Hamlet Laertes Foil

Acting and thinking about acting are very different; in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Laertes and Hamlet are complete opposites when it comes to the matter. Inadvertently, Laertes is a literary foil to Hamlet, acting brashly and boldly when need be. It seems to stutter Hamlet’s conscience when Laertes is quarrelsome in regards to the death of his father and sister. Laertes is the cause of Hamlets dismay, Laertes’ anger is what drives Hamlet to finally do something and act, to kill and acquire revenge, equal revenge.

Laertes’ idea of revenge that was instinctive, it almost was it built into his identity. Clearly any boy with his father and his sister dead all of a sudden would seek a culprit, but Laertes was different. Laertes clearly states his intentions,

“ I dare damnation: to this point I stand, That both the worlds I give to negligence, Let come what comes; only I’ll be revenged Most thoroughly for my father” (Shakespeare IV v 75). His anger is sparked by the murder of his father, he cares not who may have committed such act, he knows he will gain retribution. Meanwhile Hamlet, after having been told by the Ghost, does not take immediate action against Claudius for the murder of his own father. It only takes Hamlet up until the re-arrival of Laertes to figure out that there is no point in protecting his life since there is no telling when any on person will die.
Once Laertes arrives back to Denmark he is under the impression that King Claudius has been the man who killed his father. King Claudius, after letting him know that Hamlet is the culprit, teams up with him to devise secret plans for Hamlets’ demise, “And for that purpose ill anoint my sword... so mortal that but a dip of knife in it… it may be death” (Shakespeare IV vii 82). Together these two men, fueled by animosity and morbid desires, will challenge Hamlet to a duel and in return receive what they expel. At the same time, Hamlet was contemplating his own fate, he knew what he was getting himself into, a grudge match heading in only one direction, fate. Laertes is the catalyst in the reaction that occurs at the fencing duel.
The shorter the fuse the easier to diffuse, and Laertes had a short fuse.

After Hamlet had watched his mother die from the poison Laertes asked for forgiveness at the same time unveiling to Hamlet once again that the king is to blame in all of this, “It is here, Hamlet. Hamlet, thou art slain; No medicine in the world can do thee good. The King, the King's to blame… Exchange forgiveness with me noble Hamlet” (Shakespeare V ii 99). The easily influenced Laertes has now fallen a coward, asking for forgiveness from the end of a sword after having caused the entire fiasco. Hamlet on the other hand, has stayed adamant to his reasoning and pre-decided his fate, chose to not back down from the situation before him. The falling action began with Laertes coming back to Denmark and establishing his presence, meanwhile the resolution, ended with him dying a dishonorable death. In the end, thorough thinkers seem to prevail. Although both characters end up dead, its arguable to say that Hamlet ends up in a better state than does Laertes. The Prince of Denmark never takes the throne, but he gets his revenge and punishes the people in the kingdom that harmed the good of the state the most. An unmethodical and bodacious character, Laertes proves in the end that he never made up his mind on what to do. His indecision with death demonstrates that he, unlike Hamlet, never fully understood the ramifications of his actions. Laertes had a weak mind but acted boldly, a lesson well learned and a combination never to

repeat.
Laertes uses his brawn and misconception of his actions to drive his poor actions. Ultimately, Laertes’ strong lack of wisdom has left him in an unrecoverable state. A strong doer, Laertes lacks the thorough thinking capability that Hamlet posses. Nevertheless, Laertes serves to add lumber to Hamlet’s fire and enable him to finally take a stand, only downfall is, it meant his life.