Essay On Hamlet And Fortinbras

Hamlet is a tragedy that takes place in Denmark. The play is based on the myth of Amlet and retold by the great William Shakespeare. Hamlet is a world renown and thought provoking play that captivates its audience as it follows the struggle of a doubtful and temperamental prince to avenge the death of his father who has been murdered and replaced by his uncle Claudius. The captivation of the play can be attributed to the protagonist of the Hamlet and his two foils Laertes and Fortinbras. It is not common for the prestige of “Hamlet” to be partly attributed to characters with such small roles. The prevalent presence of Fortinbras and Laertes is no accident, it is something executed byWilliam Shakespeare so that we may learn more about Hamlet. Without Laertes and Fortinbras we wouldn't have any reasonable characters to compare Hamlet to. In Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras act as Hamlet’s foils. In a story the foil is a character who is superficially similar to the main character but differs by significant character traits. These similarities and differences are what accentuate main character. Hamlet, Fortinbras, and Laertes have a lot in common when it comes to the situations that they find themselves and how they initially intend to respond to those situations. Be that as it may, each of these “avenging” sons sees their situation in a different light and attempt to avenge their fathers in different fashions. The foils similarities and differences are used by William Shakespeare to highlight the potential paths Hamlet could have taken on his crusade for revenge.

Following the death of King Hamlet, Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother and Queen of Denark marries Claudius; the younger brother of the departed King Hamlet. Claudius address the ...

... middle of paper ...

...Hamlet is slow to action, but quite rational. Laertes is quick to action, but irrational. Fortinbras however, is both quick and rational. Shakespeare uses Laertes and Fortinbras to show both how Hamlet could have gone about his situation differently, but also what characteristics he finds as admirable and exemplary. In the end of the play, both Hamlet and Laertes are dead. Laertes dies because he was irrational and Hamlet because he was slow to act. Only when rational thought was combined with quick action did any character live to tell about it. While Fortinbras becomes the King of Denmark and accomplishes his goals, it must not be overlooked that both Hamlet and Laertes avenged their father's murders. Shakespeare shows through these foils that while he admires both rational thinking and quick action, it is the combination of the two virtues which leads to success.