Hamlet and Laertes
In the course of Shakespeare’s great tragedy Hamlet, two characters, Hamlet and Laertes, develop as “foils,” or contrasting characters. Several comparisons and contrasts can be shown between the two characters, many of which center around three main topics. Throughout this essay, I will show how Hamlet and Laertes compare and contrast in terms of avengers, sons, and personalities.
To begin with, one of the most obvious examples of Hamlet’s and Laertes’s similarities rests in their roles as avengers. At first both become angry. Hamlet’s desires are revealed in his words “So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word./It is ‘adieu, adieu, remember me.’/I have sworn ‘t.” (Act I, scene v, lines ...
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be willing “To cut [Hamlet’s] throat i' th’ church” (Act IV, scene vii, line 140). Hamlet, on the other hand, believes his soul more valuable than instant revenge. For this reason, he refuses to kill Claudius while he is praying. Clearly, the only similarity between Hamlet and Laertes as avengers is their desires are rash in anger.
Hamlet and Laertes also can be compared as sons. Both Hamlet and Laertes have fathers deeply concerned with whether or not their son is going to soil their family name. Polonius’s concern is exposed in Act II, when he tells Reynaldo “You shall do marvelous wisely, good Reynaldo,/Before you visit him, to make inquire/Of his behavior.” (Scene i, lines 3-5). Throughout the dialog, Polonius requests that Reynaldo check up on Laertes, even at the risk of ruining Laertes’s name. Evidently, Polonius is very concerned with his son’s actions. Claudius, too, worries about Hamlet’s actions and how it will look on the castle. He believes that Hamlet is crazy and ...
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Hamlet and Laertes. (2011, March 24). Retrieved April 19, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Hamlet-and-Laertes/96705
"Hamlet and Laertes." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 24 Mar. 2011. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Hamlet-and-Laertes/96705>
"Hamlet and Laertes." Essayworld.com. March 24, 2011. Accessed April 19, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Hamlet-and-Laertes/96705.
"Hamlet and Laertes." Essayworld.com. March 24, 2011. Accessed April 19, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Hamlet-and-Laertes/96705.
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