Likening his approach to that of a field anthropologist conducting a long-term study of a single society, States explores the nature of dramatic character by examining the inhabitants of one of the world's best-known plays. In the first part of "Hamlet" and the Concept of Character, States lays the theoretical groundwork by exploring such topics as the relationship of character change to character persistence; the theory of traits; the interplay between character and environment; and the problem of the humors and their obvious connection to Hamlet. The second part examines the significance of the major characters of the play (King Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, Laertes, Ophelia, and Horatio) in the formation of the Hamlet "mystery."