The character of Hamlet is evidently designed by its illustrious author as a picture of an amiable prince, an affectionate son, a fast friend, and a fine gentleman. Yet in no one of these respects is it by any means intitled to our approbation. From the beginning of the play till his killing the king at the end of the fifth act we find him irresolute, unnatural, inconstant, melancholy and brutal. That Hamlet’s character, thus formed by nature, and thus modelled by situation, is often variable and uncertain. I will content myself with the supposition that this is the very character which Shakespeare meant to allot him.
