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What are some similarities and differences between hamlet and laertes
Hamlet and laertes differences
Hamlet and laertes differences
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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
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
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?
Hamlet questions what may or may not happen however Laertes just wants the revenge fast and effective. Although these characters have different standards when it comes to revenge, they both immediately blamed and directed their anger towards Claudius when they found out their father’s were dead. Hamlet’s reason to blame Claudius is simply because he is his father’s murderer. In 1.5 while Hamlet is talking to the ghost of his father 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” (Shakespeare 1.5.31-33). At first is seems as if Hamlet would seek revenge right away because he seems eager to find out who the killer is and when he does find out he says he knew it was Claudius all along. He is furious and after this part in the play, Hamlet’s anger is mainly focused on Claudius. On the other hand when Laertes found out Polonius is dead he went straight to Claudius assuming it was him. By doing this he shows that he is controlled by his impulses unlike Hamlet who waited until he got proof to act on his fury. Laertes also blamed Claudius for not giving his father a proper burial, which can relate to Hamlet’s anger too because Hamlet felt as if there was not enough mourning for his father death. Not only did they both lose their fathers, but they both lost Ophelia, a female figure in their lives that they both loved.
As described earlier, Hamlet is slow to act. Laertes, on the other hand, acts quickly and with precision, wasting no time in acquiring his target and formulating a plan. Robert Palfrey Utter, Jr., puts it best, Hamlet and Laertes both come to the same conclusion that murder must be carried out, but Hamlet reaches that conclusion only “after he has had a few minutes to think it over.” (140) Once Laertes finds out that the man who killed his father was Hamlet, he is ready to charge in and kill him as soon as possible. He is only stopped by Claudius, who advises him on a more subtle approach.
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...
The protagonist is a prince named Hamlet. Hamlet’s father suddenly dies, and Hamlet’s mother, Queen Gertrude, decides to marry Hamlet’s uncle, King Claudius. Hamlet slowly goes insane, and he wants revenge on the murderer of his father. Laertes, the son of the king’s associate, makes a bad decision in the play. When Laertes’ father, Polonius, is killed, Laertes is outraged and seeks vengeance.
Throughout the play, Laertes’s focus is revolved around the ideology of incest. Another example of incest that was perceived was the relationship between Laertes and Ophelia. Laertes believes that Hamlet is just using Ophelia for sexual satisfaction. He tries to explain it to her, but she is reluctant to listen. Laert...
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.
"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.
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 play, there are several characters wanting vengeance like that of Hamlet. Throughout the play, Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras all had a tragic death of a family member which caused their decision for revenge. Consequentially, these revenges caused the demise of two characters and the rise of power of another. The retaliation shown by the Prince of Denmark, as well as Laertes led to the downfall of their government. In the play, Hamlet seeks revenge on his uncle Claudius.
Hamlet’s obsession with taking revenge destroys the relationships in his life. His furiousness with his mother’s marriage causes him to lose respect for her and wish for no more marriages in Denmark (III. i. 144-152). Hamlet’s loss of respect for women affects his relationship with his girlfriend, Ophelia. He slowly begins to drive her away. Hamlet becomes impetuous and consequently kills Ophelia’s father, which permanently destroys their relationship. Another instance of obsession to revenge is Laertes. He becomes so bent upon avenging his family, that he does not think clearly. Claudius deceives Laertes by persuading him into killing Hamlet so that he remains out of harm’s way. However, their obsession to revenge becomes the foundation of their