Foils In Hamlet

The tragic play “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” has been William Shakespeare’s most outstanding play for centuries. It was originally performed in 1602 in the Globe theatre in England among many audiences. The play occurs in Elsinore castle in Denmark following the sudden death of King Hamlet. Soon after his death, his brother, Claudius, marries his wife, Gertrude, and steals the crown from his son, Hamlet. The Danish kingdom turns corrupt since its new king, Claudius, is corrupt. The noble Hamlet tries to seize back what was once his father’s kingdom. Then Laertes, who is the son of Polonius, is noble to his father and his sister, Ophelia. These two noble men have similarities and differences in their actions making them character

Hamlet declares revenge against Uncle Claudius since he believes he is his father’s slayer and because of his mother’s incestuous marriage to Claudius. Early in the play, Hamlet is informed by a ghost, who claims to be his father, King Hamlet, that Claudius is responsible for poisoning him in his orchard. The ghost exclaims it was Claudius’s “foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.25). Also, Hamlet is engaged against his mother since she barely grieved over her husband’s death and married Claudius soon after. In Hamlet’s first soliloquy, he states that his mother married “[with such] wicked speed, to post, [w]ith such dexterity to incestuous sheets” (1.2.156-157). These corruptions make Hamlet realize that his Uncle Claudius is a “smiling damned villain!” (1.5.107) and that his mother is the “most pernicious woman” (1.5.106). Now, that the noble Hamlet gains angnorisis, he is determined to seek revenge on Claudius and says, “Haste me to know, that I, with wings as swift [a]s meditation or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge” (). Similarly Laertes seeks revenge for his father’s slayer along with his sister Ophelia’s death. While Laertes is in France, he receives the news that his father has been murdered, and he speculates that Claudius is the

Hamlet fools the Elsinore kingdom into thinking that he has gone insane, hosts a play to reveal Claudius’s guilt, and attempts to kill Claudius. Hamlet chooses to act like he has lost his insanity so that his royal family will not think he is a threat to the kingdom, and he uses it to distract his friends, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern, from the truth of his father’s death. By acting insane, Hamlet delays his revenge on Claudius but convinces his friends that he has gone mad: “Or such ambiguous giving out, to note [t]hat you know aught of me; this do swear, [s]o grace and mercy at your need help you” (1.4.179-181). Then Hamlet’s friends invite traveling actors to the kingdom and Hamlet takes this chance to prove Claudius’s guilt in murdering the king. The play Hamlet requests is “The Murder of Gonzaga” since it mirrors the events leading up to the murder of his father. Claudius’s guilt is revealed when he suddenly leaves during the poisoning act of the play. Then while Claudius is alone he confesses to the murder of his brother, Hamlet, so that he could have the kingdom, the queen, and the crown. He admits that “[i]t hath the primal eldest curse upon’t a brother’s murder” (3.3.37-38). Hamlet sees his chance to kill Claudius but then realizes that if he kills Claudius while he is confessing his sin, his soul will go to heaven. Hamlet’s father did not have the chance to have his sins forgiven before