A Comparison Of Laertes And The Ghost As Foils In Hamlet

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Laertes and the Ghost as Foils in Hamlet



The play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, could be considered as a modern day soap opera. It contains everything from murder to betrayal and a lot of drama. Each character appears to be going through some sort of problem in the play. Of all the characters, Hamlet has the most hardships. In order to show why Hamlet makes the choices he does, who he is, and what he is about, Shakespeare creates Laertes and the ghost as foils for Hamlet. The foils allow the reader to gain a much more profound understanding of Hamlet.

To fully understand the concepts of foils in a play, one must understand what a foil means. According to The Random House College Dictionary [sic], a foil is, " A person or thing that makes another seem better by contrast" (511). By showing the similarities and differences between a minor character (Laertes or the ghost) and a major character (Hamlet), Shakespeare allows the reader to grasp a better understanding of Hamlet. Another purpose of a foil is to merely be there for the major character to talk to. The ghost achieves this function by coming around to speak with Hamlet. This is the only reason for the ghost to exist in the play. With the help of …show more content…

As stated in the similarities, both of the men's fathers are murdered. However, the way they are murdered is different. Hamlet's father is murdered by Claudius, and Laertes’ father is murdered by Hamlet. King Hamlet is murdered by poison and Polonious is stabbed by a sword. Each of these differences helps to add to the significance of Laertes as a foil for Hamlet. Due to the fact that both are out for revenge, they kill each other to avenge their father's murders. These differences, the different murders of their fathers, make for the duel, which causes the death of both of the

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