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Let's type Hamlet!

corey_vann

New member
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
Messages
153
MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
8sx
I've been reading Hamlet in my English class. At the beginning of the story I had him pegged as an XXFX, but after further reading I'm pretty convinced he is a XXTX. Has anyone ever typed Hamlet before, or anyother characters in the play?
 

Haphazard

Don't Judge Me!
Joined
Apr 14, 2008
Messages
6,704
MBTI Type
ENFJ
The problem with typing characters in plays is that it very much depends on how the character is acted. Otherwise, all you have is just their words.
 

Litvyak

No Cigar
Joined
Oct 5, 2008
Messages
1,822
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
DEFINITELY an INFP in the original piece.
Perhaps INTJ in R&G.
 

Litvyak

No Cigar
Joined
Oct 5, 2008
Messages
1,822
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are dead by Stoppard.
 

neptunesnet

man-made
Joined
Sep 5, 2009
Messages
1,228
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
5&4
Instinctual Variant
sx
Watch the way Kenneth Branagh plays him.


INFP.
 

Sidewinder

New member
Joined
Jun 23, 2009
Messages
85
MBTI Type
ISFP
I've always thought of him as INTP. I think we all agree on I and N.

He's very analytical, but he's always refining his plan and drawing new connections between different events. So he overthinks and doesn't get anything done. I think an INFP would be more in control of their internal principles and feelings; Hamlet jumps all over the place.

Isn't fencing a very INTP sport, too?
 

Litvyak

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Isn't fencing a very INTP sport, too?

Lol.
INP is pretty clear. If anybody tells me that Hamlet is judgemental and is able to decide quickly, he/she is either blind or illiterate.
 

Sidewinder

New member
Joined
Jun 23, 2009
Messages
85
MBTI Type
ISFP
I know several INTPs who like to fence, so it must have a strong strategy component. More T than F in any case.

Hamlet is judgmental at times, the way he judges his mother for her remarriage, for example. But overall, he's not really a J.
 

Litvyak

No Cigar
Joined
Oct 5, 2008
Messages
1,822
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sx/sp
I know several INTPs who like to fence, so it must have a strong strategy component. More T than F in any case.

No, this has nothing to do with T and F, it's an overcomplication of the personality theory.

T = preference: decisions based on logic and facts
F = preference: decisions based on values and emotions

That's pretty much it. I lol'd at the fact that he couldn't really choose sqash or dodgeball to revenge his father's death, right? This is hardly a determining factor.

Hamlet is judgmental at times, the way he judges his mother for her remarriage, for example. But overall, he's not really a J.

Every human being is judgmental at times, what's your point? The P traits are pretty clear.
 

Sidewinder

New member
Joined
Jun 23, 2009
Messages
85
MBTI Type
ISFP
Every human being is judgmental at times, what's your point? The P traits are pretty clear.

Yes, that's what I said. You seemed to imply I was an idiot because I said "I think we all agree on I and N" rather than "I think we all agree on I and N and P". I was clarifying my original point by stating some readers may see him jumping to judgments (and so might see him as INFJ, for example), but I also think the P traits are far more apparent.
 

Venom

Babylon Candle
Joined
Feb 10, 2008
Messages
2,126
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
1w9
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
Well socionics literally "named" the EIE (ENFj) type as "Hamlet" (I think Jack London is the ENTj etc...). Granted, there isnt a conversion (even for Extroverts). However, it does make you wonder.

ENFJs are the most choleric Fs...this might make them appear T-ish sometimes. They also are probably the more unorganized Js.
 

hokie912

New member
Joined
Feb 10, 2009
Messages
271
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
9w1
I think it depends heavily on the actor's interpretation. I've seen Hamlets I'd type as ISFP and others that seem ENFP.
 

lunalum

Super Senior Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2008
Messages
2,706
MBTI Type
ZNTP
Enneagram
7w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
Hamlet is a classic INxP of some sort. To be INFP or INTP, that is the question...
 

Logical Artist

New member
Joined
Jun 14, 2012
Messages
11
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
5w4
I see this post has been inactive for a while, but I was reading Hamlet the day before yesterday, and I was curious to see if my intuitions about his type were correct. However, these arguments don't make any sense to me. I would type him as either infj or enfj.

It seems clear to me that he is using extraverted feeling and introverted thinking as judging functions throughout the play. His anger is not just about his uncle killing his father, but also his moral judgment about his mother's relationship with his uncle. Someone claimed that Hamlet is indecisive and not able to make decisions quickly, but that is not true for these moral judgements.

His outward feeling judgements seem to be tempered by his introverted thinking judgements, which explains his apparent indecisiveness. He did not spontaneously decide to kill his uncle, but rather he planned it out, demanding conclusive evidence of his guilt before taking action.

I would then further argue that he is an introvert:
O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a
king of infinite space—were it not that I have bad dreams.

Also, Polonius mentioned that Hamlet often spent hours pacing in the room where they planned to observe his interaction with Ophelia to determine the cause of his madness.

Also remember that Hamlet is under a lot of psychological stress, explaining his subversive extraversion throughout the play.

Based on this, my first choice would be infj, and second enfj.
 

Logical Artist

New member
Joined
Jun 14, 2012
Messages
11
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
5w4
I have to retract my argument. I read more about Fi, and how it compares the current feelings to the ideal, and I realize my argument was off base. I'm pretty sure he's an INFP now.
 
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