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How Does Gertrude Use Fortinbras A Foil In Hamlet

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Catalyst for Prince Hamlet’s revenge In William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, the uncertain ghost of the recently dead King Hamlet informs Prince Hamlet about the events of his death caused by the now King Claudius. Prince Hamlet then embarks on a journey to discover the truth behind his father's unusual death and to seek the revenge that is necessary for the result of his father's assassination. In his play Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, William Shakespeare uses a foil, the symbol of death, and Gertrude's hasty death to provoke Prince Hamlet to complete his obligation to avenge his father's death. As Prince Hamlet plays around with the idea of revenge, Shakespeare uses Fortinbras as a foil character to inspire Prince Hamlet …show more content…

Throughout the play, Prince Hamlet reflects and evaluates the meaning of death. It is not until Prince Hamlet has the possession of Yorick's skull in his hands where he finally confronts the meaning of death. Prince Hamlet is then capable making his own opinions about the subject. Prince Hamlet declares, "As thus: Alexander died… returneth to dust, the dust is earth, of earth we make loam... that earth which kept the world in awe/ Should patch a wall..." (Shakespeare, V, i, 208-216), this is the turning point for Prince Hamlet’s character. Prince Hamlet realizes that death is an unstoppable fate for everyone, even for himself. Since Prince Hamlet comprehends that death is a fate for humanity that can’t be escaped, this element eliminates the distinction between people. This recognition allows Prince Hamlet to accept the fate of death which develops his character in a mature way. The topic of death grants Prince Hamlet to carry out his obligation of revenge because he is now aware of the fact that death will emerge as a repercussion of revenge, just as it the creator. Shakespeare uses Yorick's skull to develop Prince Hamlet’s character with the idea of death so that he can continue with his ultimate

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And due the fact that Strawson think that “The concept of a person is logically prior to that of an individual consciousness” (Strawson, 1958/1981, p.109) is that, finally Hamlet can talk to Yorick’s skull: “We speak of a dead person –a body- and in the same seconday way we might at least think of a disembodied person, retainging the logical benefit of individuality from having been a person” (Strawson, 1958/1981, p.109), and we can talk to the bodies of the love ones has pass

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Hamlet realizes that acting quickly and thinking things through doesn’t matter because human life all ends up the same. So, he starts to understand the meaning of life and accept how his fate ends, but he first realized when he was with the Gravedigger. Firstly, Hamlet started to understand how life roles its course when he saw Yorick’s skull. When the gravedigger showed him Yorick’s skull, Hamlet recognized that we all end up the same way no matter if we peacefully die or get murdered. This shows that this is when Hamlet first started to understand the meaning that life and why we should value and appreciate our lives.

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Although the tragedy of Hamlet by William Shakespeare took place over 600 years ago, the storytelling and ideology hold up to current standards. From Hamlet and Ophelia's strange and severe emotions to harsh arguments and battles, Hamlet varies extensively in symbolism throughout the play. Shakespeare's story of Hamlet takes place inside a large castle, where communication between others might not be accessible which could cause relationship issues. As Shakespeare referenced in the tragedy, the “play within a play” compares each character to an alternate version of that character outside the “play within a play”. Additionally, Yorick’s skull is a symbol of mortality, and Ophelia’s flowers as a symbol of consequential grief.

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The actions of foil characters Laertes and Fortinbras helped show Hamlet’s character. Laertes and Fortinbras’ immediate action showcased Hamlet’s hesitation to get revenge. The relationship between these characters show that Shakespeare wanted to encourage people to take action for what they believe in. Fortinbras illuminates this.

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Yorick’s skull, which Hamlet discovers in the graveyard in the first scene of Act V. He is fixated on the concept of death’s inevitability that no one can avoid death and is particularly fascinated by the appearance of the disintegration of a body. An example is when he traced the skull’s mouth and says, “Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft,” indicating his fascination with the physical consequences of death. It is an important symbol because throughout the play, Hamlet frequently makes comments referring to every human body’s eventual decay, noting that Polonius will be eaten by worms, that even kings are eaten by worms, and that dust from the decayed body of Alexander the Great might be used to stop a hole in a beer

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947 Words | 4 Pages

Although he may not have a significant amount of time on stage, the character of Fortinbras, the Prince of Norway, plays a crucial role in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Fortinbras highlights and contrasts Hamlet's actions and motivations as a foil to the main character, ultimately illuminating the play's central themes of revenge and appearance vs. reality. Through his interactions and decisions, Fortinbras contrasts Hamlet's indecision and inaction, ultimately demonstrating the consequences of taking decisive action and the importance of leadership. Fortinbras's presence throughout the play serves not only to add depth to the narrative but also to provide a commentary on the choices and actions of the other characters,

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1440 Words | 6 Pages

The main source of Hamlet’s fear of death – frailty of human existence, perfectly illustrated in the graveyard scene when he saw the skill of Yorick, a man who was once his fathers’ jester and whom Hamlet was fond of. He witnesses the ultimate physical transition between life and death from this experience and hauntingly asking the lifeless bones ‘Where be your gibes now, your gambols, your songs, your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on a roar?” shows his fear of the absolute finality of death. What one does in life, even those as powerful as Julius Ceaser or Alexander the Great (Hamlet references

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Hamlet is essentially describing that, despite whatever role one played in life, grand or minuscule, one will eventually be dead. This is quite a compelling notion because all of Hamlet is based around death. As G. Wilson Knight, an English literary critic and academic, affirms “…graveyard meditations, though often beautiful, are remorselessly realistic. ”(1) This is intriguing because it shows how Hamlet’s interaction with Yorick’s skull has allowed him to have a more realistic view on life instead of relying upon ghosts and prophecies.

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As Hamlet sees life through the eyes of a killer, he contemplates how it must feel to be killed and to enter the afterlife. His pondering of the afterlife is embodied by both the skull of Yorick, a court jester with whom Hamlet had a personal relationship with, and the ghost of his father, King Hamlet. Since death is both the consequence and cause of of revenge, it is tied closely with the themes of the Complexity of taking action, and justice. As blood is the only prize that may quell the thirst of one who seeks revenge, Hamlet takes Yorick 's skull as a

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That is revenge for the death of their fathers that they hold so much loyalty to. Hamlet and Fortinbras though react differently to avenging the deaths of their fathers. Hamlet of course struggles to make decisions and is uncertain of the actions that he takes throughout the play. Well just meeting Fortinbras for the end of the play you learn he gets the job done and is certain of his

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498 Words | 2 Pages

In the dark and dreary play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the ever consistent theme of the purpose of life, self-destruction, and the ambiguous afterlife runs through the entirety of the play with very few fragments of (forcefully) bright and cheerful spots. With the questioning of both life and death present, it is natural and expected to have props within the play that symbolize these two companions, the most prominent one being a skull. Although a physical skull doesn’t arrive in the play until the last act, its presence and Hamlet’s deep speculation over the skull’s meaning polishes off the entire theme, and also foreshadows the events to come at the end of the play. When thinking of the play Hamlet, one may imagine a man in black garbs

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827 Words | 4 Pages

The play Hamlet by Shakespeare is about a man named, Claudius, who kills his brother with poison, so he can become the king and marry with his brother’s wife. Then, his nephew, Hamlet wants to get revenge on his uncle for killing his father. To begin with, the play Hamlet contains many themes that have a really deep meaning. When analyzing the play Hamlet by the theme that the real poison in the play is revenge, and ambition, there are many examples of how this theme is shown in the play, like how Claudius poisoned his brother and he also died of poison, Hamlet wanting to get revenge, and Laertes also getting revenge of Hamlet. The theme that the real poison is revenge can be shown at the beginning of the play, since Claudius killed Hamlet’s father, he wants to get revenge because that was what the ghost of his father told him to do in order for his father to go to heaven.

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175 Words | 1 Pages

The death of characters in Hamlet is used as character development: the discovery of Yorick shows Hamlet we are all the same in

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755 Words | 4 Pages

In “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare there is a king, Queen, Prince, and the king 's brother. The king 's brother kills him and takes his spot as king of Denmark. The prince dead father comes back to him as a spirit and tell him that he didn’t die of natural causes he was killed and the person who has done it now wears the crown. After finding out about what really happen the prince begins to act really strange and that led to the newly king wanting him dead. Throughout Hamlet the reader will notice that the prince Hamlet has a lot of problems.

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320 Words | 2 Pages

Hamlet, a Shakespeare play, is a classic tale featuring revenge, ambition, tragedy, and deceit. The main character, Prince Hamlet, son of King Hamlet who was recently murdered is contemplating whether or not to avenge his father's death and kill Claudius who is now king and also his uncle and the murderer. The whole play evokes a terrible tragic end in which everyone is slain. Foil characters are used to constantly compare the actions of Hamlet and the possible actions of other characters if they were put in his situation. This helps makes Hamlet's character more three-dimensional and makes it more appealing to the audience.

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