In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the dead king’s son Hamlet avenges his father’s murder, but his madness and indecision takes its toll on everyone. Hamlet’s father, the King Hamlet, was murdered by Claudius because he was ambitious for the throne and Queen Gertrude. In Act 3 of the play, Hamlet begins to test Claudius for any sign of guilt in the murder of his father. After watching a play disguised as a reenactment of the murder of King Hamlet, Claudius begins to confess his sins to God. In Claudius’ confession soliloquy, Shakespeare reveals Claudius’ inner duel between his rational desire to act virtuously by relieving his guilt and his gravitation toward material gain and selfishness by following his ambitions through the use of
The two men serve as foils to Hamlet with respect to their motives for revenge, the way they take action, and their behavior while carrying out their plans. Laertes learns of his father’s death and wants to seek vengeance immediately. He shows that his revenge is to prove his love for his family by saying he will “be revenged Most thoroughly for
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.
Revenge is a major part of life, even with minor things people like to get major revenge, and the same can be said for major things also. While revenge is a huge thing it can lead to bad results. Revenge is a major theme in William Shakespeare 's Hamlet, revenge is seen through Hamlet’s revenge for his father, Laertes’ revenge for his father, and Fortinbras’ revenge on Denmark for Norway.
Furthermore, Claudius has no emotion towards his family, this is because his mind is only focused on obtaining power. This trait that Claudius displays shows by how he did not initially kill Hamlet. Before Claudius develops a plan to kill Hamlet, he tells Laertes, “O, for two special reasons, which may to you perhaps seem much unsinewed, but yet to me they’re strong. The Queen his mother lives almost by his looks and for myself… She is so conjunctive to my life and soul...
His self-respect has made him fearless and determinate. When Claudius asks him to what extent is he willing to kill Hamlet and avenge his father, Laertes answered “[He will] cut his throat in the church.” (Act IV scene vii l.139)Laertes is determinate, to avenge his father, he is willing to give anything to avenge his father, even if he has to give up his religious belief, even if he will kill, even if he has to go to hell after he’s dead for what he had done. Due to his high self-respect, instead of putting things behind and move on, he chooses to stand up and bravely fight against all the injustices. Even though he knows that these are difficult to conquer, on account for his self-respect, he does his best to fight and tries to set things
Claudius has much more respect for Laertes then he does for Hamlet. He speaks very informally to Hamlet using thou to address him. Claudius had no problem allowing Laertes to go back to school while he made Hamlet stay in
The story of a young man by the name of Hamlet has been told since it was first written in the early 1600s. The timeless classic tells the tale of Prince Hamlet, who discovers that his mother had wed his uncle, two months prior to his father’s passing. He visits the throne in Denmark because he is disgusted at the act of incest, where the ghost of his deceased father confronts him, insisting that he was murdered by Claudius, the new king. Hamlet is enraged, and he becomes obsessed with the idea of proving the crime so that he can obtain revenge against Claudius (Crowther). Despite the myriad of themes that circulate throughout the Shakespearean play, many do not realize one hidden yet extensive theme: actions and their consequences. Complexities
Like many things, Hamlet is intelligent and honorable, but his indecisiveness is the cause of his tragic downfall. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare portrays that Hamlet is very incapable of finishing the task at hand. Throughout the drama Hamlet faces many trials and tribulations due to his late father Hamlet, who was murderously killed by Claudius. His inability to kill Claudius and himself is one grand flaw of an epic hero. After King Hamlets passing, Hamlet entered an unknown state of mind that not only feared others for his wellbeing, but also feared himself.
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
The things hamlet do can reflect on his father on how he is proposed as a king. After hamlet 's
In William Shakespeare’s well known play Hamlet , there are several acts of violence that often keep the readers on their toes constantly wondering what will happen next. It all begins with the death of King Hamlet and comes to an end with no royal family in control of the castle, Elsinore, in Denmark. Each character has their own unique motive for self gain throughout the play, but Hamlet has a strong drive for the dangerous game of revenge. Hamlet wants to earn justice for his father who had his kingdom, wife, and crown all stolen out from underneath him when his life is innocently taken by his greedy uncle. “To be or not to be?” is the question
He blames everything on Claudius because he is the one that killed Hamlet’s father and now his mother. This give Hamlet peace about all of the events that have lead to this moment. We should learn from this that revenge in haste can be chaotic and unsuccessful. Revenge may not always be the answer, but if that is what you choose, then it needs to be well thought out and tested for flaws. I think that Laertes got the revenge that he wanted and even though it resulted in his own death as well, he got some closure that he needed.
They both did so much wrong just to get their past back or get their revenge that they end up getting murdered. Daisy drove the car that killed Myrtle, and Myrtle’s husband assumed the one who hit her was the one she cheated on him with so he shot him while he was minding his own business. Hamlet killed Polonius, and Ophelia died, so Hamlet and Laertes had a duel which ends both of their lives. In the end of it all, they were both so set on getting revenge or fixing their past that they angered so many other people and died, neither of them even fulfilled their
Hamlet: the story of a prince who solely wants to revenge his father’s murder at the hands of his uncle. In the end, Hamlet succeeds in completing his goal, but at the price of his own life immediately following Claudius’ death. Throughout the play there were several points where Hamlet could have killed his uncle without facing immediate repercussions, however, fate intervened and caused Hamlet to delay killing Claudius until the very last second. Fate also had a role in shaping Hamlet’s fatal flaw throughout the play. Because of fate’s interference in his life, Hamlet falls victim to his fatal flaw, his inability to act, thus causing him to delay in killing Claudius, ultimately creating the perfect scenario for fate to right the wrongs of Hamlet’s father through Hamlet’s own death.