The Examination of Hamlet and Laertes as Foils Essay

They both love Ophelia. Hamlet is a scholar at Wittenberg and Laertes at France. Both are admired for their swordsmanship. Both men loved and respected their fathers.

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.

Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, begins as an admired and noble young man. However, fate and the turn of events lead the tragic hero the depths of his fortunes. The tragedy starts with the death of the heroic King Hamlet. His brother, Claudius is the successor as King of Denmark and married the protagonist’s mother. When a ghost of the late King Hamlet appears, Hamlet’s downfall begins. The ghost explains to Hamlet that Claudius killed his father “upon my secure hour thy uncle stole with juice of cursed hebona in a vial, and in the porches of my ears did pour the leperous distilment, whose effect holds such an enmity with blood of man” (1001). Hamlet then feels like he must get revenge against Claudius and sets out to plot how it will happen. King Claudius senses something suspicious about Hamlet and sends for Hamlet’s two

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

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.

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 the play by William Shakespeare, the ghost of King Hamlet approaches his mourning and depressed son, Hamlet, who is still affected by his death. The ghost explains to Hamlet how he died and demands that Hamlet avenge his death. Note how the ghost approaches Hamlet when he’s the weakest and still mourning to persuade and manipulate him into taking revenge for him. In Act one Scene 5 the ghost states, “If thou didst ever thy dear father love-/ Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.” The way King Hamlet words his request is more as a challenge; in which Hamlet’s love for his dead father can only be proven by carrying out whatever his father wishes. The ghost influences most Hamlet’s behavior, which not only affects the plot, but also the relationships with other characters. The ghost influences the relationship between Hamlet and his mother, Gertrude. He becomes angry at Gertrude because of her fast marriage with his uncle Claudius. Through the use of innuendos, antic disposition, and metamorphic plays, Hamlet makes it his duty to get King Claudius back for killing his father. Hamlet agreed to avenge his father without second thought. As the play advances, Hamlet begins to doubt the apparition. In act 3 Hamlet begins to have second thoughts and states, “The spirit that I have seen/ May be a devil…” This shows Hamlet’s inner conflict between listening to his father and avenging his death or following his ethics. To be sure that Claudius

Hamlet and Laertes are two people with almost all the same aspects in the Shakespeare's Hamlet. They both want to avenge the death of their father's and they both love Ophelia. Hamlet's and Laerte's similarities can be described in many ways but one can talk about the main ones: being the love they have for Ophelia, the death of their father's and how they associate with their families.

Even though Hamlet and Laertes come from different worlds they have a lot of similarities and differences. On one side they are similar because they both want to get revenge for their father’s deaths, they both have a strong love for Ophelia and they both are very loyal sons to their fathers. But on the other hand they are very different because Hamlet is more of a thinker than a doer and Laertes is more of a doer. Hamlet is a very moody character while Laertes is very passionate about everything he does. The Differences between Hamlet and Laertes are striking, and they deserve thorough examination. At the beginning of Hamlet, Hamlet has many characteristics such as he is more of a thinker than a doer, he is very bitter, Hamlet is very depressed and suicidal. Hamlet is more of a thinker than a doer because Hamlet has a lot of soliloquies throughout the play explaining his thoughts about everything (act 1 scene 2). He is also very bitter through the play towards his mother and new stepfather because he knows how his father died. Also he doesn’t approve of how fast his mom moved on from his father and onto his uncle. “Queen: the lady does protest too much, I think. Hamlet: Oh, but she’ll keep her word”(act 3 scene 2). Also Hamlet is very Depressed and suicidal at the beginning of the play because he’s whole life is falling apart. “oh , that this too, too solid flesh would melt, thaw and turn into dew!”(act 1 scene 2). Another example is “I have lost all of my happiness,

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 -

Laertes is a mirror to Hamlet. Hamlet is a scholar at Wittenberg, and Laertes at France. Both are admired for their swordsmanship. Both men loved and respected their fathers, and displayed some dishonesty when plotting to avenge their father's deaths.

    William Shakespeare wrote the classic play, Hamlet in the sixteenth century.  Hamlet would be a very difficult play to understand without the masterful use of foils.  A foil is a minor character in a literary work that compliments the main character through similarities and differences in personality.  The audience can identify similarities and differences between any of the characters and Hamlet, however, there are two characters that share so much in common with Hamlet that they have to be considered the most important foils in the play.  These two characters are Laertes and Fortinbras.  It is the great similarities between Laertes, Fortinbras, and Hamlet that make the

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

Laertes is Hamlet’s other side. Laertes is driven by similar means as Hamlet like his love for his sister Ophelia and his Father Polonius. One of the events in the play that Hamlet and Laertes are shown to be the similar is when Laertes jumps into Ophelia's grave and says “Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead, Till of this flat a mountain you have made T’ o’ertop old Pelion or the skyish head Of blue Olympus” Hamlet (5.1.263-265). Naturally Hamlet cannot be outdone in such a way so Hamlet leaps in after Laertes and makes a similar dramatic scene. Somewhat like Fortinbras, Laertes took action when he believed Polonius had been murdered. A messenger told Claudius “Save yourself, my lord. The ocean, overpeering of his list, Eats not the

No two people are the same, however they can have similar characteristics. In the play Hamlet Laertes is a foil to Hamlet because they bring out the differences in each others character’s. The differences between Hamlet and Laertes are striking, and they deserve thorough examination. Although they bear some minor similarities, the differences between their two characters is clear. Through this essay I will provide evidence showing the similarities and differences between Laertes and Hamlet. In the beginning of Hamlet Laertes, Polonius's son, is described as a very short tempered, brave, and passionate young man who is very skillful with a sword. In act 5 scene 1 at Ophelia’s funeral Laertes is upset with the priest because in the christian church her death was viewed as a suicide, so she was not to be buried with all the proper ceremonies. He says “ Lay her n' the earth and from her fair and unpolluted flesh may violets spring! I tell thee, churlish priest, a ministering angel shall my sister be, when thou liest howling”(Act 5, Scene 1). This quote shows that he was very passionate about his sister and believes that she deserved a proper burial because of the women she was and the way she carried herself. In act 4 scene 7 Laertes says “Under the moon, can save the thing from death that is but scratch'd withal: I'll touch my point with this contagion, that, if I gall him slightly, it may be death.”(Act 4, Scene 7). In this Owens 2