Similarities Between Hamlet And Laertes

In the exchange between Laertes and Ophelia, one learns a great deal about Hamlet, as well. Laertes explains to his sister that she must consider Hamlet's rank and position and know that he is not free to choose a bride for himself (1.3.19-26). He also cautions her not put any faith in "Hamlet, and the trifling of his favor / [and to] Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood, / A violet in the youth of primy nature" (1.3.5-7). He means that Hamlet follows a passing whim where she is concerned, and that he does not truly love her. In other words, Laertes impresses upon Ophelia that Hamlet merely feels toward her the passion that is present in the springtime of youth. It is clear that Laertes believes he is telling his sister the truth about her situation with Hamlet because if he thought Hamlet would marry her Laertes would most likely encourage a relationship between them. Hamlet and Laertes are friends and if Hamlet married Laertes' sister he would at some point enjoy the advantages of a brother-in-law of the King.

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.

Hamlet (prince of Denmark) can be greatly compared to Laertes (son of a noble), and Fortinbras (prince of Norway) in the play. They all are very similar but yet different at the same time. They all had love and respect for their fathers and felt the need to avenge their deaths, which all were brutally killed. All three believed that the murderers had dishonoured their fathers as well as themselves. They all reacted and took different approaches in attempt to restore honour in their families.

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 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 acts much like his father in taking a position of authority over Ophelia. He feels free to tell Ophelia what she has to do with her love life and expects she will oblige his demand. Like his father, he too tells her to break off her relationship with Hamlet. However, his reasoning is not selfish; he is worrying about her virginity, her reputation, and the

Although Hamlet and Laertes despised one another, they both loved Ophelia. Hamlet was infatuated with Ophelia, which was obvious during his constant anguish over her(in her rejection of him, and in her death, Hamlet suffered greatly). Laertes showed a strong brotherly love for Ophelia which was made evident in his advice to her. Laertes further displayed his love for Ophelia during her funeral when he fought with Hamlet.

Hamlet and Laertes share a different but deep love and concern for Ophelia. Before his leave to France, Laertes provides lengthy advice to Ophelia pertaining to her relationship with Hamlet. Laertes voices his concern of Hamlet's true intentions towards Ophelia and advices her to be some what wary of his love. Laertes tells Ophelia

In Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, Hamlet there are similarities between Hamlet, Fortinbras, and Laertes. They do have some character differences but they face many of the same challenges and are put in similar situations. All three of the men have lost their fathers and are seeking to avenge their deaths in some way. Hamlet is contemplating killing Claudius, Fortinbras has gathered an army to reclaim lands that his father lost, and Laertes will do whatever it takes to get revenge for Polonius’ death. The main difference between the three men is that Fortinbras and Laertes are willing to do whatever it takes to reach their goal while Hamlet spends the majority of his time in thought trying to decide the right thing to do.

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

"But I am very sorry, good Horatio, /That to Laertes I forgot myself; /For, by the image of my cause, I see/The portraiture of his" (V.2). In seeking to revenge, Hamlet accidentally stabs Polonius, the king's advisor, thus killing the father of Laertes. Hamlet acknowledges, with his sense of higher justice and objectivity, that Laertes has a reason for hating him, given that he is also a parricide. There is a sharp, circular irony to this cycle of revenge. Similarly, Ophelia is driven mad by the death of her father and kills herself. Hamlet, while much of his madness is assumed, is also driven to a state of emotional distress. Laertes, Hamlet, and Ophelia all act irrationally in ways that bring about their death because of the extremity of their grief.

No two individuals are alike, regardless of similar upbringing. It is reasonable to assume that even twins brought up in exactly the same environment, sharing the same daily activities, and living practically the same life, will act differently when faced with the same situation. Each individual evolves with his or her own uniqueness, style, and way of life. The audience witnesses this phenomenon in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Lord Hamlet and Laertes experienced similar childhoods, and shared similar family attributes. They were both born into royalty and throughout their lives were treated as such. Hamlet and Laertes were reared with the same forms of schooling, and were taught to abide by the same ethics and morals. Although Hamlet and Laertes

Ophelia’s interactions with the male characters of the play reveal her limited agency. As Ophelia tells her brother about her relationship with Hamlet, Laertes responds, “For Hamlet, and the trifling of his favor, hold it a fashion and a toy in blood, a violet in the youth of primy nature, forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting, the perfume and suppliance of a minute, no more” (1.3.5-10). By instructing Ophelia on how to behave in her relationship with Hamlet, Laertes implies that he does not trust Ophelia’s judgement and she needs guidance with her personal affairs.

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

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.