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Laertes' Characterization in Hamlet

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Laertes is aristocratic, the son of Polonius, a prized royal councilor of the Danish court. His sister, Ophelia, is supposedly in love with Hamlet and will marry him (Mason 7). Laertes has a great sibling bond with Ophelia and lectures her about why Hamlet is no good for her. Similarly, Polonius lectures both of his children. However, unlike his father, Laertes actually means what he is saying and knows what he is talking about (Evans 26; Sadowski 10). 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 …show more content…

He is much less emotional than Hamlet and Laertes, as he is logical in his action. Both Hamlet and Fortinbras plan to avenge their father’s death from the start of the story ( Lynch 2). They both feel cheated of the crown after their father’s unrightful passing and that their uncles stripped them of their title. Hamlet is a soldier with no real power and seems to be okay with it; he doesn 't want to fight. Yet, Fortinbras is a soldier that takes it into his own hand to have power and loves to fight. Hamlet is not a natural killer and has to ponder the ideals, scenarios, and consequences of death for a very long time. As a strong-willed soldier, Fortinbras is completely fine with killing and does not give it a second thought (Mason 23). Fortinbras acts quickly without procrastinating and continuing to dig within himself. He never self-doubts which makes Hamlet’s stalling, thoughtful qualities obvious to the reader (Holman

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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

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It is or is it not true that Hamlet was faking his insanity? I’m not saying Hamlet was faking the whole thing. The meaning for insanity on Dictionary.com is “a permanent disorder of the mind.” I don 't think Hamlet had a permanent disorder of the mind he knew what he was doing and even planned the majority of the events that happened. Most of the time anyway.

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Laertes was worried about his and his dad’s pride so he decide to murder hamlet. Laertes plans the big fencing match with Hamlet. He tricked hamlet and poisoned the tip of his sword. After he poisoned the tip of his sword everything went downhill. Laertes was being greedy because he wanted his dad to be king and stay king.

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Within the classic Shakespeare play of Hamlet, many overarching themes can be found. However, when one looks more closely, they can see that the idea of revenge has huge impacts on the plot. When watching the movie adaptations, one directed by Franco Zeffirelli in 1990 and the other by Kenneth Branagh in 1996, some discrepancies can be seen throughout the story. The way the directors depicted certains scenes has changed the way the views see the ideal of revenge. By analyzing the depictions of Hamlet’s personality throughout all three versions of Hamlet, the audience realizes the importances of revenge in the plot.

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Amelia Schriner English 4 Lanning 10/19/2017 In this paper I am going to be comparing Hamlet and Laertes. Laertes is the son of Polonius and the brother of Ophelia. Hamlet is the prince of Denmark and son of Gertrude. Hamlet 's father was killed and he believes Claudius killed him.

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In the Tragedy of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, some of the most significant events are mental or psychological events that make the audience feel and have an emotional connection with the characters. Moreover, these significant events are categorized as new awakenings, discoveries, and changes in consciousness that set off a mental or psychological effect to the readers. The author, Shakespeare, gives these internal events to characters such as Ophelia, Gertrude, and Hamlet throughout the play to give the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax which associate with their external action. Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius and the sister of Laertes, who both tell her to stop seeing Hamlet. To Polonius, Ophelia is an eternal virgin who is going to be a

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Before Laertes leaves for France, Polonius gives him sound fatherly advice saying: “Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice; / Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgement” (1.3.68-69). Polonius is telling his son to listen to many different opinions, but not to give his own. This is hypocritical of him because throughout the play he is constantly giving his own opinion. In 2.2, he tells Claudius that he believes Hamlet is mad due to his love for Ophelia. He also tells Ophelia to stop seeing Hamlet because he believes Hamlet’s feelings for her are fleeting.

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Similarly, Laertes is known for being a good fighter, a man of action, and having the ability to lead. During the play, Laertes states, “To cut his throat i’th’ church”(4.7.98). Laertes here claims he would go as far as kill Hamlet in the church, something almost unheard of for the

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In the exposition, Laertes is introduced as the brother to the beautiful Ophelia, the girl to whom Hamlet secretly loves. As a “loving” friend and relative, they both share a common bond in wanting to care for Ophelia, but the future shows differently than what they intended. When Ophelia died towards the end, that common bond they shared for her grew stronger and added to the fire that ultimately drew them to go against one another. Hamlet became rejectful of the news and anger soon took over. When confronted by Laertes and challenged by his feeling for

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This is where fault can be found with Hamlet. Fortinbras claims that Hamlet would make a good king, stating “For he was likely, had he been put on, / To have proved most royal” (5.2.413-415). While this quote may make Hamlet appear as a great future king, Fortinbras had never met Hamlet. Fortinbras was not able to get an accurate feel for what type of person Hamlet was day in and day out and therefore Fortinbras could not pick up on Hamlet’s key fault. That fault is Hamlet’s emotional instability.

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In the Tragedy of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, some of the most significant events are mental or psychological events that make the audience feel and have an emotional connection with the characters. These significant events can be awakenings, discoveries, and changes in consciousness that set off a mental or psychological effect to the readers. The author, Shakespeare, gives these internal events to characters such as Ophelia, Gertrude, and Hamlet throughout the play to give the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius and the sister of Laertes who both tell her to stop seeing Hamlet. To Polonius, Ophelia is an eternal virgin who is going to be a dutiful

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He is Hamlet’s love interest’s brother who implicates Hamlet’s success through conflict. Hamlet sparks the rivalry between the two families by killing some of the family members. By executing Laertes father and Polonius, this causes Polonius’ son, Laertes, to seek vengeance for his father. Consequently, Hamlet’s family goes against him and his love, Ophelia, kills herself. This demonstrates that family ties, even if not blood related, have serious impacts on Hamlet’s life which causes misery to overwhelm his life; this misery prohibits his success.

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Laertes is the son of Polonius, who is mistakenly murdered by Hamlet. Laertes goes away to school in France, only to be told that his father was murdered and there was no ceremony. Subsequently, that fueled Laertes’ core issue, the fear of betrayal. He feared that Claudius killed his father because Polonius was close to Claudius; he is the King’s advisor. Laertes’ quest for redemption is to kill Hamlet.

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Hamlet is William Shakespeare 's renowned tale of mystery, intrigue, and murder, centered on a young misguided prince who can only trust himself. Some may say that the actions of Prince Hamlet throughout the play are weak and fearful, displaying a tendency to procrastinate and showing an apathetic nature towards his family and peers. Others spin a tale of a noble young scholar, driven mad by the cold-blooded murder of his father by his uncle. In truth, I believe Hamlet is neither of these things. Hamlet is a sort of amalgamation of the two, a bundle of contradictions thrown together into one conflicting but very human mess of a character.

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“Now, sir, young Fortinbras, of unimprovèd mettle hot and full, hath in the skirts of Norway here and there sharked up a list of lawless resolutes, for food and diet, to some enterprise that hath a stomach in ’t, which is no other— as it doth well appear unto our state— but to recover of us, by strong hand,” (Page 13). He wants to get revenge by killing King Claudius. He also is trying to reclaim the land that was wagered on when his father lost the battle with King Hamlet. Young Fortinbras never really gets the revenge that he is looking for in the way he wanted. He wanted to be the one to kill King Claudius to get revenge, reclaim what his kingdom had lost, and to prove

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