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Problems with revenge in hamlet
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Comparison between Laertes and Hamlet:
The Reaction to their Father’s Deaths
The comparison between Laertes and Hamlet is quite extensive and while both are unquestionably similar they are also complete opposites in the way they handle their father’s deaths. When both are faced with the reality that their fathers have been murdered each forms his own unique path of revenge, which eventually leads to both men’s fated death.
At the beginning of the play Hamlet is melancholy and still mourning the death of his father who died two months past. He is distraught and confused over his mother’s “o’erhasty marriage” (Act 2, Scene 2, Line 1145) to his uncle and why she did not mourn longer herself if she loved her first husband as she should. Hamlet considered his mother’s actions an act of incest to lie with his father’s own brother Claudius and knew that nothing good would come of their union.
When Hamlet is lured to the ghost suspected to be the late King Hamlet by Horatio, Marcellus and Bernardo, Hamlet is wary of his existence. He is unsure if the apparition is a “spirit of health or goblin damn’d” (Act 1, Scene 4, Line 669) and begs
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After thoroughly examining his uncle’s guilt during the play Hamlet is convinced that the man who married his mother, his own uncle and newly appointed step-father, has murdered his father and finally Hamlets thirst for revenge spurs him to accidentally kill Laertes father Polonius. Even though he let Claudius live while thinking that he prayed for redemption. Hamlet refused to kill him because then he “goes to heaven” (Act 3, Scene 3, Line 2357) if he should die while praying or in any other way that can give him a kind of redemption and decides to do it while he is “drunk asleep, or in his rage, or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed” (Act 3, Scene 3, Line
In Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Hamlet and Laertes act as dramatic foils, where their similarities are used to highlight their differences. Each character learns that his father has been murdered and each plots his revenge against the murderer. In the first act of the play, the ghost of Hamlet’s father tells him “Let not
A major difference between Laertes and Hamlet is that Laertes didn't procrastinate in his attempt at revenge. He went right to it with the encouragement of Claudius. His hastiness is what gets him killed in the end. Because Laertes doesn't think long about getting his revenge gives the reader reason to compare Laertes to and think about Hamlets' struggle to decide weather [H-50] revenge is the right thing to do. [SS -1] He contemplates through the whole play on weather [H-50] to kill Claudius or not, leaving the reader with the sense that Hamlet is very careful when making decisions. [Doesn't this point deserve more discussion?
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.
Some may argue that Hamlet and Laertes are nothing alike, pointing to the different lengths of time they take to act. After Hamlet sees the ghost for the first time and discovers that his father was murdered, he says "haste me to know 't; that I, with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love, may sweep to my revenge" (1.5.29-31). Hamlet wants the ghost to hurry and tell him what happened, so that he may take his revenge right away. This suggests that Hamlet is determined to kill Claudius as soon as he can, but weeks later when Hamlet watches the play in the castle, Hamlet thinks “yet I, a dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak, like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause” (2.2.562-564). Earlier, Hamlet seemed determined to take action, but is now dull-spirited and without any plans for revenge. Laertes, on the other hand, is willing to take action right away. After discovering that his father, Polonius, has been murdered, Laertes rushes to
”(153) It becomes clear that the parallels presented throughout the play are there to further illuminate the flaws of Hamlet’s character. Laertes is a hot-headed man looking for revenge. His father was killed by Hamlet and his sister was driven insane due to the series of events that took place because of Hamlet. Like Hamlet, Laertes wants to avenge his father by killing the man who killed Polonius.
Laertes holds the most important role as a foil to Hamlet. He represents the rage that boils within Hamlet and the revenge which he seeks. In many ways Laertes mirrors Hamlet's character. Their anger is precipitated through the same source, the untimely death of their fathers. Other similarities between the two men include the love that they both felt for Ophelia, and the heartfelt sorrow which they displayed upon her tragic death. The differences between Hamlet and Laertes become obvious as the two characters are played off of each other. Both men are the dutiful sons of their father's. However Leartes is portrayed as the well-breed son, while Hamlet's character is played down to that of a more peculiar type commoner who possesses few royal qualities. Although both men are students, Leartes prefers to indulges in a Parisian type lifestyle, whereas Hamlet chooses to study in the more subdued atmosphere of Whittenburg. There is also a difference in the way that both men react to the death of their fathers. Upon learning of his father's death, Laertes immediately allows his grievances to be known and chooses to go strait to the arena for his revenge. Hamlet chooses a more peculiar approach...
In Hamlet, the incest involving his mother and uncle triggered the action which took place within Hamlet. First off, Hamlet was in deep sorrow with the death of his father, and very angered of the hasty re- marriage of his mother. On top of all of that, the fact that Hamlet’s mother wed his uncle, made matters even worse. In Act I, scene ii, line 129-159, Hamlet recites what is on his troubled mind. He closes off by saying, “With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!/ It is not, nor it cannot come to good./ But break my heart, for I must hold my tongue.” This reveals Hamlet’s true feelings regarding the marriage and how he bottles up his emotions and keeps them to himself. However, if Hamlet was a different person, he may have had the ability to speak up to his parents and tell them how he really felt, as opposed to concealing his thoughts. Unfortunately for Hamlet, he is not that type of person, so a lot of his actions occur internally rather than externally, and this was spurred by the situation with Gertrude and Claudius.
One of the foils important to the play is Laertes. Although Laertes does not appear often in the play, he brings much to the plot and to Hamlet's character. These two are similar in many ways. They both seem to be about the same age, are well educated, and gentleman. One main thing that they have in common is they both are seeking revenge for their father's deaths. Both of their fathers were unnecessarily killed. Hamlet's father was killed by his father's brother for the crown and his wife, and Hamlet killed Laertes' father over mistaken identity. It was the revenge of these two that made up the plot of the story. Because of Laertes, the two could finally fulfill their revenge in the battle at the end that killed both Hamlet and the new king. If Laertes had not challenged Hamlet, the king would have died by some other way; however, the king died by poisoning just as he had killed his brother.
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.
In the beginning of Hamlet, the Prince behaves as any normal person would following the death of a loved one. Not only is this a loved one, but an extra special someone; it is his loving father whom he adored. Hamlet is grief stricken, depressed, and even angry that his mother remarried so soon after his father’s death. Having witnessed how his father had treated his mother with great love and respect, Hamlet cannot understand how his mother could shorten the grieving period so greatly to marry someone like Uncle Claudius. He is incapable of rationalizing her deeds and he is obsessed by her actions.
Each man deals with grief in extremely distinct manners, when looking at Laertes in comparison to Hamlet you can swiftly see their great contrast to one another. Hamlet would rather create reason before madness; he is the type to use his brain before his fist. Whereas Laertes is always caught up in his anger that he sees no means to absolve the actions of others.
In William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, Laertes, Fortinbras and Hamlet find themselves in similar situations. While Hamlet waits for the right time to avenge his father's death, Laertes learns of his father's death and immediately wants vengeance, and Fortinbras awaits his chance to recapture land that used to belong to his father. Laertes and Fortinbras go about accomplishing their desires quite differently than Hamlet. While Hamlet acts slowly and carefully, Laertes and Fortinbras seek their revenge with haste. Although Laertes and Fortinbras are minor characters, Shakespeare molds them in order to contrast with Hamlet. Fortinbras and, to a greater extent, Laertes act as foils to Hamlet with respect to their motives for revenge, execution of their plans and behavior while carrying out their plans.
Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras are similar in the fact that each had love, or at least respect their fathers. Enough to make an attempt to wreak revenge upon their fathers murderers at the risk of their own reputation, freedom, and souls. Each characters father had a substantially high social class in their respective countries, which in turn gives them high social class as well. With Hamlet and Fortinbras as sons of kings and Laertes as the son of an aristocrat of high regard in the Danish court, all had a lot to loose if unsuccessful in their ploy. Each of the sons believed that the killers had dishonored their fathers as well as themselves. Each acts in a way that they consider to be an attempt at restoring it to the family, as honor was a significant thing to uphold in this day.
In the beginning of the book, Hamlet behaves as any normal person would when he mourns the untimely death of his father, the King. He is dreary and depressed and also contemplates suicide. On the other hand, Gertrude behaves as though her husband’s death did not even occur, not in such a way that she is denying it happened, but as if it was insignificant and trivial. She marries her husband’s brother a month after his death. She continues to live on in a blissful world, while Hamlet is repulsed by his mother’s decision to remarry so quickly. Hamlet refers to it as an incestuous marriage. “She married:--O most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!” (Act 1, Scene 2, lines 156-157, page 33). He appears to be the only one in the entire kingdom affected by the death of his father and it makes him feel more alone.
The complex play of Hamlet by William Shakespeare contains many different characters and themes. With the many themes contained in Hamlet, the one that stuck out the most was how indecisive Hamlet is compared to many of the other characters throughout the play. Hamlet tends to do a lot of taking, going back and forth on what to do, and takes slow to no actions. Hamlet mainly talks about ideas, leaving most of them for fate to control. A great number of deaths happened because of Hamlet’s choices, and the amount of time it took him to make said choices. Hamlet’s lack of action caused more problems than solutions throughout the play. Just using a few characters within the play, it can be easily seen how Hamlet could have prevented most of it.