Essay about Horatio and Laertes as Foils in Hamlet

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

A foil is a minor character in a literary work that compliments the main character through similarities and differences in personality and plot. In William Shakespeare's play "Hamlet", the main character, Hamlet, has three major foils. These foils are his close friend Horatio, Fortinbras, Prince of Norway, and the brother of his love, Laertes. These three characters contradict and enhance Hamlet's major characteristics.

A foil is a minor character that helps the audience better understand a major character. A foil may exist as a comparison character, with similarities between the two, as well as differences that bring to light an important contrast between the foil and the main character. A foil may also just be someone for the main character to talk to, so we can know and understand their thoughts and feelings. Foils help us understand the obvious as well as the arcane. In the classic tragedy Hamlet, we see William Shakespeare employ foils to illustrate both examples. They become important literary tools that help the reader rationalize the concurrent theme of the play -

In the 1990 version of Hamlet starring Mel Gibson, Laertes is portrayed in a very poor light. He seems to have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. At certain points during the written play, Laertes's actions may be taken entirely differently than they are conveyed in the movie. In the film version of Hamlet, all of Laertes's negative aspects are much more pronounced.

Hamlet is a play by William Shakespeare that follows Hamlet as his father is murdered by his uncle Claudius, who marries Hamlet’s mother and claims the throne. Hamlet takes a very deliberate and pensive approach to gaining revenge. In this slow process, he accidentally murders Polonius, thinking him to be the King eavesdropping. This leads to the wrath of Laertes, who takes a very different approach to revenge. Through Laertes’ foil of Hamlet, the futility of passionate revenge is revealed.

Michael Peterson Mr. Rathez English 1 23 November 2015 You may think foil is just that shiny tin used to wrap food or is useless and prefer saran wrap, but Foil as a character is an important aspect to a good story. A Foil character usually is one that contrasts with another character in order to highlight particular qualities of the other character, which in a way makes that character shine. In some cases, even a subplot can be used as a foil to the main plot. Arthur Brook wrote an essay which Shakespeare rewrote into a classic play called Romeo and Juliet.

Although they come from two different families and have different perspectives on some things, there is also a lot that they have in common. On one side of the spectrum, we have a leader. On the other side of the spectrum, we have one who sits back and waits for a lead to show him what he needs to do to take action. The similarities between Hamlet and Laertes are striking, and they deserve thorough examination.

Laertes is a foil to Hamlet because he is distracting Hamlet from his final goal. Hamlet and Laertes both want to avenge their father's death. Hamlet lets his opponent know that he is coming after them and Laertes is more unagitated about it.

In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare illustrates Hamlet and Laertes as two characters, who share several similarities. Both Hamlet and Laertes experienced similar upbringing, display impulsiveness when angered and seek revenge. By examining Laertes’s temper, behaviour towards his family and his quest for revenge in comparison to Hamlet’s, it is evident that Laertes is the better role model for a well- rounded individual. By examining Hamlet and Laertes’s temper, response to their fathers death, and the way they associate with their families, it is evident that Laertes is the better suited role model. Both Hamlet and Laertes seek revenge, are impulsive by nature, (leads to their ultimate demise) and express domineering attitudes towards

To begin with, there are many comparisons between Hamlet and Laertes; which includes revenge, a strong theme throughout Hamlet. Hamlet and Laertes end up wanting revenge at some point during the play because of the death of their fathers. Hamlet devises his plan for revenge down to an intricate step through the play, yet

In William Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, the play is a Renaissance tragedy in Denmark about revenge and cultural identity for Hamlet by the duty of his father and the duties to his society. Hamlet’s father was murdered and Hamlet has been visited by his father’s ghost. The ghost tells Hamlet that he must kill his killer and that his killer is Hamlet’s Uncle Claudius but that he must not kill his mother. Claudius has married Hamlet’s mother only a month after killing her husband, Old King Hamlet. Prince Hamlet is furious with his mother, Gertrude.

Horatio is Hamlet’s Rock of Gibraltar throughout the play. He confides in him alone, he submits his suspicions to the cot formation of Horatio’s judgment and finally dies in his arms, or trusting him with the justification of his acts to posterity. The first thing we hear of Horatio is that he is a scholar, and this intellectual bent he shares with Hamlet, but temperamentally they are opposites. Hamlet praises Horatio for the qualities that he himself conspicuously lacks. Horatio is not "passion’s slave;" he has an imperturbability of mind and spirit that nothing can shake. Hamlet, when he is about to test Horatio’s friendship and judgment says:

It can be argued that, Hamlet, is one of the greatest tragedy stories written by William Shakespeare during his lifetime. The play provides different conflicts between a variety of personalities all in the pursuit of power leading to their interpretation of moral justice in Denmark. The play encompasses the themes of death and corruption throughout the story. Hamlet, the son of King Hamlet and rightful heir to the throne, has puzzling elements through his personality of the protagonist. In the play, Shakespeare develops the character of Hamlet with the contemplation of death numerous times, along with the corruption going on in Denmark.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare is yet another one of his successful tragedies. The plot consists of the protagonist, Hamlet, seeking revenge on his new step-father, his love for Ophelia, his conflicts with his mother, and inner conflicts about death. The plot is introduced when the Ghost of his father, the king, tells Hamlet to seek vengeance on his uncle Claudius who has murdered him to steal his wife and power. Hamlet agrees with the plan because he is already infuriated at Claudius and his own mother. Through the entire play Hamlet deals with his plan of seeking the truth and committing murder. Doing so causes the conflict of his sanity accompanied by depression over his

William Shakespeare “Hamlet is a poem illustrating a prince seeking revenge over his father tragic death. Hamlet the prince is left clueless who killed his father’s until some night watcher gave him some news about a ghost that looked like his dead father. Hamlet decides to go see the ghost for himself and is shocked what the ghost has said to him. The murder of his father was no accident from a snake, but instead Hamlet father was the murder from his uncle, Claudius, the new king of Denmark. Hamlet becomes angry at Claudius for killing his father and is also angry at his mother, Gertrude, for betraying his and marrying Claudius. Hamlet begins to act insane because he wants to distract the people around him so he can fulfill his revenge of the murder of his father.