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Hamlet: Laertes And Horatio - College Essay

Hamlet: Laertes And Horatio

In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare uses the characters of Laertes and Horatio as foils to the tragic figure of Hamlet. Because Hamlet's character is in contrast to them, he becomes more vivid for the reader.
In the lawless and poisonous "unweeded garden" , that is the court of Denmark, it seems to Prince Hamlet that an educated, thoughtful, just and morally upright person can set things right only by sacrificing his own life. In order to rescue his country from the evil corruption caused by his stepfather, King Claudius, Hamlet is willing to take extreme measures to the security of his country.
Laertes, Polonius's son and brother of Ophelia, has returned in secret from France after ...

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immediately declares that nothing can stop his "will, not all the world" and will "husband them so well" . He is ready to take revenge at any cost.
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.

In the scene of Ophelia's grave, Laertes' love to Ophelia is expressed when Laertes leaps into the grave and says

Hold off the earth a while,
Till I have caught her once more in mine arms:
Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead,
Till of this flat a mountain you have made
To o'ertop old Pelion or the skyish head
Of blue Olympus.

Obviously, it is a disrespectful way to confront the King. On the other hand, although Laertes acts rudely and in a hot-headed manner, he only wants to revenge his father's death and his sister's insanity.

To approach the King in such a manner, although rude and impetuous, nevertheless shows that Laertes is courageous. This ...

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Hamlet: Laertes And Horatio. (2005, September 20). Retrieved January 31, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Hamlet-Laertes-And-Horatio/33609

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 9/20/2005 06:51:44 PM
Category: Arts
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 887
Pages: 4

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