Hamlet: one of the most analyzed tragic heroes in all of literature. Hamlet, the main character of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, is conflicted throughout the entire play. He is obsessed with wanting to avenge his father's death, and this leads him to reckless and irresponsible actions that make others suffer too. He plans to kill Claudius, his uncle, for killing his father and then marrying his mother. In an act of outrage, Hamlet instead unknowingly kills Polonius, the king's attendant. This creates even more problems because now someone else's father is dead. Hamlet is a somewhat inconsistent character; it's different almost every time we see it. Hamlet displays characteristics of depression, irony, shyness, and hurt. Hamlet shows serious signs of depression from the beginning to the end of the play. We immediately see him mourning the death of his father. Through subsequent dialogue with her mother, it is evident that she thought highly of her father and his leadership. As if her father's death wasn't hard enough to deal with, her mother, Gertrude, marries her brother-in-law, Claudius, less than two months after her husband's death. It doesn't help that his uncle Claudius, after becoming the new king, essentially calls him a crybaby for mourning his father's death: It is sweet and praiseworthy in your nature, Hamlet, to give these mourning duties to your father: but you must know, your father has lost a father, that father has lost, he has lost his, and the survivor is obliged in filial obligation for some time to make obsequious sorrow: but to persevere in obstinate condolences is a conduct of impious stubbornness, it is a sorrow unmanly; shows a very incorrect will towards heaven… (Meyer 1611)A typical period of mourning during this period of time……half of the paper……and it is different. His death only exemplifies his role as a tragic hero. Hamlet shows signs of depression, irony, shyness and being hurt. Works Cited Bloom, Harold. Hamlet. New York: Chelsea House, 1990."Hamlet." Shakespearean criticism. Ed. Michelle Lee. vol. 92. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Network. April 5, 2014.Lennard, Giovanni. William Shakespeare: Hamlet. Penrith: Humanities-Ebooks, 2007.Mabillard, Amanda. Shakespeare online. Np, 2014. Web. April 2, 2014. Meyer, Michael. Bedford's introduction to literature: reading, thinking, writing. 10th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin. 2013. Print.O'Neill, William. "Doing and Acting in Hamlet." The Midwest Quarterly 53.2 (2012): 121+. Literary Resource Center. Network. 8 April 2014. Shmoop editorial team. “Hamlet in Hamlet”. Schmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., November 11, 2008. Web. April 10 2014.