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His main goal is to ensure Hamlet’s death, which is motivated by his guilt. He writes a letter to the King of England saying to execute him, which fails. He then persuades Laertes to duel with Hamlet by feeding him lies. However, guilt brings out the truth in people, and Laertes confesses during battle the truth about Claudius and his plan. Hamlet furiously stabs Claudius to death.
Act 4 scene 4 sees a much developed character of Hamlet following his introspective and self-loathing characterisation in the earlier scenes. The rash slaughter of Polonius and his reaction following that proved to be a turning point for Hamlet allowing him to embody the conventional trajic hero foreshadowing that his downfall would be partly related to his hubris. In this soliloquy, Shakespeare harnesses Hamlet's language to convey the character's pivotal position between the changing world and ideas about revenge and honour and his conflict within himself about carrying out revenge and complications surrounding taking lives to further one's cause. Religious implications are also mentioned as Hamlet's own Christianity plays a major role once
The two men serve as foils to Hamlet with respect to their motives for revenge, the way they take action, and their behavior while carrying out their plans. Laertes learns of his father’s death and wants to seek vengeance immediately. He shows that his revenge is to prove his love for his family by saying he will “be revenged Most thoroughly for
Throughout the last two acts of the novel, we see Laertes change from an impulsive instigator into a more wise and rational person who realizes he is in the wrong. After he first learns of his father’s death, Laertes is seething due to his misery, and consequently, strives for immediate retaliation. Contrastingly, at the conclusion of the duel scene, he is downcast over his looming death and the fact that he has caused Hamlet’s death, while also being ashamed of how quick he was to murder. Though to some, Laertes may be a seemingly insignificant character, it is Laertes affliction (as a result of his father’s death) that ultimately drives the novel to its grievous climax. Albeit tragic, if the end scene would not have happened, Laertes would not have had the opportunity to discover that he was wrong, and thus change.
One similarity that makes Laertes such a good foil to Hamlet is that they both return to Denmark when they have lost a father. However, the sharp contrast in their reaction to these deaths reveals more about Hamlet’s character. Upon returning to
The soliloquy in Act 4 Scene 4 of Hamlet by Shakespeare is a crucial part of the play, as Hamlet decides to seek revenge for his father’s death. In this scene, the central theme of revenge is accompanied by themes of religion, decay, and corruption. Hamlet sees Fortinbras’ army and realizes how many men bravely faced death to defend their honor; this enables him to connect to his father’s murder and how he should seek vengeance. The sight of the army not only influences Hamlet’s actions, but also demonstrates the political discourse during the time of the play. These themes of decay and corruption are addressed in the political discourse in this scene along with Hamlet’s use of religion to justify seeking revenge.
In Shakespeare's “Hamlet”, Laertes is one of Hamlet's greatest foils. Shakespeare uses Hamlet actions to contribute to the play's complexity around revenge and morality, but when compared to Laertes actions it highlights his shortcomings as a character. Laertes' impulsive behavior is the opposite of Hamlet's introspective personality. In the play, both men's fathers were murdered, but only Laertes was eager to take action for revenge. “Hamlet’s desire to avenge his father’s murder is foiled by Laertes’ impulsive attempt to rectify his father’s death” (Barreto).
On the other hand, Hamlet, also wanting justice was very indecisive, and found potential excuses for preventing the death of Claudius. Another noted difference between Laertes and Hamlet was the attempt and way they went about acquiring their revenge. Hamlet was ethical, which was visible when he resisted the urge to put a sword through Claudius when the new king was at church, on the contrary, Laertes’s means of acquiring revenge was sordid, because he had poisoned the tip of his sword in a fight that Hamlet thought was fair. Compared to Hamlet, Laertes is faced with similar issues, but reacts very differently making him a foil of
Claudius schemes and manipulates many people for many different reasons whether for his personal protection, sparing someone’s feelings, or to carry out a crime. This motives affect other characters causing them to do things that
Laertes returns home on account of his father’s death. Claudius manipulates and deceives Laertes into thinking that it was all Hamlet’s fault and that revenge must be taken. Laertes resolves to do just that by accepting the power Claudius grants him to arrange a sparring match, in which Laertes can poison his sword. Leartes states that all he must do is, “touch my point[on Hamlet] with this contagion, that if I gall him slightly, it may be death” (IV, vii, 147-149). Leartes plans the murder of Hamlet all on account of what Claudius wants him to do.
Laertes is respected by many for his strong set of morals as well as his belief in justice and honor. He is idealistic and well-meaning (“Hamlet” 3). His character represents the “...embodiment of official duty and obedience...”(Sadowski 9). Hamlet was a long-time friend of Laertes until his sudden descent into fake madness and obsession with revenge which consequently lead to the accidental killing of Polonius that was meant to be Claudius. Later on, after devastating heartbreak and insanity Ophelia mysteriously
Laertes is clearly confident in himself, and benefits from the constant encouragement from Claudius. It is said that “Laertes’ character becomes …. more evil as the play progresses” (McGee 156),because he consistently takes action. According to Arthur McGee, “like Polonius, he [Laertes] condones the incestuous marriage” (McGee 153), which is another difference between Laertes and Hamlet. As a foil, Laertes not only highlights Hamlet’s strengths, but also his weaknesses.
The Crucible is a movie that tells the tale of the salem witch trials, and is based off of the play by the same name by Arthur Miller. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible during the time of the ‘Red Scare’ as a warning of what could happen when suspicion clouds the judgement and rationality of the people. The setting of the film is Salem Massachusetts in 1692. In this time period the government was the church, and the laws were set by the bible.
Lastly, Laertes is a character in Shakespeare’s play that is used as a character foil for Hamlet, meaning his character traits contrast noticeably with Hamlets. Laertes is a very decisive character who immediately acts on his desires, even if they are not necessarily logical or well thought out. He makes the choice to go to France to continue university without a second thought whereas Hamlet wanted to return to university but was persuaded to stay. Once Laertes hear’s of Hamlet murdering Polonius, he promptly returns to Denmark and knows undeniably that he wants revenge. He immediately begins to form a plan with Claudius to murder Hamlet, with no doubts whatsoever about his choices.
Over the course of Hamlet, many of the main characters engage in role play as a mechanism to achieve their own interests. Prince Hamlet is one of these characters, and his act proves to be one of the most important aspects of the play. Throughout the play, role-play (especially Hamlet’s) significantly affects the plot, and ultimately strains the relationships between several characters. Hamlet is among one of the most important characters to engage in role play. In act one, scene 5, shortly after being told that Claudius killed his father, Hamlet tells Horatio and Marcellus that he plans to feign madness, and he says, “As I, perchance, hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition
