Perhaps the most notable aspect of Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, is its intense focus on its eponymous character. n Shakespeare’s drama “Hamlet,” the two characters Hamlet and Laertes are in obvious contrast two each other. Hamlet - the son of the dead King Hamlet of Denmark - is a contemplative, alecky, and moody young man, while Laertes, a young Danish lord - son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia – is impulsive and immediate. Both of them face very similar problematic issues: The desired departure from home, being spied on, the death of Ophelia, and the murder of their father respectively. By reference to these four situations it will be discussed below how Hamlet and Laertes can be compared to each othe Hamlet is intelligent, thoughtful but calculating and is out for revenge for the murder of his father. However, he is not able to carry out his revenge immediately which is crucial for fairness and his rightful ascendancy to the Danish throne. However, he rationalizes to hide behind excuses instead of seeking revenge by killing Claudius. Hamlet’s inability to act and make a final decision is his single tragic flaw. In direct contrast, Laertes suffers from not able to control his emotions. He comes back from France angry at Claudius with a suggestion of a coup. However, when Claudius redirects anger from Laertes away from himself, he is so fired about killing Hamlet, he would not mind killing him in a church. Claudius was able to use Laertes to serve his purpose. Laertes is so angry that he is easily manipulated, making his judgement impaired by not realizing the dreadful consequence of poisoned sword. On seeing crazy Ophelia and then hearing her death, he loses control of his emotions completely and en... ... middle of paper ... ...le scenario and detail that could be remotely related to his situation. The most pronounced evidence is that Laertes proclaims that he would go so far as “To cut his throat i’the church” to seek revenge against Hamlet. Laertes does not mind committing murder in a church, where violence is not condoned. It is even more noticeable when comparing a scene in which Hamlet hears Claudius confess in a prayer to his sins. Hamlet could have acted at that moment, but chose not to after over thinking . Laertes’ in Hamlet mainly functions as a foil for Prince Hamlet. Their differences in personality and behavior highlights the negative aspects of Hamlet’s personality to the audience, and implies their direct affect on Hamlet’s fate and the fall of Denmark, ultimately, to Norway. Works Cited: • Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New Haven and London: Yale UP, 2003. Print.
The first foil or character that sets off Hamlet, in the play is Laertes. After King Hamlet's death, he, along with Prince Hamlet, return to Denmark for the funeral services. That is the first sign that Laertes will become a foil to Hamlet in the play. Both Laertes and Hamlet are very fond of Laertes' sister, Ophelia, which is the second similarity of the two. Another similarity of Laertes and Hamlet is the father figure of each, Polonius to Laertes and Claudius to Hamlet, has someone to watch them to see if they are acting accordingly. [accordingly?] In act two, scene one, Polonius instructs Reynaldo to go to Paris to give Laertes money and messages, and to find other Danes that will give him gossip about Laertes. In act two, scene two, Claudius instructs Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find out why Hamlet is acting so strangely. The next similarity of Laertes and Hamlet is that they both grieve over a death in the play. Laertes grieves the death of Ophelia, while Hamlet grieves over his father, King Hamlet's death. The final similarity of Laertes and Hamlet is that both seek revenge for the death of their fathers. Laertes wishes to kill Hamlet after Hamlet murders Polonius and Hamlet wants to kill Claudius for the murder of King Hamlet. Both succeed in their quest for revenge.
In the 1990 version of Hamlet starring Mel Gibson, Laertes is portrayed in a very poor light. He seems to have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. At certain points during the written play, Laertes's actions may be taken entirely differently than they are conveyed in the movie. In the film version of Hamlet, all of Laertes's negative aspects are much more pronounced.
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.
Basically Hamlet's character is going through a tough time, he’s upset, disgusted, depressed, moody, and also indecisive.Laertes foils Hamlet’s character. He is the son of Polonius and the brother to Ophelia. He is described as a passionate and a quick of action person. The most important thing about him is that he is a doer not a thinker. Being quick on his feet to problems is what got him killed. Laertes warns his loving sister about Hamlet but also boys in general “ My bags are already on board. Farewell, my sister. Please write often. As for Hamlet, and his attentions to you, Do not take them to seriously. They are like violets in the spring, Fast-blooming and sweet, but not long-lasting” ( Act I, Scene 3). The beginning of the play he leaves Denmark and goes to France. Due to the killing of Ophelia and Polonius he returns back and seeks revenge. Claudius and Laertes team up and plot to kill Hamlet.Hamlet and Laertes has a lot of similarities and differences. They are different because Hamlet gets forced to be sent away while Laertes wanted to get sent away. Hamlet is more of a responsible person while Laertes is more bold and reckless. Laertes provide contrast to Hamlet's character. They are similar in multiple ways starting with the love they had for
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, there are multiple times where the protagonist, Hamlet, is portrayed as Laertes, the antagonist. Although, while every character is almost a foil to Hamlet, only a couple stand out over all the other characters. Amongst Laertes, Fortinbras, and Claudius, I’ll be focusing my essay on how Laertes functions as a foil to Hamlet. Laertes is presented with similar catastrophic situations that Hamlet encounters. This is observed when both of them left home, faced the death of their fathers as well as Ophelia’s death. During Act 1, Scene 2, it is acknowledged that Hamlet is returning to England and Laertes asking for consent to France in Act 1, Scene 3. Polonius sends his man, Reynaldo, to Paris to spy on Laertes in Act 2,
In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the theme of revenge is very palpable as the reader examines the characters of Hamlet himself, as well as Laertes, son of Polonius, and Fortinbras, prince of Norway and son of the late King Fortinbras. Each of these young characters felt the need to avenge the deaths of their fathers who they felt were untimely killed at the bloody hands of their murderers. However, the way each chose to go about this varies greatly and gives insight into their characters and how they progress throughout the play.
In the play “Hamlet”, Shakespeare uses two characters, Hamlet and Laertes, to develop a recurring theme of revenge. These two characters experience similar emotional suffering, as both of their fathers were murdered. One idea that made the readers question the mentality of these two characters was their motives. Hamlet was hesitant throughout the entire interval of the play to get revenge; which created confusion because Hamlet craved nothing more than revenge, yet he continued putting it off. In contrast to Hamlet’s tentativeness, Laertes, a man who initially did not know who killed his father, was willing to take his anger out on nearly anyone. Throughout the play, Laertes is seen as one who is eager to get to action, a quality often found in heroes, whereas Hamlet, the actual hero of the play, lacks this quality and hesitates to get revenge. In an attempt to portray the difficulty of revenge, Shakespeare uses the different ways Hamlet and Laertes see to their problems.
To understand Laertes’s erratic behavior, we must first establish his proper motive. The play Hamlet takes place in Denmark around the medieval times. Laertes’s desire to avenge his father’s death is an honorable trait in his society. In the play, the fathers put on a role as the giver of values. Laertes’s father, Polonius, gives Laertes certain values on living life: “Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice;/ Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment”(1.3.72). Polonius instructs Laertes how to behave properly in life. Laertes needs his father’s opinions to make decisions in life. Laertes asks permission from Claudius to go to France only after Polonius has given his consent to go. Laertes did not ask to leave until his father agreed. Laertes values his father’s opinion so much that he does not wish to disobey it. Polonius tells the king that Laertes was persistent in seeking his permission: “By laborsome petition, and at last/ Upon his will I sealed my hard consent”(1.2.61). Laertes could have easily left for France on his own, yet he waited until he had his father’s approval. As Laertes embarks for his journey to France, he delights at a second chance to say goodbye: “Occasion smiles upon a second leave”(1.3.58).
This piece takes into account Hamlet’s thoughts of suicide, how his revenge will affect Claudius’ soul, and his dislike of deceit and other violations of Christian law to emphasize Hamlet’s devoutness. This devoutness is demonstrative of Hamlet’s strong moral compass and willingness to follow his conscience. This same consideration of one’s conscience is not demonstrated by two other characters in Hamlet who are in situations similar to Hamlet’s, Laertes and Fortinbras. Laertes is the son of a noble man named Polonius, who Hamlet accidentally murders because he mistook him for Claudius. Fortinbras is the Prince of Norway, whose father was killed by Old King Hamlet in war. All three of these young men have faced the death of their father, and pursue justice. However, Hamlet’s deep sense of morality binds him to Christian doctrine, which prevents him from immediately taking action toward avenging his father’s death. Laertes and Fortinbras lack this dominant moral compass possessed by Hamlet. This is made clear by their immediate, aggressive pursuit of vengeance and their employment of deception as means to an end.
Readers often see Laertes and Hamlet as complete opposites, but they are not as different as they may seem. Both Laertes and Hamlet take a life of another character in the play. Laertes takes Hamlet’s life while he is being used by Claudius
Laertes has the ability to perform tasks that may be unpleasant or dangerous. Laertes does not simply try to kill someone by thinking cautiously the whole time, but by directly confronting them and facing them head-on. When Laertes returns home to Denmark he even confronts Claudius about the death of his father. Swearing Laertes says “I dare damnation. To this point I stand,/That both the worlds I give to negligence,/Let come what comes, only I’ll be reveng’d/Most thoroughly for my father.” (IV. v. 133-136). With this declaration Laertes plots with Claudius to kill Hamlet and they construct a plan to have Laertes fence with Hamlet and for him to kill him. They instrument a plot of revenge for the death of Polonius, quickly coming up with three ways to kill Hamlet: stabbing him with an unblunted sword, placing poison on the sword, and poisoning Hamlet’s drink (IV. vii.). After they construct this plan they swiftly utilize the plan. Laertes did not wait for the perfect moment, at the perfect time, and at the perfect place. He created the place, time, and moment to carry out the dangerous task. Hamlet, however, waited and waited for what he thought one day would be the perfect moment in which he could kill his uncle. Even when Hamlet had an opportunity to kill Claudius, he talked himself out of it. When compared to Laertes, Hamlet is a coward because of his inability
"Laertes is a mirror to Hamlet. Shakespeare has made them similar in many aspects to provide a greater base for comparison when avenging their respective fathers' deaths" (Nardo, 90). Both Hamlet and Laertes love Ophelia in different ways. Hamlet wishes Ophelia to become his wife, Laertes loves Ophelia as a sister. Hamlet is a scholar at Wittenberg; Laertes is also a scholar at France. Both were brought up under this royal family of Denmark. And both are admired for their swordsmenship. But most important of all, both of them loved and respected their fathers greatly, and showed great devotion when plotting to avenge their fathers' deaths.
In spite of the fact that Hamlet and Laertes both want the same thing, Laertes is more engrossed in the fact of taking action, while Hamlet carefully strategizes his course of action in order to perform his plan triumphly. Both Hamlet and Laertes’s demise is found out at the end when they both end up dead by one another’s hand. Laertes and Hamlet both end up being successful because they each avenged the murder of their
Both Laertes and Hamlet firmly associate themselves with their families. Laetres highly respects his father and loves him very much. Similarly Hamlets conveys this by comparing his father to “Hyperion” a sun god. “This visitation Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose” They both share a strong but different love for Ophelia. Laertes departing of advice onto Ophelia concerning her relations with Hamlet can be explained as a wish for safety, emotions and virtue which he considers to be at threat by Hamlet, ”But you must fear, his greatness weighed, his will is not his own”. With Hamlet it can be clearly seen in the scene of Ophelia’s funeral where he declares his love for her and his distress of the departure of her soul, “forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make my sum!”. Just before this both Hamlet and Laertes jump in her grave for a scuffle, without even a consideration. This is also an example of the two characters rashness.
After wrestling Laertes in Ophelia’s grave, Hamlet apologizes to Laertes for losing control when he says, “That to Laertes I forgot myself,/ For by the image of my cause I see/ The portraiture of his. I'll court his favours./ But sure the bravery of his grief did put me/ Into a tow'ring passion” (Shakespeare V.ii.3730-3735). Hamlet admits that he should be unbothered by Laertes’ grief. Hamlet blames his actions on his “mental illness,” and this deed proves his sanity because Hamlet realizes that Laertes would be more likely to forgive him since Hamlet’s wrestling Laertes was not a just, true intention, rather a result of his apparent insanity; Hamlet is able to get the blame off of himself in this way. Hamlet shows his sanity in this instance because a mentally insane person would not go out of his or her way to apologize for his or her actions. Later in the play, Laertes makes a plan with Claudius to kill Hamlet. Laertes wants revenge on Hamlet for the death of his father and his sister. Claudius wants to kill Hamlet because of how much Hamlet threatens Claudius and his throne by knowing the truth of King Hamlet’s death. During a duel between Laertes and Hamlet, Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, betrays Claudius by drinking the poison cup and confessing the truth to Hamlet. Although Laertes and Hamlet have both been slain by each other at this point and are bound to die