Hamlet's perspective is that of a victim. He sees himself as a victim of Claudius's actions, suffering in pain and agony as a direct result of those machinations. He thinks all his vengeful actions are justified because Claudius did it first.

Relationship with Claudius: Hamlet hates Claudius for what he did to his father and his mother, and for his deception and lies. Shakespeare uses Hamlet's bouts of introspection to reveal how much he really hates Claudius and blames him for all his problems.

Relationship with Polonius: Hamlet dislikes Polonius for his gullibility and plays lots of word games with him to assert his superior wit and authority. He also dislikes Polonius for the fact that he is loyal to Claudius; at the end, he doesn't hesitate to kill Polonius for that.

Relationship with Laertes: Hamlet and Laertes have been played by Claudius to hate each other, and that's why they seem to hate each other at first. However, they realize that they have no intrinsic reason to hate each other at the very end.

Our expectations for Hamlet are that he will seek to avenge his father by killing Claudius, as that is his main goal throughout the play.

Polonius's perspective is that of a social climber who will do whatever it takes to get into the king's good graces, but he's not very cunning. He often fumbles his attempts at currying favor with Claudius, Gertrude, and Hamlet.

We expect Polonius to carry out Claudius's instructions to the T, however morally ambiguous they may be. He would die for Claudius to prove his loyalty--and he does.

Relationship with Claudius: Polonius sees himself as Claudius's right-hand man. He does everything that Claudius orders him to do, and he ultimately dies in Claudius's service.

Relationship with Laertes: Polonius has high expectations for his son and over-advises him, even going so far as to send Reynaldo to spy on his activities while he is abroad.

Relationship with Hamlet: Polonius is deferential to every word that Hamlet says in recognition of Hamlet's status as the prince and heir to the throne. He is against Hamlet due to his loyalty to Claudius, but he is no match for Hamlet's wit and cunning.

Relationship with Polonius: Polonius is Claudius's right-hand man, who does a lot of the work required for Claudius to maintain his power. However, Claudius does not really care for Polonius as a person. To him, Polonius is just a useful tool.

Relationship with Laertes: To Claudius, Laertes is just a pawn to be used against Hamlet. Claudius uses Polonius's death and Ophelia's madness to pit him against Hamlet, even though Claudius is the real mastermind behind the entire plot.

Relationship with Hamlet: Claudius knows he has wronged Hamlet greatly by killing his father, marrying his mother, and usurping the throne that is Hamlet's by right. He tries to get into Hamlet's good graces, but when that fails and it becomes clear that Hamlet means to harm him, he tries to kill Hamlet to get rid of the threat that he poses.

Hamlet experiences a great deal of internal change over the course of the play. For one, he loses his fear of death: in the beginning, that fear was so crippling that it stopped him from committing suicide, but by the end, he has come to terms with death. He also undergoes a moral change in that he is more willing to overlook his own crimes. Hamlet has an acute sense of right and wrong that is associated with what religion has taught him, but he increasingly disregards that sense and justifies his crimes of murder and deception with the excuse that he is trying to get revenge on another murderer, Claudius.

The most significant epiphany that Hamlet experienced was his realization that his inaction was inexcusable. He saw Fortinbras and his men, who were willing to fight and die for a paltry piece of land, and compared their attitude to his own unwillingness to act on a justified cause. He resolves to stop doing nothing in the face of Claudius's clear treachery and decides to take further action to kill him.

Hamlet's grief for his father and outrage at his mother's marriage creates an expectation that he will be wholly driven by his desire to make things right again, and he fulfills that expectation. Having been informed by the ghost that Claudius murdered his father for his crown and his queen, Hamlet's realigns his entire life to get revenge on Claudius. He murders, lies, and breaks people's hearts with little remorse, all for the sake of getting revenge. This contributes to our understanding of the story by characterizing Hamlet as someone who will do whatever it takes—including sacrificing his morals—to achieve his ends.

Polonius does not change a great deal over the course of the play. He is Claudius's man to the end: loyal to the cause of catching out Hamlet in his plotting and ever-ready to report back to the king. He remains driven by his social climbing and his desire to curry favor with the royal family.

The most sudden change that Polonius experienced was his realization that Hamlet might be in love with Ophelia. After she told him how he was acting mad in her room, Polonius comes to the conclusion that having Ophelia cut off contact with the prince might be the cause of his madness, and he immediately finds a way to convince the king and queen of his theory—and hopefully wed Ophelia to Hamlet.

Polonius fulfills the expectation that he will be completely loyal to Claudius's and Gertrude's cause, even to the point of shame or death. He carries out many of their commands when they want to spy on Hamlet, which eventually leads to his death when Hamlet stabs him through a curtain he is hiding behind to eavesdrop on his conversation with Gertrude.

Claudius's behavior reflects his inner thoughts, which are extremely manipulative; every word is designed to convince other people of his righteousness. This contributes to the story by helping the audience realize that Claudius seldom means what he says. His actions are calculated to achieve a certain goal, and he is very good at using deceptions and lies to do so.

The most significant epiphany that Laertes experienced was his realization that he and Hamlet have both been played by Claudius. He thought Hamlet was to blame for both his father's death and Ophelia's madness. While that is partially true, Laertes realizes Claudius was pulling their strings all along when the foils are switched and both Hamlet and Laertes are wounded by the poisoned sword. He sees that Claudius manipulated their lives and reconciles with Hamlet before he dies, asserting that neither he nor Hamlet are to blame for each other's deaths.

Laertes fulfills our expectation that he will immediately jump to action when faced with the death of his father and the madness of his sister. In his rage, he immediately acquiesces to Claudius's plan to kill Hamlet, who he believes is responsible for his family'r ruin, and even adds to the plot by proposing to poison his sword. This adds to readers' understanding of the story by helping them see that Claudius is using Laertes's impulsivity and emotion to fulfill his own ends, i.e. killing Hamlet.