Laertes and Ophelia as Character Foils in Hamlet Essay

The spirit that I turn come out seen May be the devil and the devil hath source To assume a pleasing shape yea, and perhaps Out of my weakness and my melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses to damn me (2.2.58)In William Shakespeares classic drama, small town, the titular protagonist, critical point, is a dynamic, round character with constantly evolving traits. The character settlement, himself, interestingly, is not noted for what he does, but rather, is noted for his indecisiveness and omit of ta force action throughout the play. Despite hamlet having a ulterior motive throughout the play, he is constantly seen to be deliberating as to whether or not he should act on his actions. Through his numerous soliloquys, Hamlets innermost observances are seen, many of them contemplating existence, and the nature of the task which he has taken upon himself to tolerate out the task of killing his uncle, the current King of Denmark.In Hamlet, there are numerous cha racters, many of whom belong to either one of 2 families focused upon in the play there is the royal family, consisting of Hamlet, his mother Gertrude, the Queen, and his step set out Claudius, the current King of Denmark and there is the family of the Kings chief counselor, Polonius, which includes his daughter, Ophelia, and his son, Laertes. In both families, the parent-child kinship is heavily focused upon. Compared to the other children of the play Laertes and Ophelia Hamlets slow, deliberate thinking is brought to the forefront, with both Laertes and Ophelia acting as character foils to Hamlet.Hamlet and Laertes whitethorn both be defined by their acquires, and how they contradict to them, as well as the way they are viewed by the public. Hamlet and Laertes are seen to be in confusable situations both of them are sons, and students who were studying abroad at the time of old King Hamlets devastation. Both of them appeared to have shared a relatively close relationship with their fathers. After his fathers death, Hamlet dressed in black, in grief and mourning. When the Queen asked why Hamlet seemed to be so affected byhis fathers death, he replied, Seems, madam? Nay, it is. (1.2) Polonius, meanwhile, had been hesitant to let Laertes return to France, stating that Laertes had wrung upon me my slow leave by laborsome petition, and at last upon his pass on I sealed my hard consent. (1.2)Both Hamlet and Laertes are juxtaposed when their respective fathers are murdered, contrasting them while both feel wronged by their fathers deaths, the operator with which they take action are different. Hamlet did not consider revenge until the Ghost told him to revenge this most foul and unnatural murder. (1.5) Even then, Hamlet took action slowly, carefully and deliberately planning out the steps of his plan with which to get revenge. Laertes, however, upon hearing of his fathers death, returned to Denmark, smashing the doors to the Elsinore castle open, demand ing that the vile king should give (him his) father. (4.5) Their moral compasses, too, are exceedingly different.Hamlet had had the opportunity to murder Claudius while Claudius was praying, but chose not to, thinking that if he killed Claudius then, he would this identical villain send to heaven, showing that he still believes in a higher power, and demands that justice be paid. (3.3) Conversely, Laertes, when asked by Claudius what he would do to evidence that he was in deed (his) fathers son more than in words, Laertes stated that he would cut his throat i th church. (4.7) Through this comparison, it may be seen that while Hamlet is uncertain about committing murder to avenge another murder, Laertes has no hesitation about it.How Hamlet and Laertes are viewed by other characters, too, shows the similarities between both of them, despite the differences in how they act. Both of them are humpd by the public, and are competitors for the throne of Denmark. Claudius himself states that the great love the general gender bear (Hamlet) is the reason that he does not prosecute Hamlet. (4.7) Laertes, too, has the affection of the public, evidenced by their cries of Laertes shall be king, Laertes king (4.5) Due to this popularity, the king by nature has reason to be wary of both of them, a trait which is reflected in his chief counselor, Polonius.Polonius is seen to be spying on various characters, including Hamlet and Laertes he bespeak that Reynaldo, a servant, should go to France and spy on Laertes he himselfspied on Hamlet. This may be interpreted as meaning that neither Hamlet nor Laertes are whole trustworthy. The other member of Laertes family, Ophelia, however, is loved by both Laertes and Hamlet, and Ophelias death results in their confrontational duel, which in turn results in their respective deaths, both indirectly killed by Claudius.Ophelia herself is a foil to Hamlet. While Laertes as a foil to Hamlet was a contrast in their actions after their fa thers deaths, Ophelia and Hamlet contrast in their emotional well-being, and the kind of madness that they face. Both have been disappointed by someone whom they love Hamlet being disappointed by Gertrudes oerhasty marriage, Ophelia by Hamlets rough treatment of her during his supposed madness. (2.2) While it is revealed several times by Hamlet that he is faking madness, saying that he essentially (was) not in madness but mad in craft, Ophelias madness seems less forced after Polonius death, she appears to have slipped right into insanity. (3.4) Hamlet, conversely, had gone through a mourning period before appearing to be mad.Interestingly, the contrast in how they act when they are mad Hamlet being deliberate, Ophelia to have seemingly been truly mad provides an even bigger contrast as to how each of them die, with Hamlets death occurring in a violent situation, while Ophelias death is shrouded with the calming natural imagery of flowers and trees. Hamlet dies due to a poisoned sword during his duel with Laertes, played out in front of an audience. The circumstances behind Ophelias death, however, is more unknown and ambiguous. It is implied that her death was accidentally.According to Gertrude, that on the pendant boughs her coronet weeds clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke, (4.7) implying that Ophelias death was accidental. However, as Ophelias death is not shown, it is possible that she had decided to commit suicide instead. Should she have decided on death by her own hand, a powerful foil is brought in, contrasting against Hamlet, who, while seen to be contemplating suicide on several occasions, never kills himself, instead wishing that the Everlasting had not fixed His canyon gainst self-slaughter. (2.5) While Ophelia is commonly portrayed to be weak, her choosing to take her own life implies that she is of a strongerwill than Hamlet, who is eventually killed by Laertes.Ophelia, like Hamlet and Laertes, seeks revenge for her fathers death, bu t her form of revenge is not violent in the way that Hamlet and Laertes confrontational duel is. Rather than choosing to blame a single person for Polonius death, Ophelia instead passes judgement on the other characters in the play in a much more feminine way by handing out different types of flowers, saying, Theres fennel for you, and columbines.-Theres rue for you, and heres some for me. We may call it herb of grace o Sundays.-Oh, you moldiness wear your rue with a difference.-Theres a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died. (4.5)Ophelias way of payback for her fathers death contrasts strongly with Hamlets his is a single-minded focus on killing Claudius, whom he holds personally responsible for his fathers death. While Ophelia could have gone down the same path as Laertes, demanding justice for Polonius, she does not rather, she blames everyone in the play for what has happened. However, her way of doing this, too, provides a similit ude with Hamlet the flowers were deliberately chosen in the same way that Hamlet deliberately staged the play in distinguish to catch the conscience of those about them. (2.2)The flowers that Ophelia chooses to hand out raises the question of her madness has she truly lost her mind, as some characters believe, or is she just mad in certain ways, while retaining her logical system in some other ways? The flowers that she chooses to hand out each conveys its own meaning fennel is thought to mean flattery, columbine meaning foolishness, daisies portraiture innocence, violets showing faithfulness, rosemary for remembrance, pansies for thought, rue meaning regret. (4.5) The meanings of these flowers all seem to have some connection with the characters in the play. Rosemary may be meant for Hamlet, who, to Ophelia, may seem to have forgotten who he is in his state of madness, pansies, for thought, may be meant for Laertes, to consider his actions.Fennel may be paired with the King, a reflection of how his words are often deceiving and manipulative columbines may be paired with Gertrude, a criticism on her actions. Daisies and violets, interestingly, do not appear to be inclined to anyone. Daisies, a symbol of innocence, may be a statement that Ophelia does not believe that anyone isworthy of having the flowers. That Ophelia does not hand out violets may be a portrayal of herself, a particularly interesting note, as she leaves on the note that all violets had withered when Polonius died, perhaps showing her lack of faith to anyone left.Secondary characters in Hamlet seem to mostly be a foil of Hamlet himself while he is slow, deliberate, and carefully plans out what he wishes to do in order to exact revenge for his fathers death, other characters reflect and contrast these traits. By choosing to place Laertes and Ophelia in similar positions as Hamlet, but making them fight in different ways, Shakespeare emphasises the usage of character foils in Hamlet. All of them are the children of noblemen in court, all of them have lost a father, but all of them react in contrasting ways to each other. It may be seen that the characters of Laertes and Ophelia do increase our understanding of Hamlet, a dynamic character who is not easily understood, by providing foils against him, adding emphasis to the ways in which he acts in certain situations.