Laertes As A Foil To Hamlet Character Analysis

The scene opens up within a room in Polonius’s house, where Laertes is getting ready to depart back to Paris. But before he leaves, he decides to give his sister, Ophelia, some advice about her relationship with Prince Hamlet. He basically tells her that she may be in love now, and maybe he is also, but she should be wary of his social status and how he might have to marry someone else for the sake of the state. Not only that, but that she must also be wary of Hamlet as a whole. After all, he's worried that Hamlet might take advantage of her, so he warns her not to have any sort of sexual contact with him, or else, she will suffer the consequences. Ophelia is happy for the advice, but also tells him not to be a hypocrite, and tells him he too must follow his advice.

Comparing Laertes and Hamlet. Figuring out how they are alike and dislike in many ways, most of the play they are well alike. After Hamlet kills Polonius, Laertes down the road faces the same problems as Hamlet; a murdered father. In the beginning Laertes and Hamlet didn’t have the same similarities, but since both of there fathers were murdered they both have something in common. While Hamlet, is messing around and playing with the murderer as if he was an animal, Laertes takes immediate action. Throughout the play “Shakespeare” Laertes and Hamlet shows the same love that they share for Ophelia and to how seek revenge on Claudius.

Act 4: Now that Hamlet has accidentally murdered polonius he is even more distraught than before. He is unaware of who he is and what he is capable of doing. This state of mind leads Hamlet to hide the body in an attempt to make the problem disappear; it is his way of avoiding the issue at hand. Claudius has caught wind of the murder and after the play Hamlet produced he is scared that in Hamlet's’ delirious state his death will be next. Claudius plans for Hamlet to leave and ultimately die when he is away in England. This is done out of Claudius’s fear for his life as well as that of Gertrude, and the now grieving Ophelia. Now that Ophelia’s plan has derailed she is grief stricken and is able to disguise this grief behind the death of her father. On Hamlet’s journey towards England he awakens from his poisoned state where he realizes what

He is Hamlet’s love interest’s brother who implicates Hamlet’s success through conflict. Hamlet sparks the rivalry between the two families by killing some of the family members. By executing Laertes father and Polonius, this causes Polonius’ son, Laertes, to seek vengeance for his father. Consequently, Hamlet’s family goes against him and his love, Ophelia, kills herself. This demonstrates that family ties, even if not blood related, have serious impacts on Hamlet’s life which causes misery to overwhelm his life; this misery prohibits his success. During Ophelia’s funeral, the drama between Hamlet and Laertes magnifies which causes more hate between their families. Laertes provokes Hamlet into fighting him by Ophelia’s grave, with their families there to witness, by saying “[t]he devil take thy soul” (V, i, 243). Following this mishap, Laertes is informed by Claudius of a strategy to end Hamlet’s life in the near future. This immoral conflict being conducted in a place that already is commemorating death displays that they are inclined to cause more people to die. This plot to kill Hamlet is not beneficial to Hamlet’s success and only weakens his personal plot to kill Claudius. Then, Laertes chooses to become a participant in the killing of Hamlet. As aforementioned, this plan for death is a success, but causes many other deaths along with Hamlet to fail.

Character foils often allow the reader to better understand a protagonist’s personality and desires. In the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Horatio, Claudius, and Laertes are exemplar character foils for the protagonist, Hamlet, and under further examination, the play suggests that these character foils help the reader to really resonate with Hamlet and depict the contrasts and similarities between Hamlet and other characters in the play. These character foils are important and significant in highlighting another character’s flaws and traits in which they may not have, compared to another character in the play.

Many of the characters in William Shakespeare’s critically-acclaimed novel Hamlet transform drastically throughout the play. Whether it be the rational but grievingly vengeful Hamlet becoming borderline mentally unstable, level-headed Ophelia also losing her mind, or even Claudius feeling triumphant and victorious in securing the throne for himself but then becoming paranoid over his obvious guilt, most (if not all) of the characters in Hamlet are not the same people they were initially once you reach the back cover of the novel. One character who stands out in his transformation is the fiery and passionate Laertes, the brother of Ophelia. Laertes, like Hamlet, is grieving over the death of his father. In his anguish, he is oblivious to the fact that Claudius is just using him as a pawn in his iniquitous plan to

Hamlet is William Shakespeare 's renowned tale of mystery, intrigue, and murder, centered on a young misguided prince who can only trust himself. Some may say that the actions of Prince Hamlet throughout the play are weak and fearful, displaying a tendency to procrastinate and showing an apathetic nature towards his family and peers. Others spin a tale of a noble young scholar, driven mad by the cold-blooded murder of his father by his uncle. In truth, I believe Hamlet is neither of these things. Hamlet is a sort of amalgamation of the two, a bundle of contradictions thrown together into one conflicting but very human mess of a character. The quote, "We admire Hamlet as much for his weaknesses as for his strengths", aptly describes my feelings towards this troubled young prince. It is simply impossible to characterise Hamlet as good or bad, strong or weak. It is my aim to show the depth of Hamlet 's personality and to explain to the best of my ability the traits which make him who he is. Hamlet is the neither the hero nor the villain of his story- he is simply a victim, a young man slowly losing his grip on sanity over the course of the play.

One such relationship is that between Hamlet and Ophelia. When Hamlet sees Ophelia at the castle, she has come to return the love letters that he once gave her, but Hamlet denies he ever loved her, saying “You should not have believed me [that I loved you]; for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you not (3.1.118-120).” However, Hamlet did love Ophelia, and he did write her those letters, but he pretends not to love her as part of his act. Unaware of the role Hamlet is playing, Ophelia feels rejected and hurt. Eventually, Ophelia’s heartache, along with the death of her father, causes her to commit suicide. Next, Claudius and Gertrude’s role play affect their relationship with Hamlet. At the beginning of the play, Claudius takes on the role of a kind, just king; he seems to genuinely care for Hamlet. He often gives him fatherly advice, and shows affection for Hamlet in ways that an uncle would. However, Hamlet soon discovers that Claudius has been lying to him, and Claudius’ real motive is to kill Hamlet in order to exterminate all possible threats to his reign. Claudius’ role play affects the entire country of Denmark, and he convinces the people that he is the rightful king, when he is not, and has murdered his brother for the throne. Gertrude, too, takes on a role; throughout the play, she seems oblivious to her wrongdoings. She claims that she loves Claudius, and did not just marry him for political reasons. However, in in act 5, scene 4, Gertrude finally admits that she has wronged her son and her first husband, and in her conversation with Hamlet, she says, “O Hamlet, speak no more. Thou turn’st my very eyes into my soul. And there I see such black and grained spots as will leave there their tinct (3.4.87-90).” This indicates that Gertrude does feel guilt for her actions, and all along has been playing a role.

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. The differences and similarities between Hamlet and Laertes are pronounced, and they merit rigorous scrutiny. There are similarities and differences between Laertes and Hamlet.

In The Tragedy of Hamlet, Hamlet has a unique relationship with Ophelia. Throughout the beginning of the play you learn very little about their relationship. Their relationship was referenced however. In the beginning of the play, Laertes warns Ophelia about Hamlet, claiming he does not actually love Ophelia.

In great works of literature throughout history and time, there has always been a general understanding of what a happy ending is. Happy endings - as perceived by scholars of times past and by society today - are joyful sessions where a heroine or hero saves a damsel in distress, true love is found through the toughest of circumstances, or a moral lesson is learned through acts of kindness, loyalty, or bravery. However; in Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, the protagonist of the play is facing death and has, finally, after a protracted and tedious journey, avenged his father’s death and has sated himself to realize and accept his own personal peace. Even as Hamlet is dying, his true love and what is left of his family dead, his kingdom being invaded

Hamlet features several acts of cruelty that lead to many of the events that occur. The meaning of cruelty throughout the play suggests that cruelty does not do good towards anybody and only has negative effects. The characters help portray this by their actions and immediate reactions. Cruelty leads to the downfall of each character.

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the main character Hamlet was out for revenge against the man who killed his father. In addition to his path of revenge Hamlet also deals with conflicting emotions towards a woman named Ophelia. During the play Hamlet’s love, desirability, and dismissal towards Ophelia made me wonder if he was really in love with Ophelia, and it shows that her significance was that she was his last piece of sanity and love.

Once Laertes returns, he asks King Claudius who is responsible for the death of his father and is informed that Hamlet is the one to blame. Ophelia enters and reveals to everyone that she has gone crazy and ends up killing herself. Hamlet returns to Denmark and is surprised to find out that Ophelia has died. Laertes and Hamlet start fighting at her burial service and Hamlet says he wants to be

To be a foil character, one must “contrast with other characters in order to highlight particular qualities of the other characters.” Throughout Hamlet, four prominent characters are foil characters to Hamlet: Laertes, Fortinbras, Horatio and Claudius. In many cases, Hamlet and the foil characters react differently for each other in varying situations but yet show similarities in their reactions.