The Foils of Hamlet

The Foils of Hamlet

Hamlet is dominated by an emotion which is inexpressible, because it is in excess of the facts as they appear.... We should have to understand things which Shakespeare did not understand himself."

T.S. Eliot

(Hamlet and His Problems)

In the play Hamlet [Titles] by William Shakespeare the cast of main characters use the support given to them by the foils to enhance the play. A foil is a minor character who by simulations [?] and differences reveals character, and who, as an element of plot, is there for the more important character to talk to (vevra [sic] ). Such an example is Laertes is a foil to Hamlet. [SS -1] [Is the last sentence in this paragraph the thesis?]

Before the events of the play Ophelia[,] the daughter of Polonius and sister of Laertes, tells us that Hamlet was a model courtier, soldier, and scholar, ["?]The glass of fashion and the mould of form, Th’ observed of all observers."( pg 676) [Citation] With the death of his farther [sic] and the hasty remarriage of his mother to mother [sic & sloppy] to his uncle, throws Hamlet into a frustrated state were [where-H50] he lashes out at evil he sees and then relapse into a suicidal misery. [SS] It is in the [this?] state of mind that he meets the ghosts [more than one?] of his father. When he meets the ghost he isn’t afraid of the ghost but instead wants to confront the ghost face to face. It is at this point in the play were [that] Hamlet finds out that his uncle murdered his father[.] [How does this paragraph relate to foils?]

A foil to Hamlet is Laertes. Laertes who likes Hamlet [a sloppy error which sends the reader into wondering about homosexuality in the play] has returned to Elsinor because of King Hamlet’s death. Laertes is a young man whose good instincts have been somewhat unclear by the concern of his superficial [??????], which he has learned from his father, Polonius. Such is the case when Hamlet taunts him for his poor performance, at the fencing match. The taunting hurts Laetes['] pride and this shows how insecure he actually is. Like his father[,] Laertes apparently preaches a morality he does not practice and fully believes in a double standard of behavior for the sexes.