Foils of Hamlet
Hamlet is a play about a young man who is seeking revenge for his father's death. In the process of doing so, different things happen and it becomes more and more of a complex plot. Throughout the play, we are introduced to many different foils. One of which is Laertes. Shakespeare chooses to portray Hamlet and Laertes differently although they are both so similar.
Hamlet and Laertes are all in basically the same position. Both of their fathers have been killed and they are both looking to avenge those fathers' deaths. However, we see when we are reading that some characters are set up so that they gain more sympathy and such than others from the reader. For example, Shakespeare makes Laertes look like a "bad guy" because he wants to kill Hamlet but in essence, Hamlet is doing the same exact thing to Claudius. It is as if Shakespeare is saying that it is okay for Hamlet to kill but it isn't ok for Laertes to feel the need for revenge.
Hamlet begins a soliloquy with the line, "How all occasions do inform against me and spur my dull revenge!" (Act IV, sc. IV, li. 32-33) It is like Shakespeare is trying to make it look like it is such a shame the Hamlet's plans aren't working out so well and that he isn't as stable as he wants to be. It is almost like Shakespeare wants to reader to take pity on Hamlet who is not such a genuine person. He has killed Polonius and some say he has killed Ophelia. Should people really pity him because his plans to kill his uncle aren't falling correctly into place? Shakespeare is almost trying to get the reader to do so.
On the other hand, there is Laertes who is Hamlet's position. His father was killed, actually by Hamlet, and he is out to avenge that death. He is furious and passionate about it just like Hamlet is but it almost seems that when one is reading the play, they should think of Laertes as a "bad guy" and as the antagonist. Laertes says "It warms the very sickness in my heart that I shall live and tell him to his teeth, "thus did'st thou." (Act. IV sc.VII. li. 55-57) He is basically saying that he would make him so happy to kill Hamlet and to show his what he really did.
Throughout the play, Laertes is as an extremely caring member of his family. His strong emotions for family have an opposing side to it, a shadow that has repressed feelings of anger which cause him to add to the disaster in Denmark. An example that depicts this is when Laertes attempts to request more rites for Ophelia’s funeral. After he is denied, he starts a commotion by calling the priest “churlish”, explaining that Ophelia will be “A ministering angel” while the priest will “liest howling”(5.1.217-218). His compliments to Ophelia shows how much he loved her, while his nasty insults to the priest show his repressed rage. While this is occuring, Hamlet hears Laertes’s mention of Ophelia during the commotion and throws himself into a brawl with Laertes. It is the conflict built up from there that causes Claudius to target Laertes as his next weapon to kill Hamlet with. Laertes’s deep anger for Hamlet makes himself the best candidate for Claudius’s manipulation. Once Laertes’s sides with Claudius, he shows his dark intent by requesting Claudius to not “o'errule me to a peace”(4.7.58). On the day of the duel, Laertes undergoes a confrontation of his shadow while he clashes with Hamlet. His realization of his shadow comes too late into the duel when both Hamlet and Laertes are struck by poison, as this happens he declares that he is “ justly killed with mine own treachery (5.2.337).” In the moments that he is still alive, he dismisses his shadow and ends the circle of murder by announcing the true nature of Claudius. Laertes’s repressed anger guides the play into the duel where many deaths occur including Hamlet’s.
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
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,
”(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.
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Laertes, on the other hand, was quite the opposite. He was all action and no talk. A very headstrong character, he was rash and let his emotions make his decisions for him. an example of this is when he finds out about his father's death, he immediately assumes it was Claudius and enters the castle by force, fully intending on killing him. This is what Hamlet needs to be like, but only in moderation. Sometimes, when the time calls for it, you must act on instinct, without having to think it through for a couple of days. Hamlet didn't want to be brash and end up getting killed like Laertes did, but then again, Laertes did avenge his father's death a lot faster than Hamlet did. And in spite of all the thinking and planning, Hamlet still ended up the same way that Laertes did.
Accordingly, this theory takes certain points made by other theories of poverty and puts them in the context of race, making it a more comprehensive explanation of poverty. In examining labor, non-work among black men aged 25-40 without high school degrees has been increasing at a more rapid rate than the rate for non-work among white men in the similar situation since the 1970s. The theory of labor markets in explaining poverty summarizes that those who do not work steady jobs or work regularly are more likely to be poor. If black men are not working as much as they used to, it should explain why poverty among black people is higher than it is for white people. The reason for their non-work can be explained by a number of reasons, including disincentives, labor markets, and culture, but it is best explained by institutional problems and structural
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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.
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. 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.
He 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 throughly 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 to
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
Although Hamlet has many significant soliloquies throughout the play, two show very different sides of Hamlet’s character to the naked eye. His “O all you host…” soliloquy portrays an enraged, passionate Hamlet while his “O, what a rogue…” demonstrates how Hamlet’s rationality has stopped him from taking action. Both soliloquies use dark diction, vivid, scholarly imagery and syntax to characterize Hamlet, and portray common Shakespearean themes of revenge and deception.