Literary Analysis of Shakespeare’s Hamlet
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Literary Analysis of Shakespeare’s Hamlet: Introduction
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a play that serves as the embodiment of loyalty, justice, and revenge (Shakespeare, n.d.). Hamlet is the main character in this story; however, he shares many experiences and attributes with Laertes and Fortinbras. Conversely, there are inherent dichotomies among these characters that render them to be quite different from one another. This paper is written to reveal that which these characters have in common, in addition to their variances. Moreover, the character’s reactions to the deaths of their fathers
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While Hamlet’s father died at the hands of his deceitful, murderous uncle Claudius, Laertes’ father was killed by Hamlet quite by accident, as Hamlet mistook him for King Claudius. Fortinbras’ father was actually killed by Hamlet’s father in a battle that preceded all other events. The commonalities among these men include a deep-seated desire for revenge, as they deemed revenge to be the most appropriate reaction to the betrayal that they felt as they grieved the loss of their fathers. Moreover, each character was closely affiliated with royalty. Hamlet was the prince of Denmark who was, by all rights, next in line for the royal throne upon his father’s death. He was …show more content…
He was very slow to act in response to the death of his father, despite the fact that he suspected his uncle Claudius. Laertes and Fortinbras were less apt to deliberate over their reactions. Subsequently, they were quick to demonstrate their feelings in regard to the deaths of their fathers. Laertes and Fortinbras engaged in active attempts to vindicate the deaths of their fathers without hesitation. Their knee-jerk reactions presented quite a dichotomy among the men. While Hamlet was deliberative enough to require concrete evidence prior to determining a course of action, the others lacked this need for deliberation and moved forward with their plans in the absence of
Hamlet, by William Shakespeare’s most notorious play, depicts the story of a young man who lives in Denmark and sets out to avenge his father, killing his uncle who is now king, which was told to him by his father’s ghost: “The serpent that did sting thy father 's life/ Now wears his crown” (1.5). The play is set up to make a cast of characters, through foils, give the character of Hamlet more life and thus enhance the play. Fortinbras and Laertes are the predominant foils to Hamlet; they will be analyzed and compared in the following essay, weighing out the importance of this foil effect to the plot & the effect of the play. Prince Fortinbras of Norway and Laertes depict the exact opposite of Hamlet’s character. All of these characters seek revenge for the death of their fathers by taking the matter into their own hands: Fortinbras seeks war against Denmark (former King Hamlet killed Fortinbras’ father), while Laertes returns from Paris to Eslionor to fight for his dead father 's honor.
Fortinbras’ character exposes Hamlet’s fatal flaw. Laertes is seeking for revenge of his father, Polonius, being killed. He believes Claudius has killed his father and rushes into the palace ready to avenge his father (4.5.129-132). He is rash just as Hamlet is, but unlike Hamlet, Laertes is shallow and makes Hamlet smarting in
Each character has an impulse for revenge, but each one reacts in a different manner. Laertes reacts immediately and irrationally. Hamlet procrastinates, muddles through and ponders his fate and does not act until the entire play is over. Fortinbras is in the middle of these two. When his father is killed by King Hamlet, Fortinbras does not act rashly nor does he hesitate and delay his actions.
One similarity that makes Laertes such a good foil to Hamlet is that they both return to Denmark when they have lost a father. However, the sharp contrast in their reaction to these deaths reveals more about Hamlet’s character. Upon returning to
In Act 4 scene 7, Claudius opens up about Laertes father, Polonius, being killed by Hamlet and how he should avenge his father by killing him. Claudius takes advantage of his sword
The story of Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a story of betrayal, revenge, and intrigue. Hamlet, the title character discovers that his uncle killed his father and married his mother effectively stealing the throne. Hamlet decides he must kill his uncle Claudius as revenge for what he had done. However, as the new king, Hamlet isn't sure how to get to him, so he decides to fake madness, but his plan backfires as Claudius doesn't trust him and makes sure he is always watched. In his fumbled plan for revenge, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, forces Polonius's son Laertes to seek revenge against him, and drives Ophelia crazy causing her to kill herself.
Amelia Schriner English 4 Lanning 10/19/2017 In this paper I am going to be comparing Hamlet and Laertes. Laertes is the son of Polonius and the brother of Ophelia. Hamlet is the prince of Denmark and son of Gertrude. Hamlet 's father was killed and he believes Claudius killed him.
Hamlet and Laerte's confrontations with death Throughout this play, many deaths occurred causing tension in almost every scene. In "Hamlet", the two deaths that caused the most commotion were the deaths of Hamlet's and Laertes' fathers. Both of these deaths were tragic murders; but the responses of the two sons were very contrasting for the most part with very few similarities, other than the fact that both Hamlet and Laertes were distraught over the deaths of their fathers. Hamlet was much weaker in the handling of his father's death, whereas Laertes was more direct with dealing with the situation at hand. "Together with all forms, moods, shows of grief, That can denote me truly.
The Kingdom of Denmark had just suffered the death of a great King and leader. King Hamlet was a father to the people of Denmark. Some of the citizens fully believed that Hamlet Jr. should be king because it passed down the lineage. Others believed that Claudius should be king because he was the brother of Hamlet and now the husband of Queen Gertrude. King Claudius says, "This ough yet of Hamlet our dear brother 's death
All three of these characters’ fathers have died and Shakespeare shows three different ways to deal with it through these three characters. The actions of foil characters Laertes and Fortinbras helped show Hamlet’s character. When Hamlet’s father was killed, he was struck with grief. So much so, that Claudius, his stepfather, called him out and told him he needed to stop crying about his death. He was then visited by the ghost of his
In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, there are foil characters to the main protagonist of the story, Hamlet. Foil characters are secondary characters who contrast the main character of the story in order to emphasize certain traits or characteristics of the protagonist. In the play, Hamlet has two foils, Laertes and Prince Fortinbras, who both contrast some of Hamlet’s character traits in order to highlight their importance to the events of the play. The foil characters reveal to both the audience and Hamlet the difference between his mentality and actions to that of Fortinbras and Laertes’. Act 4 underlines the main differences between Hamlet and his foils; the foils inspire Hamlet to take his own course of action and avenge his father’s death.