Characters in Hamlet

[7] He is the courtier sent by Claudius to invite Hamlet to participate in the duel with Laertes.

Osric, as well as Polonius, attempts to engage with Hamlet in the elaborate, witty discourse, fully consistent with Baldassare Castiglione's 1528 work, The Courtier.

This work outlines several courtly rules, specifically advising royal retainers to amuse their masters with inventive language.

[10] This role was traditionally performed by a man, as were all the female parts in Hamlet, since women did not appear on stage in Elizabethan times.

Plays the role similar to Claudius and kills the king by pouring poison into his ear.

[13] He officiates at Ophelia's funeral, and does not give her full Christian burial rites, since the church suspects her death was suicide.

Called a "Priest" in the First Folio edition of "Hamlet," his speech prefix in the Second Quarto is "Doct" for Doctor of Divinity, a Protestant clergyman.

Thus, the two original "good" printings of the play are in disagreement whether the clergyman is Protestant or Catholic.