Laertes
Status: Secondary character in the play. Son of King’s Advisor Polonius, brother of Ophelia, studying at Wittenberg but in France throughout most of the play.
Purpose: Personal purpose is to kill Hamlet (in the end) and to be a foil to Hamlet (theatrical purpose).
Analysis:
- Laertes is proactive, noble, and good hearted. After hearing the news of his father’s murder, Laertes immediately comes back to France and storms the castle gates in a rather formidable exhilarating fashion by having an entire mob behind him. In complete contrast with Hamlet, Laertes seeks immediate vengeance for his father and experiences no self-doubt or need to pause and think of what to do. This shows that Laertes is courageous (not afraid to enact the deed) and proactive. However, Laertes is not bad at heart, it is understandable why he would want to kill Hamlet when Hamlet had killed his father, Polonius (same reason why Hamlet wants to kill Claudius). And even after killing Hamlet by hitting him with the poisoned sword, he admits to the foul play and apologizes to Hamlet, indicating he was manipulated by Claudius. In the end, Laertes dies a noble death and regrets what he does.
Purpose: Personal purpose is to kill Hamlet (in the end) and to be a foil to Hamlet (theatrical purpose).
Analysis:
- Laertes is proactive, noble, and good hearted. After hearing the news of his father’s murder, Laertes immediately comes back to France and storms the castle gates in a rather formidable exhilarating fashion by having an entire mob behind him. In complete contrast with Hamlet, Laertes seeks immediate vengeance for his father and experiences no self-doubt or need to pause and think of what to do. This shows that Laertes is courageous (not afraid to enact the deed) and proactive. However, Laertes is not bad at heart, it is understandable why he would want to kill Hamlet when Hamlet had killed his father, Polonius (same reason why Hamlet wants to kill Claudius). And even after killing Hamlet by hitting him with the poisoned sword, he admits to the foul play and apologizes to Hamlet, indicating he was manipulated by Claudius. In the end, Laertes dies a noble death and regrets what he does.