Horatio's Relationship with Hamlet

In Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, we find a very interesting relationship between the main character, Hamlet, and a character with a more minor part, Horatio. While parts don’t share the same magnitude, the relationship between the two friends is one of the most enlightening pieces of the play. This relationship serves, what can be said as, a dual purpose. Primarily, Horatio is the bearer of truth, from where the audience can come to see what is and what is not. Horatio’s next purpose is to give us insight into the mind of Hamlet, being his one true friend to whom he shares his most intimate thoughts. These two key roles not only reveal the reality of the play, but more importantly they reveal the character of Hamlet and how he perceives this reality. This friendship, with its constant use of foiling, serves as arguably the most important relationship in the entire play. From the very beginning of the play, Horatio is identified as the objective and critical voice of the play. We see this when the two guards, Marcellus and Bernardo, call Horatio in order to validate the ghost and even to question its true purpose. It is by this validation that we, the audience, are able to believe that there is actually a ghost and that Hamlet’s vision is no delusion. This initial show of Horatio’s reason, which is exemplified by his actions throughout the play, is the paradigm from where the audience finds the truth of the situation. This is essential in examining Hamlet