Hamlet Foils Of Fortinbras And Laertes

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William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet in the 1600s. A young prince Hamlet, just back from college, has come back for the funeral of his father. His uncle, Claudius, and mother, Gertrude, get married right after, and Hamlet grows to resent them for marrying so quickly. He then finds out via his father’s ghost, that Claudius was the one who murdered his father. The rest of the play is him taking forever to extract his revenge. Along the way, he murders his girlfriend’s father, mocks his girlfriend causing her to go crazy and kill herself, orders the execution of his childhood friends, and has to deal with the man he’s always idolized trying to kill him. Throughout the play, there are several characters who act as foils for Hamlet. Foils are characters that have similarities and differences to the main character in order to highlight his or her particular qualities. In this case, the main foils are Fortinbras and Laertes, although Horatio and Claudius are minor foils. Fortinbras and Laertes also want to avenge their father’s death, although …show more content…

However, while both Fortinbras and Hamlet waited a bit, Laertes was on his way over the moment he heard in order to avenge his father. Claudius had to tread carefully when dealing with Hamlet and Laertes as the crowds loved both. When Laertes demanded why Claudius refused to have Hamlet tried for treason, Claudius states that there is a “great love the general gender bear him” (IV, vii, 20). Similarly, the crowd, just a little while earlier had been shouting “Chose we, Laertes shall be king!” (IV, v, 116). Claudius saw an opportunity to use Laertes’ impulsive behavior to bring the downfall of Hamlet. Hamlet even said that “I’ll be your foil, Laertes.” (V, ii, 2). While Hamlet was not as hotheaded as Laertes, both were extremely competitive and (on Hamlet’s part, finally) bent on revenge. Both their desire for revenge and their competitive nature eventually lead to their

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