Hamlet Essay
July 23, 2008
Contrasting Views
Throughout the Shakespearian play, Hamlet, Laertes and Prince Hamlet are compared and contrasted through similar situations that show how Laertes is a foil to Hamlet because of there different personality traits.
No two people are the same. In the play Hamlet, the most significant different between Laertes and Hamlet is there personality traits and how they act upon situations. Hamlet is a thinker and uses his intellect when it comes to situations such as the plan to seek revenge on Claudius. By thinking before he acts Hamlet causes a tragic error which leads to the death of many innocent people. By not killing Claudius when he had the chance too he caused the death of Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Laertes and himself. “And so ‘a goes to heaven; And so am I reveng’d. That would be scann’d: A villain kills my father, and for that I, his sole son, do this same villain send To Heaven (Act 3, Scene 3: 74-78).” He could have killed Claudius but instead he over thought the situation and did not to kill him because Hamlet believed that he would not have suffered the way that his father did. Laertes is quite different because rather than using his brain he acts upon a situation right away with passion and heart. He does not think things through which is how Claudius takes advantage of him in the end. The King is not threatened by Laertes because he doesn’t consider him a threat which is why he takes an advantage of Laertes and his need for revenge. Even though they both have character flaws the ideal character would use both there head and heart. One character flaw that they both have in common is how they react to Ophelia’s death. At the funeral they both jump into the grave and argue and fight over who has the most love for her. There actions show that they are more obsessed with the competition between themselves than respecting Ophelia’s grave and funeral. “I’d love Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her? (Act 3, Scene 1: 255-257).” This quote is said by Hamlet to Laertes. It is a rivalry between her brother and her lover for who has the most love for her. This has nothing to do with Ophelia because they had lost sight of the truth and made it into a competition between each other. What is ironic about the end of the play is that they fight each other in a duel and both die in the end which shows that they both have different weaknesses.
