Laertes And Hamlet Foil Essay

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In The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, there are two young men: Laertes and Hamlet. Laertes is the son of the King’s advisor, Polonius, and the brother of Ophelia. Hamlet is the son of the deceased King Hamlet and present Queen Gertrude. Although both men are in the royal circle and would seem to have the same lifestyle, Laertes is the perfect foil for Hamlet. A foil is a character that shows qualities that are in contrast with the qualities of another character, intended to highlight the traits of the other character. Laertes is the immaculate foil of Hamlet because he takes immediate action to revenge his father instead of only speaking of it, he does not have fluctuating feelings whether to kill his father’s murderer or not, and takes …show more content…

Once Hamlet heard of his father’s death, he did not take immediate action to kill King Claudius. Rather, Hamlet let considerable time pass, thinking and talking of many plans, before he subsequently took action to kill Claudius, only after his mother also died at the hands of the murderous king.
In the rising action of Hamlet, Hamlet, in his madness, kills Polonius in suspicion of him being the King. Laertes’ reaction to his father’s death is the distinct opposite of Hamlet’s. Hours after his father’s death, Laertes storms the castle in rage,
“How came he dead? I’ll not be juggled with.
To hell, allegiance! Vows, to the blackest devil!
Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit!
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” (IV, v, 135-141).
Laertes needed no time to think about what had happened. All he knows is that someone murdered his father and that is enough for him to take on whatever task he must to avenge him. He agreed to fight and poison Hamlet so that he shall fall dead and the score would then be …show more content…

Once Laertes finds out about Polonius’ death, he is ready for confrontation, “To cut his throat i’ th’ church” (IV, vii, 129). Polonius dying at the hands of someone else sealed the deal for Laertes getting revenge. There was no debating. There were no second thoughts. No one was getting a chance to change Laertes’ mind. Like a horse with blinders, all Laertes could see now, was what was in front of him: killing his father’s murderer. However, Hamlet had a far different approach in how he felt about his father’s murder and who was responsible. Instead of making his mind up to kill Claudius the moment he found out he was the one accountable for his father’s death, he took a more methodical approach to his revenge. Hamlet struggled with himself about having to kill someone and wondered if he should kill Claudius at all. Hamlet had an opportunity to kill Claudius and end everything, but he decided it wasn’t the right time and Claudius went unharmed. Hamlet was cowardly and didn’t have enough drive to revenge his

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