Religion In Hamlet Essay

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.

When Laertes learns that Hamlet has killed his father, he immediately goes along with the king's plan to kill Hamlet. Laertes agrees to "be ruled" by the King so that Hamlet "shall not choose but fall; / And for his death no wind if blame shall breathe, / But even his mother shall…call it accident" (4.7. 69, 65-68). Laertes has lost all form of conscience because of his anger towards Hamlet, he even wants "to cut [Hamlet's] throat i' the church" which is a grave offense that would surely send Laertes to Hell (4.7.127). Hamlet, on the other hand, spends much of his time plotting how he will gain his revenge. He has "heard / That guilty creatures sitting at a play…have proclaimed their malefactions…/ Before mine uncle, I'll observe his looks…If ‘a do blench, / I know my course" (2.2.589-90, 593, 597.598-9). Hamlet chooses to show the King a play, very like that of Claudius' own murderous deed, in order to cause a reaction. When "the King rises" unexpectedly, Hamlet gains some evidence of the King's guilt, beyond the word of a ghost.

Many Shakespearean plays reflect views of the time in which they were written. They convey this through common themes. These themes often define a character's specific personality and characteristics. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Laertes serves as a foil for Hamlet in which their contrast presents pivotal themes that reveal Hamlet’s character. While the play has many themes, morality, revenge, and honor specifically relate to the contrast between Laertes and Hamlet, consequently resulting in Laertes purpose as a foil for Hamlet.

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

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.

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’

In modern society humans stand up and fight for what they think is right and fair. Human beings have the desire to avenge what they think is wrong. The theme of revenge has a major effect in the play Hamlet and is a constant throughout the play, it underlies almost every scene. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare examines the theme of revenge through the erratic thoughts and actions of the characters Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras. The main revenge plots in the play is Hamlet’s aim to avenge his father, Hamlet Sr, Laertes’ aim to avenge the murder of his father, Polonius, and Fortinbras’ aim to avenge the death of his father, Fortinbras. Having lost their fathers, Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras take vengeance on the people that killed them. These plots play a major role in the play presenting the theme of revenge to the audience.

In his play Hamlet, William Shakespeare frequently utilizes the word “revenge” and images associated with this word in order to illustrate the idea that the pursuit of revenge has caused the downfall of many people. He builds up the idea that revenge causes people to act recklessly through anger rather than reason. In Hamlet, Fortinbras, Laertes and Hamlet all seek to avenge the deaths of their fathers. Hamlet and Laertes manage to avenge their father’s deaths and in doing so, both rely more on their emotions rather than their reasoning, which eventually leads to their downfalls at the end of Hamlet.

Laertes does not think about his actions or reason through them as Hamlet does, but reacts indecisively and quickly to his father’s death with no concern for the results. For instance, when Laertes finds out about his father’s death, when he barges into the castle Elsinore, and demands to see the king, when Claudius convinces Laertes that he did not kill Polonius, answering Claudius’ question whether Laertes would kill even a friend to avenge his father, Laertes answers, “None but his enemies.” (IV, v, 165) The fact that Laertes would kill his own friend to avenge his father shows that he does not care for the consequences that would follow murdering your friend. He is hot headed and does not stop to think, so he does not realize he is being manipulated. Another instance, following the discussion between Claudius and Laertes aforementioned, Claudius starts to flatter Laertes into killing Hamlet for him, as Claudius questions Laertes commitment to avenging his father, Laertes declares, “ To cut his throat i’ th’ church.” (IV, vii, 144) Laertes confesses with this line that he does not believe in the consequences of the after life. He has no regards for the eternal condemnation that taking a life results in.

It is evident that Hamlet's character and nature, which leads to his action of revenge, is that based on reason, while Laertes's form of revenge is that based on passion and impulse.

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

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is one of the most famous tragedies William Shakespeare has ever written. Found throughout Shakespeare’s tragedy are many religious references. According to Peter Milward, the author of Shakespeare's Christianity: The Protestant and Catholic Poetics of Julius Caesar, Macbeth, and Hamlet, “From a purely religious point of view, which is more than just biblical, Hamlet is rich in homiletic material of all kinds, reflecting almost every aspect of the religious situation in a deeply religious age” (Milward 9). These pieces of religious literature are crucial to the plot of Hamlet. The religious elements found in this tragedy provide the plot, allusions, and foreshadowing.

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the Danish prince sets out to avenge his father’s assassination at the hands of his uncle Claudius, the new king. At first, Hamlet is fragile because of his father’s sudden death and the following marriage of his mother Gertrude and uncle Claudius. Originally contemplating suicide, Hamlet dissuades himself from doing so on the grounds of it being a sin. Shifting from an internal struggle to an external one after he meets his father’s spirit, he seeks to kill Claudius but cannot due to his religion again. Finally Hamlet thwarts Claudius’ plans to be assassinated in England and returns to Denmark. He finds peace in his Christian faith before dying in

Hamlet, the broody teenager of the stage, philosophizes life and death within the play Hamlet but it is his fear of religious damnation that gives him his various answers. Many characters in the play Hamlet find themselves questioning different things or actions and after weighing all their moral options it is their religion that gives the final say in what answer they end up with. King Claudius, after killing his brother, takes the throne but King Hamlet returns as a ghost and asks his son to seek revenge on his uncle. Hamlet agrees to this but also finds himself struggling with a moral dilemma about suicide. Religion becomes the major decision maker and plot pusher of the play Hamlet.