’t help feel that Hamlet is very misguided. I admit that he will always be the smartest guy in the room but he doesn’t need to be so pompous. For instance, he boldly makes the statement, “frailty, thy name is woman” which is directed to his own mother and other women in general (11). Who is he to judge the whole woman population? He acts like a moral judge which can also be interpreted as Hamlet thinking that he is God. God is known to be the moral judge of humanity not a Denmark prince. Also, I thought it was presumptuous for Hamlet to lecture on the players regarding acting. He states that certain players “imitated humanity so abominably” which is pretty ironic (58). Hamlet is the one who is on the mission of acting crazy. In other words, he is like an actor too because he conceals his true self. Hamlet is lying to himself and eventually becomes consumed by this act. Apparently, he is pretending to be “mad” but I actually think that he is legitimately mad. For instance, he makes this sinister statement, “his soul may be as damn’d and black” which is about his decision to damn Claudius into hell (71). His plan to kill the King at a moment of vulnerability seems sinister and cruel. Moreover, he seems mad when he ominously states “O, from this time forth,/ My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth” (86). He is willing to become violent to fulfill his supposed destiny. (Killing Polonius was not part of the revenge plan he had.) Lastly, I think that Hamlet is immature and stubborn. He was so rude and callous during the play at Act III. He relentlessly insulted Ophelia by making vulgar statements that obviously hurt her deeply. (We must remember that they had just recently broken up.) Hamlet seems to take advantage of their breakup to torture Ophelia. He was probably upset with Ophelia because she was not “honest” and “fair” to him (54). Like a child, he insults Ophelia by making these statements that allude to their past relationship. I just cannot bring myself to respect Hamlet because he is inconsiderate and impolite. After he learns of his father’s murder, he becomes so bitter, emotionally driven, and crazy. What if the ghost of Hamlet’s father was actually the devil? The ghost drove him to take extreme measures which might damn him to hell. Could Hamlet have been saved if the ghost had not appeared? Regardless of my opinion of Hamlet, I do believe that he has the right to avenge his father’s death but I would recommend a revenge employing the justice system.