Hamlet And Laertes Compare And Contrast

806 Words2 Pages

Cassandra Sarokin
ENG 2000
Prof. Pederson
June 29, 2015
Hamlet vs Laertes
When one thinks of the play Hamlet, one word that comes to mind is tragedy. This play is surrounded by a whole group of people who only seem to find misfortune in every step they take. This essay will explain how Hamlet and Laertes are similar to one another. Both men seem to act on impulses to get their way, both men share a love for Ophelia and they both relate to their families in the same way.
In the play Hamlet, both characters seem to amplify their need to be impulsive when mad. When Laertes find out that his father has been killed, he comes to the conclusion that is has to have been Claudius who is the murderer. As any human response, he will now try and avenge his father’s death. He states “To hell, allegiance! Vows, to the blackest devil! Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit! I dare damnation: to this point I stand, that …show more content…

Before Laertes left for France, he gave Ophelia advice on her relationship with hamlet. Laertes tried to warn Ophelia on Hamlet’s real feelings and his true intentions towards her, and tells her to be a little wary of Hamlet and his affections. Hamlet’s feelings towards Ophelia seem to die after she rejects him. Not only his feelings, but his own appearance seems to decay after the rejection. He is described as being “Pale as his shirt, his knees knocking each other” (line 82). To make matters worse, Ophelia dies. Both Hamlet and Laertes are so shocked and distressed over her death, that they both decide to jump into her grave and begin to fight each other. Even though both Hamlet and Laertes hated each other, they both loved Ophelia deeply. Hamlet was obviously very infatuated with Ophelia, as too it hard at her death. Laertes on the other hand seemed to have more of a brotherly connection and bond with her, as was evident when he tried to advise her against

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