Laertes and Fortinbras as Foils in Hamlet.

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Laertes and Fortinbras as Foils in Hamlet

Foils serve an important part in any literary work, and they are particularly potent in Shakespeare’s complex and profound plays.  They shed new light on the protagonist’s complex character, and foils give the audience a medium with which to sympathize with him. They allow the audience to see what divergent paths the main character could have taken.  In Macbeth, the foils of Banquo and Malcolm serve to underscore the corruption of Macbeth’s rule, and in Romeo and Juliet the characters of Benvolio and Tybalt allow the reader to understand Romeo’s character more thoroughly.  Suffice it to say that foils play a necessary and unmistakable role in Shakespearean tragedy.  In Hamlet, it is the characters of Laertes and Fortinbras that act as foils, by giving the audience a more complete view of the protagonist, Prince Hamlet.

        Laertes and Hamlet are similar in that they both have had a father murdered in cold blood, and both have the opportunity to face their father’s murderer.  Also, they are both university students and noblemen in Denmark.  The difference between them is in their response when faced with their father’s murderer.  Hamlet’s response to the knowledge that Claudius killed his father is slow and thoughtful.  He waits weeks until he has amassed evidence far beyond a reasonable doubt before he decides to kill his uncle, and still he waits to act.  He refuses to kill Claudius while in prayer, saying that “[a] villain kills my father; and for that / I, his sole son, do this same villain send / To heaven that he does not wish for his soul to go to heaven” (III.iii.76-78).  Hamlet must assure himself that killing Claudius will be honourable and justifiable, and thus he is slow and methodical in action.  

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        Conversely, Laertes waits no time in his resolve to avenge his father’s death.  After learning of Polonius’ murder, he rushes back from France, gathers men around him, and bursts into Claudius’ court.  He demands vengeance and is ready to exact his revenge on whomever is deserving.  After learning that Hamlet murdered Polonius, Laertes declares his intent to kill Hamlet, even if he has “[t]o cut [Hamlet’s] throat i’ the church” (IV.vii.127).  Furthermore, Laertes’ scheming with Claudius shows that vengeance is of a higher priority than honour.  He is willing to poison Hamlet while pretending to be a gentleman, even after ...

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