Hamlet and Laertes

Katherine Cruz

9-16-13

1st Block

Two Sons' Revenge

Hamlet and Laertes are men from different levels of society but are comparable in many distinct ways. Hamlet is the prince of Denmark whereas Laertes is the son of the king's counselor. They both deal with the death of their fathers and wish to achieve retaliation for their fathers' deaths. In contrast, they both have different father- son relationships. In the play Hamlet, Shakespeare is trying to show that death does not just happen to one kind of person, everyone experiences with pain that is similar to others more than you would expect.

Hamlet's father's ghost says, "Murder most foul, as in the best it is/ But this most foul, strange, and unnatural." (I.v.27-28) Claudius has killed Old Hamlet by pouring poison into his ear. Old Hamlet did not know his son Hamlet completely. He orders Hamlet to kill Claudius seeking for revenge of his death. Families are not always close, so no one ever knows what they could be capable of. Hamlet takes the whole duration of the book to finally commit murder because his father did not even know him well enough to know Hamlet was not capable of killing a man cold- heartedly. Polonius says, "You shall do marvelous wisely, good Reynaldo,/ Before you visit him, to make inquire/ Of his behavior." (II.i.3-5) Polonius has sent Reynaldo, his servant, to go "visit" Laertes. In reality, he sends Reynaldo just to spy him. Polonius does this because he wants to know how Laertes behaves when he is in Paris and wants to know if he will be able to survive on his own. This shows that not only did he care for him, but he was also protective of him. Polonius might not show Laertes that he cares for him, but he and Laertes have a better connection than Hamlet and his father. Polonius makes up lies and cares about Laertes's well being even if it is in a twisted way.

Another difference between Hamlet and Laertes is that they both come from two quite, opposite, distinctive worlds. Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark whereas Laertes is the son of the King's counselor. They both grew up in a different way and also have a different background. Hamlet is higher in rank than Laertes, which is a simple, obvious difference. This proves that death in the family does not just happen to one type