ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Prince Hamlet is the title character and protagonist of William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet (1599–1601). He is the Prince of Denmark, nephew to the usurping Claudius, and son of King Hamlet, the previous King of Denmark.

Detailed explanation-2: -English adopted “hamlet” in the 1300s from Old French, where hamelet was a diminutive of hamel (village), according to the Chambers Dictionary of Etymology. Chambers notes that hamel itself was a diminutive of ham, a word for home in many old Germanic languages, including Old English.

Detailed explanation-3: -Hamlet is melancholy, bitter, and cynical, full of hatred for his uncle’s scheming and disgust for his mother’s sexuality. A reflective and thoughtful young man who has studied at the University of Wittenberg, Hamlet is often indecisive and hesitant, but at other times prone to rash and impulsive acts.