Hamlet

Shakespeare's characters tend to bother me almost every time I read one of his plays. Hamlet was not an exception to this annoyance. First of all, I don't understand why he couldn't just believe his father's ghost and kill Claudius. Not only does the ghosts story make sense, but Hamlet was already opposed to the marriage between Claudius and Gertrude. He had an easy way to end the marriage and most likely take the thrown, which he should have been given in the first place. Second, he seemed to be leading on Ophelia the entire time. He was rude to her one minute and then jumping in her grave the next. He probably just had a desire to be over dramatic and didn't actually care for Ophelia during her life. Also, he could have realized that he made a mistake in not pursuing Ophelia and he was upset he wouldn't ever be given that chance. After Laertes and Hamlet got into a small fight in the graveyard, Claudius bet on Hamlet in a duel against Laertes. Is that not a red flag at all? Hamlet knew that Claudius tried to have him murdered in England and that Laertes was upset over his father and sister's deaths. He was walking into a death trap from the beginning. Hamlet was a coward who lacked both ambition and common sense. He couldn't kill Claudius, he couldn't love Ophelia properly, and he didn't realize that he would most likely die if he went into a duel against Laertes. Horatio is the only person in the entire play that actually liked Hamlet and trusted him. Even his own mother doubted Hamlet and believed that he was insane. I don't know if he was insane or if he faked it, but I do know that if it was fake then it was very convincing.