Hamlet And Laertes Character Analysis

To lose a father at the age of 30 can be life changing and make one full of regrets. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare reveals a son's loss through the deaths of both Hamlet and Laertes' fathers. The murder of these fathers resulted in the sons' seeking revenge. The play begins with the death of King Hamlet, which caused Hamlet great hardship, especially upon learning that his father was murdered by Claudius. As the play progressed Laertes' father, Polonius, was accidentally murdered by Hamlet. Both Hamlet and Laertes felt determined to avenge their respective fathers' murderer. Although Hamlet and Laertes have a similar objective, to avenge their fathers' deaths, each man goes about seeking revenge in extremely different ways.

Hamlet's life has changed drastically with the death of his father and his mother marrying his uncle, which he considers to be " a little more than kin, and less than kind." Hamlet has issues with the fact that he is the only one who is grieving for his father's death, and it seems like everyone have forgotten about the demise of his father. When Hamlet learned about the ghost, he figured that there was foul play. However, he had second thoughts about the

legitimacy of the ghost's story. Hamlet's first soliloquy (Act 1, scene 2) showed that he felt depressed, isolated, and he had relationship issues that lead to the thought of suicide. Upon confirming that Claudius killed his father, he hesitated and lacked the initiative in taking actions against him.

In contrast, Laertes after learning about his father's death—storms back home from France and gathered groups of people to protest and overthrow Claudius.

Laertes also had a change of heart since he found out his father had been killed for no reason. During the start of the play, he was more calm and complied with the commands of his father. His actions towards the end, however, showed that he was more motivated action than thoughts. Laertes had one goal in mind, without questions or hesitation, and that was to kill Hamlet. Unlike Hamlet, Laertes was more open minded and agreed to Claudius' plan to kill Hamlet. Laertes and Claudius conspired together and planned a fencing match that would result in Hamlet's death by means of a poisoned tipped sword and the cup of poisoned

wine.

Hamlet, on the other hand, used Ophelia as a tool to fool Claudius and Polonius in thinking that Ophelia is the reason for Hamlet's madness. Hamlet used his madness and craziness to observe and examine the guilt of Claudius. Hamlet wanted to make sure that Claudius and the people did not see him as a threat. However, as the play progressed, Hamlet drove himself to insanity when Gertrude did not see the ghost of Hamlet's father in her bedroom and the death of Ophelia. Hamlet and Laertes both shared despair and disbelief with the death of Ophelia. In Act 5 scene 2, Hamlet and Laertes wrestle each other in the graveyard arguing about their love for Ophelia. As indicated:
"I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers
Could not with all their quantity of love
Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?"

When the reader comes at the end of the play Hamlet, he discovers that one's vengeance will not only affect other people's lives around him but will also greatly affect his own life. Hamlet comes to realization even as Eldridge Cleaver did in the book Soul on Ice 1960's "The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less."