Hamlet the Avenger

On the other hand, Laertes wants to revenge his father’s death. Therefore this mistake murder leads Hamlet to his downfall as Claudius and Laertes want to kill him.

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 each set out to avenge the deaths of their fathers, but they end up committing far worse crimes than those crimes that they were punishing. When Laertes and Claudius invite Hamlet to a duel, they intend "To cut his throat i' the church…[and] Requite him for [Laertes'] father" (4.7.127, 140). Because the King is afraid

Laertes acts the most irrationally and rapidly. When Laertes discovers that his father was murdered, he becomes outraged and demonstrates his uncontrolled character as he storms into the castle of Denmark overthrowing the guards and demanding answers about his father's death and questionable funeral. "O thou vile king, give me my father!" (Act 4 Sc.5, 119-120). He is enraged that his father was not buried with his sword and that there was no memorial. When Laertes learns that Hamlet killed his father, he gives no thought to the damnation of his soul as he immediately makes a plan with Claudius to poison and kill Hamlet. Laertes' hatred

2always has to make sure he thinks things over before he does anything. Laertes wants to get back at Hamlet for killing his father. “How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with. 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 the worlds I give to negligence. Let come what comes, only I'll be revenged. Most thoroughly for my father”. Act 4 Scene 5. Laertes tires to figure out what happened and how it happened, he is trying to figure out why he was killed and by who. He wants his father to have a proper burial, but he can not find the body because Hamlet hid it in another room. Hamlet and Laertes is so different in so many ways. Hamlet wanted to talk things out and make everyone happy at the end.

Laertes loses his family because of Hamlet’s actions. His father is killed by him and his sister kills herself because of her grief. Laertes and King Claudius begin to plot Hamlet’s murder, planning to poison him, by drink or wound, whichever comes first. However, the plan backfires on the both of them and Laertes dies from his own blade, but not before saying “The King, the King’s to blame.”

Laertes plots for vengeance due to Hamlet killing his father and second-handedly killing his sister, Ophelia. Hamlet, who is still a self-absorbed narcissist, is beyond clueless to Laertes intentions for fighting. In the end, Hamlet is cut with the poisonous sword, Laertes is stabbed with the poisonous sword, Gertrude drinks from the poisonous cup, and King Claudius finally gets what he deserves after Hamlet, as he’s dying, stabs him and forces him to drink the poison. Hamlet, who suffered through a road of vengeance, finally kills Claudius at the last possible second. All of Hamlet’s family and friends die because of his inability to be a man of action and a man of thought at the times when they are opportune. His delay of killing Claudius led him to become invested in his own issues and become the domino effect for the death of others. His moral ambiguity is questioned even at the end of the play because he killed Claudius at the last possible second. In Shakespeare’s tragedies, like Hamlet, Hamlet desire for vengeance ultimately corrupts the morals and decisions he makes further affecting the people around him as he is so self-involved. Hamlet’s morals suffer because he never once looked within himself to understand where he went wrong. Hamlet’s moral ambiguity creates this significance to the play by emphasizing the fact that

Laertes meanwhile, had initially been a very noble youth, who is had presumeably been an honourable figure throughout most of the play. However, when his father is murdered, as he tries to seek revenge for honour, he instead becomes an instrument for Claudius evil plot. Thus, he becomes engaged in the immoral schemes of Claudius, and even though he does admit that such doings are against my conscience, he still conspires to end Hamlets life in a dishonest manner. Thus, as a result of his lapse in judgement, he, like the other villains in the play, is condemned to death. However, before his death, he is redeemed when he admits that he had been justly killed with my own treachery. Thus, in this case, his underlying integrity, in the end, is able to free him from heavens judgement, and a more honourable death is restored to him, as compared to the previously mentioned villains. Had Laertes taken his fathers advise and been true to oneself, he may have gained a more rewarding end. Thus, we are again able to

    In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the characters of Laertes and Hamlet both display impulsive reactions when angered. Once Laertes discovers his father has been murdered, he immediately assumes the slayer is Claudius. As a result of Laertes' speculation, he instinctively moves to avenge Polonius' death. "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 provide insight into Laertes' mind, displaying his desire for revenge at any cost.

36-38). King Claudius appears to be an honest, noble king, but in reality he is King Hamlet's murderer and a manipulative ruler. Near the end of the play, Claudius manipulates Laertes into a duel with Hamlet, so that he can murder Hamlet without suspicion when he says, "But you content to lend your patience to us,/And we shall jointly labor with your soul/To give it due content.". (4.7. ) This shows that Claudius is openly offering a chance for Laertes to seek revenge upon Hamlet for killing Polonius. Later on, Claudius also lays out the plan to murder Hamlet, when he says

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.

He shows in the soliloquy that he has done wrong and he feels now after that the guilt that he is witnessing is stronger than the reason for killing his brother. He feels terrible about the death of his brother but he must continue with his plan to obtain the power instead of allowing Hamlet to have it. He manipulates Laertes, who Claudius has turned against Hamlet, to help in Hamlets murder. He coaxes Laertes to have a duel with Hamlet so that Hamlet will be killed, Laertes asks “to cut his throat i’th’ the church” (4.7.123).

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

            In addition to each character's motive, Shakespeare uses imagery and allusions to differences in character traits.  Shakespeare hints about the nature of Fortinbras simply by choosing this name.  The name Fortinbras is very similar to fortitude, which is firmness of the mind.  Fortinbras fulfills this description when he persists in trying to reclaim land by attacking Poland.  Instead of giving up on reclaiming his father's land when his uncle tells him not to attack Denmark, he sticks to his plan by taking a piece of Poland.  The name Laertes is also significant because in Greek mythology, Laertes was the father of Odysseus and helped his son reclaim the throne.  This implies that Laertes will take action if necessary.  Shakespeare also compares Laertes to the image of a tidal wave when he returns from France in order to show that Laertes is unfaltering in his decisions as is a tidal wave in its course.  In contrast to Fortinbras and