What Are The Differences Between Hamlet And Laertes

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Hamlet vs. Laertes William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet follows the revenge Hamlet takes on his uncle Claudius to avenge Hamlet Sr.’s death. Hamlet Sr. appears as a ghost to Hamlet and asks him to avenge his death, which was caused by Claudius, Hamlet Sr.’s brother. Claudius killed his brother and married his wife, Gertrude and became king. The king’s advisor Polonius is also slain in the play and his son Laertes wants to avenge his death also. Hamlet and Laertes have many similarities and some differences in the play. Bravery is what ultimately ties Hamlet and Laertes together. While the circumstances of Hamlet and Laertes fathers’ deaths are very different, the deaths are results of political conflict. Hamlet goes to talk to his mother and …show more content…

One difference about them is that Laertes never had a mother figure in his life as opposed to Hamlet who had his mother, Gertrude. Laertes wanted to go Paris to play while Hamlet wanted to return to Wittenberg to study. Laertes got the opportunity to go to Paris and Hamlet was forced to stay in Denmark. These two men may have had similarities in wanting revenge for the death of their fathers but they had very different tactics. Hamlet went with the way of pretending to be insane and being more passive, while Laertes uses the tactic of aggression and came home with a band of men and stormed the castle once he heard the news of his fathers’ death. Laertes wanted to avenge his fathers’ death, whether it was the right way or the wrong, as he states, “How come 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 negligence, Let come what comes; only I’ll be reveng’d Most thoroughly for my father” (IV V 128-132). Hamlet, on the other hand, was more careful and more worried about doing wrong as he stated, “The spirit that I have seen May be the devil: and the devil hath power T’ assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps Out of my weakness and my melancholy, As he is a very potent with such spirits, Abuses me to damn me:” (II II 550-555). The revenge …show more content…

Laertes and Hamlet both loved Ophelia but they loved her differently. Laertes loved her with brotherly love while Hamlet loved her as a lover. Hamlet and Laertes also both wanted revenge for their fathers’ death but approached the situation differently. Hamlet planned to use insanity and play games with Claudius while Laertes used aggression and stormed the castle with a band of men backing him up. In the end it did not matter how similar or different the two men were because they both lost their

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