Hamlet and Beowulf are both very different characters for many different reasons. Although none differentiates the two better than their use of language. Beowulf doesn't think through his actions or his thoughts out loud. Instead he tells us what he is going to do without pausing to think of the effects of his actions or what might happen after they are executed. Hamlet on the other hand talk to himself about everything. He goes over things time and time again out loud and allows himself to self overhear. He thinks about both the good and bad sides of his actions.
Beowulf uses his language to tell us what he is going to do. He explains his actions but doesn't use his language to talk things through. This in no way implies that he doesn't think about his actions before hand, it simply means that all of his thinking and processing is worked out in his hand. "This fiend is a bold and famous fighter, but his claws and teeth... beating at my sword blade, would be helpless. I will meet him with my hands empty--unless his heart fails him, seeing a soldier waiting weaponless, unafraid. Let God in His wisdom extend His hand where He wills, reward whom he chooses!" Beowulf uses his language more for the benefit of others rather then his own benefit. He uses language and words to motivate others and encourage them rather then work out his problems and ideas.
Hamlet is the complete opposite of Beowulf. Hamlet uses language mainly to think about his actions, ideas, and problems out loud. By doing this Hamlet allows himself to self overhear and as a result come away with a better understanding of his own thoughts. Hamlet uses language almost exclusively for himself and his own benefit. He looks at situations from all different angles and allows himself to see different viewpoints of the same issue. "To sleep--perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub, For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause." Through this method of self overhearing (listing to your own thoughts out loud) Hamlet not only allows himself a deeper understanding but also allows us as readers to better understand and interpret how he thinks. Without this valuable insight, our understanding of Hamlet as a character would be drastically altered.
Hamlet's character is one that is defined because of the way he uses language to think. Beowulf on the other hand has his language and thought process defined for him because of the kind of character that he is. We learn about Hamlet through his countless soliloquies and the way that he uses self overhearing to learn about his own thoughts. "But that the dread of something after death, The undiscovered country, from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all..." On the other hand, because Beowulf was created to be an epic hero, he had to posses those qualities known to and expected of such a character. So as a result, Beowulf doesn't self overhear or talk out his thoughts. He uses language simply to describe his thoughts and convey them to others. Both are valid ways of using language but because they are so different, they shape the characters in drastically different ways.
Hamlet and Beowulf are characters that use language in very different ways. Hamlet uses language to deeply think things through and analyze them. Where as Beowulf uses language to convey messages after having previously thought them through in his head. Because of the differences in the way that the characters use language, we end up with two completely different characters with two completely different ways of thinking.
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