Comparing Shakespeare's Hamlet: Polonius, Laertes And Ophelia

The Awakening Of Hamlet and Laertes Comparing Laertes and Hamlet. Figuring out how they are alike and dislike in many ways, most of the play they are well alike. After Hamlet kills Polonius, Laertes down the road faces the same problems as Hamlet; a murdered father. In the beginning Laertes and Hamlet didn’t have the same similarities, but since both of there fathers were murdered they both have something in common. While Hamlet, is messing around and playing with the murderer as if he was an animal, Laertes takes immediate action.

Their actions and emotions in comparison show how the two are different from one another, as revealed by Laertes’ compulsiveness. As both characters have similar motives to avenge their fathers deaths, they react differently. Laertes gets to immediate action and does not let anything hold him back, whereas Hamlet remains still in his madness and contemplates his actions. When Laertes rushed back to Denmark after hearing about Polonius’ death, he says to Claudius, “To this point I stand, / That both the worlds, I give to negligence, / Let come what comes; only I’ll be revenged / Mostly thoroughly for my father. ”(Shakespeare 4.5 151-154)

Laertes also experience tragic loss: his father Polonius died at the hands of Hamlet. Contrasting with Hamlet’s indecisive delay, Laertes hears of his fathers death while overseas, and without hesitation, he returns to Denmark to seek his father’s murderer. An effective foil, Laertes embodies the rapid action apparent nowhere in Hamlet’s decision making. Hamlet bears the burdensome knowledge that Claudius slew his father for a lengthy period, yet procrastinates and wastes time. As Richard Levin says, “Hamlet is grieving for months…

murder, he accidently stabs Polonius in the chest. Ophelia thought that Hamlet didn’t love her, so she jumped off of a bridge. The quote implies here, because it shows Hamlet lost everything, and everyone he loved in the process. Laertes had a brother like relationship with Hamlet. He loved Polonius, and Ophelia a little too much.

However, as the daughter of Polonius, councillor to the king, her love life is heavily controlled by her father. Yet, this is not the only person interfering with her autonomy; Ophelia’s brother, Laetes treats her as his own “mock-daughter” (Olivas, 2015, p. 12). In his “moral instructions,” Ophelia is “treated as an object” (Olivas, 2015, p. 12). Laertes warns that “For Hamlet, and the trifling of his favor / …Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting / The perfume and suppliance of a minute / No more” (Ham. 1.

The Awakening Of Hamlet and Laertes The awakening of Hamlet and Laertes, has us all wondering on what the real issue is, and who the real victim is in the scene. Hamlet and Laertes both have awoken; with both of them realizing the truth, and what is really happening; things are starting to be more open minded, and in between the scenes things do not start to look good at all. To bring you into reality, and to explain the similarities with Hamlet and Laertes, I will be first explaining the details with Hamlet. Hamlet is a young man, a man who honors his mother and father.

In the pursuit of revenge, Hamlet’s mind begins to become clouded, he becomes unable to cope with the feelings that revenge has brought upon him. In effect, he shuns Ophelia, an unnecessary act which leads to the suspension of Polonius the father of Ophelia. This unnecessary step brings the whereabouts of Polonius and Claudius, who are worried about Hamlet’s safety. Ophelia an innocent and unaware character in Hamlet

Upon his return from France, Laertes is faced with the death of his father and the madness of his sister. His use of antithesis, apostrophe, and irony conveys his internal conflict between avenging his father or protecting his sister. His words reflect a sense of turmoil; he does not know whether to choose peace or war. The text presents this question multiple times, with Fortinbras’s revenge and Hamlet’s failure to act.

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.

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

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.

Today, my father Polonius and my brother Laertes lectured me about Hamlet. My brother Laertes, told me that Hamlet is not honest, trustworthy and that his love for me won’t last for that long. While I was thinking about my brother's advice, my father came in to say goodbye to Laertes, it was then I realized how much I am going to miss my brother, but I thought that it was for his own good; he loves it there. Before leaving, my brother warned me one last time about Hamlet. My father also agreed with my brother's advice telling me that I should not spend time with Hamlet and that I completely stop seeing him.

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.

(3.1.43-49) Polonius orders Ophelia to distract Hamlet even though he knows the emotional distress it will cause her. He is the reason Ophelia breaks ties with Hamlet, yet he is willing to throw her at him for his own gain. Polonius cannot rationalize that spying on Hamlet is less important than his daughter’s mental stability. His utter selfishness makes him incapable of making rational decisions that are beneficial to both himself, and his children. Polonius gives good advice that he does not take himself, showing his bad decision making.

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