Similarities Between Hamlet And Horatio

Friendship is not always having the same personalities. William Shakespeare often portrays complicated friendship in his plays. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, he portrays two friends with opposite personalities but completes each other’s lacking qualities. Hamlet and Horatio are good friends. From being childhood friends to becoming an adult, they remained loyal to each other. Although with almost similar upbringing, Hamlet and Horatio are both intelligent and loyal to each other, they have their own views and attitudes that contrast to one another. Such as, Hamlet tends to be more emotional while Horatio tends to be more logical in terms of thinking, and when entraps in a difficult situation; Hamlet acts impulsively while Horatio remains mostly calm. In spite of
As for Horatio, he remains very loyal to Hamlet; he is there to support him in all the decisions, even in times of distress. For example, when Hamlet is dying at the end of the play, Horatio offers to also kill himself to show his love to Hamlet. However, Hamlet advised him to live to tell the story, so he does that. Indeed, Hamlet and Horatio’s loyalty for one another is a true form of friendship.
In spite of the similarities, Hamlet and Horatio has characteristics that are in contrast to one another. Hamlet tends to react aggressively when in a difficult situation while Horatio stays calmly. For example, on Act III, Scene I, Hamlet let his emotions overpower his actions. He became aggressive towards Ophelia when he finds out that she is the daughter of Laertes. He says,
“If thou dost marry, I’ll give thee this plague for thy dowry. Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a nunnery, go. Farewell. Or, if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool, for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them. To a nunnery, go, and quickly too.