Laertes As A Foil To Hamlet Character Analysis

Laertes is aristocratic, the son of Polonius, a prized royal councilor of the Danish court. His sister, Ophelia, is supposedly in love with Hamlet and will marry him (Mason 7). Laertes has a great sibling bond with Ophelia and lectures her about why Hamlet is no good for her. Similarly, Polonius lectures both of his children. However, unlike his father, Laertes actually means what he is saying and knows what he is talking about (Evans 26; Sadowski 10).

These statements both are saying that Shakespeare knows that he is breaking promises to possibly himself, his religion and others, by loving a married woman. Though he cannot put all the fault onto her, because his vows to love her were only there to exploit the love she was physically giving him. In connection to Shakespeare’s sonnet, Amy Winehouse’s You Know I’m No Good, she is singing about how she is the one in the committed relationship, yet cannot seem to stay loyal to her significant other. Winehouse may love him, but knows that she is not good for their relationship. In her chorus she sings, “I cheated myself / Like I knew I would / I told you I was trouble / You know that I 'm no good” (9-12).

For example when King Claudius says “Oh, for two special reasons...The queen his mother lives almost by his looks, and for myself-- my virtue or my plague, be it either which.” (IV,vii,1,11-13). In this quote he is speaking to Laertes about getting rid of both their problems which is Hamlet and Claudius saying one of the reasons that he did not take criminal action against Hamlet is because Gertrude loves him and is devoted to him” Another example is when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern pretends to be Hamlet’s friends but are actually working for King Claudius. In Act ll Scene ii Lines 258 Rosencrantz says “Visiting you, my lord. There’s no other occasion.” In those lines Rosencrantz lies to Hamlet saying that he and Guildenstern is only there to see him but in all actuality they are there to help King Claudius figure out why Hamlet has gone crazy. The final example of the theme appearance vs reality in Hamlet is in Act ll, Scene i, Line 1 Polonius says “Give him this money and these notes, Reynaldo.” It seems that Polonius is giving his servant gifts and letters from him and his family to deliver to Laertes but he is also sending his servant to spy on Laertes to see if he is actually doing what he said he was which is studying

Hamlet fits more with the definition of a hero than Oedipus for his motivations, traits and actions. Hamlet and Oedipus share some common background, as in they both come from well-off families. Oedipus was born with the blood of gods and also raised by King Polybus and Queen Merope in Corinth. Hamlet was the prince of Denmark, soon to be king. They also have somewhat similar motivation when it comes to the the decision and need to kill the current king from each story.

In Act 5 scene 1, page 12 Hamlet says “ I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her.” In this case, the hamlet has proven to everyone that he is in love with Ophelia, with him saying that if you added a forty thousand brothers their love couldn't match mine. With this Hamlet is finally coming out and finally showing his love for Ophelia. All along hamlet did love Ophelia but he was just afraid to show that he did love her because he was afraid that he would get hurt.

Hamlet, the prince of Denmark is contrasted by Fortinbras and Laertes. The prince of Denmark can be characterized as very intelligent.When Hamlet learns of that Claudius is the murderer of his father, he devises a plan to he first makes sure that he is proven guilty “ I’ll have grounds More relative than this. The play’s the thing Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king”(II.ii.601-603) This displays Hamlet’s intelligence by formulating a calculated plan to eliminate his foe. Moreover, Hamlet acts slowly with caution while Laertes and Fortinbras seek their revenge with haste.Furthermore, another attribute of Hamlet is the inability of making decisions. When Hamlet had the opportunity of killing Claudius, but refuses and says “And so he

In every state or country or society, there is a distinctive or organization of power. The Shakespearean world likes to keep constant with the idea of morality and being moral in the society. Anyone who tends to drift away from this morality seems to be considered as corrupted. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, this morality is failed to be followed by several different characters which arose this idea of corruption. The idea put forth by Marcellus that 'something is rotten in the state of Denmark ' is first presented in Act I as two issues; the murder of the late King Hamlet and the incestuous marriage of Claudius and Gertrude.

In the final scene of Hamlet, Hamlet says “Being thus be-netted round with villainies, -- Ere I could make a prologue to my brains, they had begun the play” (Shakespeare 131). Hamlet ironically thinks to himself as a character in a play because he is so melodramatically self-conscious. By adding this sense of paradoxical exposure, Shakespeare shows his effort to foreground the fact that the audience is watching a play within the play. Since Hamlet is such a rich character, Shakespeare’s work shows how he has something within him goes beyond what a play is capable of representing. This leads to a tension between the superficial reality of Hamlet’s awareness and the endless cues that he is a walking shadow.

In conclusion, the poets expresses their feelings, thoughts, and emotions through poetry. The poems “ My Papa’s waltz and “Those Winter Sundays” make readers understand the relationship of a father and son and proves that both of the speakers love their father but never got a chance to actually express their feeling for them and now, realizing their mistakes, they made in the past and regretting it. They both are very talented writers who knows the best way to communicate the meaning of their feeling in the poems and have control over

Here Juliet means that when she learned Romeos name it was too late, she has fallen under a spell of love. There are a few negative thoughts about Romeo and Juliet’s forbidden relationship. Friar Lawrence even warns Romeo to be careful about the marriage of him and Juliet “These violent delights have violent ends” (Shakespeare 856). Friar means that this is a marriage between these two families filled with hatred along with this history between them, the happy couple won’t last for long, and surely this will end badly. Romeo is impulsive, not only when he kisses Juliet, but also when he talks to Tybalt “Tybalt, the reason that I have to love the doth much excuse the appertaining rage” (Shakespeare 865).