Hamlet Character Analysis

It is without doubt that William Shakespeare has created many unique, thought - provoking characters. Hamlet is by far Shakespeare's most compelling character. In Shakespeare's play Hamlet, various character traits, exhibited by Hamlet, can be seen through his foils. Similarities with Hamlet and Horatio's education, as well as their levels, can be drawn. However, Hamlet's character is in constant change and even philosophical. Fortinbras, without question encompasses many of Hamlet's qualities. They are both born with nobility, along with a similar lineage. However, Fortinbras is more aggressive and even sneaky. Laertes, Hamlet's late antagonist, is both impulsive and righteous. However, they differ in terms of their nobility, as well as

Laertes also brings revenge and betrayal out of Hamlet. Though an enemy, Laertes is a foil to Hamlet. Laertes helps in the development of Hamlet through the similarities they share. These include anger over the death of their fathers, and desire to exact revenge. Betrayal is also relevant because Laertes betrays Claudius in the end, revealing his plan to kill Hamlet. Hamlet betrays his father by verbally abusing his mother, against the wishes of his father. The differences between the two men are very strong. Hamlet would not kill Claudius in the church because he was praying. Laertes, however stated that he would kill Hamlet in a church, praying or not. Another difference is that Hamlet cannot be a man of action and a man of thought at the same time. He does not use his mind when he acts. He just acts. When he is pondering something, he is unable to act out his thoughts, and keeps quiet. Laertes, however, is able to act while thinking. He finds out that Hamlet killed his father and immediately devises a plan to kill him. This flaw makes Hamlet dangerous to himself, and is ultimately his downfall.

Laertes and Hamlet are foil characters as we all know. They act nothing alike. What I am gonna tell you how they are the same and how they are different so you know they are foil characters. What characteristic do you think they have that explaines why they are foil characters.Hamlet was a character who you would have thought he was clever and played circles around everyone when they thought they had played a circle around Hamlet. He acted mad and crazy, “O, that this too too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew, Or that the Everlasting had not fixed, His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God, God, How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world!” Act 1 Scene 2. The only reason he acted like that is because his whole life was falling apart, he was depressed, his dad died and his mom remarried within two months of the death of her husband. He was always right about people he tried to warn his mother about the new king, and how he killed the old Hamlet which was the old king. Hamlet just wants to be protective of his mother, he does not want her to get hurt any more than she already is. Laertes is Ophelia’s brother, he tries to protect her from things. Laertes is a guy who, if things does not go as planned or if he threatened then he wants to fight and settle it. The only thing wrong with that is if he always done that then he would be killed by now already. The king

To begin with, Laertes is the most similar foil to Hamlet when it comes to circumstance and rage. They both want revenge for their father’s death, though their method of revenge are different. Laertes is a man of action and wants to get revenge right away after learning that his father Polonius has been killed. In contrast to Laertes, Hamlet does not even make public knowledge of his father’s murder. Laertes doesn’t procrastinate his attempt at revenge like Hamlet. However, he is very shallow and Hamlet is a genius in comparison. Hamlet thinks of ways to plan his revenge against Claudius, though it is his tendency to overthink that leads him to his tragic flaw. He himself realizes that Laertes is put in a similar position to himself. “I’ll be your foil, Laertes: in mine ignorance your skill shall, like a star i’ the darkest night, Stick fiery off indeed” (V.ii.5-7). Rage is another emotion the characters have in common. When Laertes learns of his father’s death, he gets enraged and wants to get revenge instantly. "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 worlds I give to negligence, let come what comes; only I'll be revenged most thoroughly for my father." (Act 4 Scene 5 lines 128-134). Laertes says to Claudius that he will honor his father when he says that he was “in deed his father’s son more than in words” and that he will kill Hamlet. “To cut his throat i’

The final way that Laertes acts as a foil to Hamlet occurs once again when Claudius and Laertes are discussing Laertes’ actions to achieve his vengeance. Claudius gives Laertes advice saying, “That we would do/ we should do when we would; for this ‘would’/ changes” (4.7.134-136). Claudius is warning Laertes that if he waits long enough, he will probably end up not doing anything at all and will not achieve his goal of vengeance. This quote spoken by Claudius is quite similar to when King Hamlet’s ghost meets with Hamlet earlier in the play to warn him about how he was killed by Claudius and that he must get revenge. King Hamlet’s ghost also warns Hamlet saying, “Taint not thy mind” (1.5.92), telling him to not over think his plan because otherwise he will not pursue his vengeance. After Claudius warns Laertes to not get side tracked, the audience is reminded of King Hamlet’s ghost telling Hamlet to not over think because then their plans will not be pursued. This scene acts as a foil towards Hamlet because soon after the conversation, Laertes does pursue his plan of seeking vengeance, whereas Hamlet has been working on his plan the whole play, and has still not started to execute it.

“To be, or not to be, that is the question,” (3.1.64). This famous line in William Shakespeare's Hamlet perfectly encapsulates Hamlet’s internal struggle throughout the play. Hamlet tells the story of the young prince of Denmark and his desire for revenge on the uncle, Claudius, who murdered his father. As is the case in many works of literature, Hamlet changes greatly throughout the play. However, because of his attempts to act insane, it can be difficult to precisely map the changes in Hamlet’s character. By carefully investigating his seven soliloquies, where he is alone and has no need to “put on an antic disposition,” one can understand and interpret how Hamlet’s character develops throughout the play.

Horatio is Hamlet’s best friend in the play whom is let into the mind and secrets of

      The difference in the time spent on revenge by the characters is significant because it shows the reader what is expected from a son according to standards of the time. In Act one, Scene three, Laertes is being told the responsibilities of a young man and the importance of protecting the family’s honor. Part of protecting the family’s honor is revenging any wrongful deaths. If one is truly concerned with protecting the family name, seeking vengeance would most likely be a top priority; not something delayed for months on end. Therefore Laertes as a foil for Hamlet is significant because Laertes is a more dutiful son and seeks his vengeance quickly. Since he delays his vengeance for so many months, Hamlet is not a dutiful son. [This is a nice idea, but Fortinbras would be an even better foil to make this point.]

     Horatio’s most important role as a foil does not become evident until the end of the play. His conversation with Hamlet just before the fatal duel with Laertes provides us with an insight into Hamlet’s state of mind. Horatio advises Hamlet to back down if he does not like the circumstances, and Horatio will attest to Hamlet’s

A more noteworthy comparison between Hamlet and Laertes would be each man’s intense relationship with Ophelia, the former’s love interest and the latter’s sister. Both men are passionately preoccupied with Ophelia’s actions, mainly those pertaining to her sexuality, but in different ways. Prior to the events in the play Hamlet actively pursues a romance with Ophelia, but during his staged madness he violently criticizes her for acting at all interested in his advances. As the play progresses Hamlet flips back and forth between sneering at Ophelia and declaring his love for her, but in either case he shows an obvious devotion to the girl. Laertes holds the same amount of devotion, but towards protecting her from Hamlet and anything else that may compromise her virtue. When he is told of her descent into

Betrayal was also a similarity shared by the two.  Hamlet betrayed his father when he speaks spitefully toward his mother in her chambers.  Laertes betrays King Claudius in the end when he tells of the plot to kill Hamlet.  The two characters had many things in common but they also had differences.  The biggest difference between the two was their haste at revenging their fathers.  Hamlet thought a lot about how and when to kill Claudius.  Hamlet was concerned about much more than just the revenge of his father.  He was worried about his own salvation and the salvation of King Claudius.  Laertes did not contemplate at all about the revenge of his father.  He first thought it was King Claudius that killed his father and brought a rebellion to the castle to kill the King.  When Laertes found out that it was Hamlet he just wanted to kill him, it was King Claudius who devised a plan and thought out the murder of Hamlet.  The biggest difference in their attitudes toward revenge is shown by the fact that Hamlet would not kill Claudius in prayer because he might go to heaven, but Laertes didn't care and said that he would kill Hamlet in the church.  This clearly differentiates the amount of thought put into revenge between the two characters.  The similarities between the characters allow the audience to compare them, but the more important use of this foil is the difference.  Aristotle

Laertes serves a foil to Hamlet, although they are not similar in birth, they are similar in that they both have a dear father murdered. Using this parallel, Shakespeare uses Laertes to show what Hamlet should be doing, contrasting Laertes’s words of action to Hamlet’s own words of action. We see this most clearly when Laertes is talking with Claudius and he says that he will “cut [Hamlet’s] throat i' th' church” to avenge his father, this contrasts directly with Hamlet who decides not to kill a praying Claudius when he has the chance (4.7.144). Laertes also serves as external conflict as he challenges Hamlet to a fight and is convinced by Claudius to kill Hamlet with a poisoned sword. Without this fight, who knows if Hamlet would have gotten around to kill Claudius? But when we really look at Laertes’ words and consequent action, we see another similarity with Hamlet, both are rash and passionate. This is significant because

Of Horatio we know best that what distinguishes him from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and indeed from Polonius, Ophelia, Laertes, and Gertrude, is that Claudius cannot use him. Critics have remarked upon Horatio’s ambiguously shifting status at the court of Denmark, and the late William Empson confessed a certain irritation at Hamlet’s discovery of virtues in Horatio that the prince could not find in himself. Yet Shakespeare gives us a Hamlet we must love while knowing our inferiority, since he has the qualities we lack, and so he also gives us Horatio, our representative, who loves so stoically for the rest of us. Horatio is loyal, and limited; skeptical as befits a fellow student of the profoundly skeptical Hamlet, yet never skeptical about Hamlet. Take Horatio out of the play, and you take us out of the play. The plot could be rearranged to spare the wretched Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, even to spare Laertes, let alone Fortinbras, but remove Horatio, and Hamlet becomes so estranged from us that we scarcely can hope to account for that universality of appeal which is his, and the play’s, most original characteristic. (5)

One of the most important subplots of the play Hamlet is the character of Laertes and how he demands revenge for the slaying of his father. Laertes is an antagonist character in the play Hamlet and works against the main character. However, Claudius is Hamlet's real enemy in the play so Laertes might be classified as a foil rather than a true antagonist. Laertes is an extremely important character to the plot, although his importance is only seen at the end of the play. Therefore, he should be classified as a major character. His actions ultimately begin the final climax of the play's plot. Laertes is the son of the priest Polonius and the older brother of Ophelia, late female companion of Prince Hamlet. At first, Laertes seems to only be a peripheral character but functions to further the plot in the latter half of the play upon his return to Denmark.

Within the play Hamlet, Shakespeare utilizes Hamlet’s foil, Laertes, by comparing him to Hamlet in multiple aspects of their plans for revenge, to develop the theme of righteous revenge versus personal revenge. Shakespeare begins with contrasting their ideology about their deed by giving Hamlet a positive and righteous mindset about his future task while Laertes has a personal and rash mindset.