The theatrical representation of Hamlet is one of mystery, action, character development, but most importantly, tragedy. A considerable amount of people hold a common belief that the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare is a tragedy, due to the fact that all the main characters perish at the end of the play. An individual might take this stance on this argument upon first hearing. However, the reality of the situation is that there are numerous parts of the play that show that this statement is not only incorrect, but an oversimplified version of the bigger truth. Further investigation into this topic will reveal that, in fact, the decisions the characters make throughout the duration of the play is where the true tragedy builds up. At first, …show more content…
As with Ophelia’s tragedy, Laertes suffers a tragedy of being deceived and used by Claudius as a result of Hamlet’s impulsive behavior as well, further assuring that the tragedy exhibits itself in the conclusions drawn by the characters in the story. The tragedy inside Laertes that is the causation of Hamlet’s killing of Polonius is evident through the scene where Laertes confronts Claudius on why he did not punish Hamlet for his malicious act. Claudius then goes on to trick Laertes into plotting against Hamlet, and Laertes proclaims, “ And so I have a noble father lost;/A sister driven into desperate terms/Whose worth. if praises may go back again,/Stood challenger on mount of all the age/For her perfections. But my revenge will come”(4.7.27-31.) At this moment in time, it can be seen that while Laertes expresses his emotions of rage, he is being manipulated by Claudius, as well as how the dramatic purpose shows character development, as the tragic outcome of being tricked like this for personal gain stems from that of how Hamlet’s actions had resulted in the loss of his father, which was ultimately one of Hamlet’s rash decisions. Upon closer look, the place where tragedy lies is not only where all the characters die, but where the outcomes of the decisions the characters make throughout the course of the play, such as when Hamlet commits homicide towards Polonius, or how Claudius can cause tragedies with the way he lives his as
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In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the characters of Laertes and Hamlet both display impulsive reactions when angered. Once Laertes discovers his father has been murdered, he immediately assumes the slayer is Claudius. As a result of Laertes' speculation, he instinctively moves to avenge Polonius' death. "To hell, allegiance! Vows, to the blackest devil! Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit! I dare damnation: to this point I stand, that both worlds I give to negligence, let come what comes; only I'll be revenged most thoroughly for my father." Act 4 Scene 5 lines 128-134 provide insight into Laertes' mind, displaying his desire for revenge at any cost.
Laertes also brings revenge and betrayal out of Hamlet. Though an enemy, Laertes is a foil to Hamlet. Laertes helps in the development of Hamlet through the similarities they share. These include anger over the death of their fathers, and desire to exact revenge. Betrayal is also relevant because Laertes betrays Claudius in the end, revealing his plan to kill Hamlet. Hamlet betrays his father by verbally abusing his mother, against the wishes of his father. The differences between the two men are very strong. Hamlet would not kill Claudius in the church because he was praying. Laertes, however stated that he would kill Hamlet in a church, praying or not. Another difference is that Hamlet cannot be a man of action and a man of thought at the same time. He does not use his mind when he acts. He just acts. When he is pondering something, he is unable to act out his thoughts, and keeps quiet. Laertes, however, is able to act while thinking. He finds out that Hamlet killed his father and immediately devises a plan to kill him. This flaw makes Hamlet dangerous to himself, and is ultimately his downfall.
Laertes plots for vengeance due to Hamlet killing his father and second-handedly killing his sister, Ophelia. Hamlet, who is still a self-absorbed narcissist, is beyond clueless to Laertes intentions for fighting. In the end, Hamlet is cut with the poisonous sword, Laertes is stabbed with the poisonous sword, Gertrude drinks from the poisonous cup, and King Claudius finally gets what he deserves after Hamlet, as he’s dying, stabs him and forces him to drink the poison. Hamlet, who suffered through a road of vengeance, finally kills Claudius at the last possible second. All of Hamlet’s family and friends die because of his inability to be a man of action and a man of thought at the times when they are opportune. His delay of killing Claudius led him to become invested in his own issues and become the domino effect for the death of others. His moral ambiguity is questioned even at the end of the play because he killed Claudius at the last possible second. In Shakespeare’s tragedies, like Hamlet, Hamlet desire for vengeance ultimately corrupts the morals and decisions he makes further affecting the people around him as he is so self-involved. Hamlet’s morals suffer because he never once looked within himself to understand where he went wrong. Hamlet’s moral ambiguity creates this significance to the play by emphasizing the fact that
Laertes serves a foil to Hamlet, although they are not similar in birth, they are similar in that they both have a dear father murdered. Using this parallel, Shakespeare uses Laertes to show what Hamlet should be doing, contrasting Laertes’s words of action to Hamlet’s own words of action. We see this most clearly when Laertes is talking with Claudius and he says that he will “cut [Hamlet’s] throat i' th' church” to avenge his father, this contrasts directly with Hamlet who decides not to kill a praying Claudius when he has the chance (4.7.144). Laertes also serves as external conflict as he challenges Hamlet to a fight and is convinced by Claudius to kill Hamlet with a poisoned sword. Without this fight, who knows if Hamlet would have gotten around to kill Claudius? But when we really look at Laertes’ words and consequent action, we see another similarity with Hamlet, both are rash and passionate. This is significant because
On the other hand, Laertes wants to revenge his father’s death. Therefore this mistake murder leads Hamlet to his downfall as Claudius and Laertes want to kill him.
Laertes, a foil to Hamlet in the play, faces similar problems as Hamlet. Laertes learns Hamlet is responsible for the death of his father, Polonius by Claudius. But, in Act III Scene iv, Polonius was hiding behind the arras of the Queen Gertrude’s room and Hamlet killed him accidentally. Claudius took the opportunity to use his manipulative skills and convince Laertes he should kill Hamlet for what he did (Cruttwell). Claudius’ speech to Laertes implies that not acting would show no love for his father, “Not that I think you did not love your father, but that I know love is begun by time, and that I see in passages of proof”(IV. vii. 111-113). Claudius’ tone influences Laertes to immediately seek revenge on
Hamlet is a suspenseful play that introduces the topic of tragedy. Throughout the play, Hamlet displays anger, uncertainty, and obsession with death. Although Hamlet is unaware of it, these emotions cause the mishaps that occur throughout the play. These emotions combined with his unawareness are the leading basis for the tragic hero’s flaws. These flaws lead Hamlet not to be a bad man, but a regular form of imperfection that comes along with being human.
When looking at Hamlet, one could say that William Shakespeare put the play together as a very cathartic tragedy. The emotional result of dealing with so many deaths brings on a plethora of emotions which are not usually felt in a typical play. Hamlet begins not with the normal prosperity and good fortune as do most tragedies, but with a more stifling and depressing sort of mood (Tekany 115). However, something else could be said about this play as well. The play centers on Hamlet and his existential characteristics, such as angst, isolation and his confrontations with nothingness. The exhibition of these characteristics proves Hamlet to be an existential character.
Laertes loses his family because of Hamlet’s actions. His father is killed by him and his sister kills herself because of her grief. Laertes and King Claudius begin to plot Hamlet’s murder, planning to poison him, by drink or wound, whichever comes first. However, the plan backfires on the both of them and Laertes dies from his own blade, but not before saying “The King, the King’s to blame.”
36-38). King Claudius appears to be an honest, noble king, but in reality he is King Hamlet's murderer and a manipulative ruler. Near the end of the play, Claudius manipulates Laertes into a duel with Hamlet, so that he can murder Hamlet without suspicion when he says, "But you content to lend your patience to us,/And we shall jointly labor with your soul/To give it due content.". (4.7. ) This shows that Claudius is openly offering a chance for Laertes to seek revenge upon Hamlet for killing Polonius. Later on, Claudius also lays out the plan to murder Hamlet, when he says
Avenging one’s loved ones is seen similarly in Act IV when Claudius tells Laertes, fresh from his return from France, that Hamlet killed Polonius, Laertes’ father. Laertes then plans to avenge his father. In the play the overall theme is seen in Act IV when Laertes says, “And so have I a noble father lost, a sister driven into desperate terms, whose worth, if praises may go back again, stood challenger on mount of all the age for her perfections. But my revenge will come” (Shakespeare Scene 7, line 25-29). In this quote, Laertes says that he will
Shakespeare's drama Hamlet has become a central piece of literature of Western culture. It is the story of a prince named Hamlet, who lost his father. Soon after that he has to confront multiple obstacles and devises a series of situations to defend the new king's royalty. Furthermore, he had to prove that King Claudius, who was the prince's uncle, had killed Hamlet's father. This story has remained among the most popular and the most controversial plays around the world. It generates controversy for all the doubts that this play leaves with the readers. One of the most questioning situations in the play is the delay of Hamlet in avenging Claudius' for his father's death. As a reader this
"But I am very sorry, good Horatio, /That to Laertes I forgot myself; /For, by the image of my cause, I see/The portraiture of his" (V.2). In seeking to revenge, Hamlet accidentally stabs Polonius, the king's advisor, thus killing the father of Laertes. Hamlet acknowledges, with his sense of higher justice and objectivity, that Laertes has a reason for hating him, given that he is also a parricide. There is a sharp, circular irony to this cycle of revenge. Similarly, Ophelia is driven mad by the death of her father and kills herself. Hamlet, while much of his madness is assumed, is also driven to a state of emotional distress. Laertes, Hamlet, and Ophelia all act irrationally in ways that bring about their death because of the extremity of their grief.
Laertes meanwhile, had initially been a very noble youth, who is had presumeably been an honourable figure throughout most of the play. However, when his father is murdered, as he tries to seek revenge for honour, he instead becomes an instrument for Claudius evil plot. Thus, he becomes engaged in the immoral schemes of Claudius, and even though he does admit that such doings are against my conscience, he still conspires to end Hamlets life in a dishonest manner. Thus, as a result of his lapse in judgement, he, like the other villains in the play, is condemned to death. However, before his death, he is redeemed when he admits that he had been justly killed with my own treachery. Thus, in this case, his underlying integrity, in the end, is able to free him from heavens judgement, and a more honourable death is restored to him, as compared to the previously mentioned villains. Had Laertes taken his fathers advise and been true to oneself, he may have gained a more rewarding end. Thus, we are again able to