The importance of Laertes and Fortinbras

A detailed Summary of The importance of Laertes and Fortinbras


In the Shakespearean play, Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras have important roles although they are minor characters. Fortinbras and Laertes importance arise because they are parallel characters to Hamlet, and they provide pivotal points on which to compare the actions and emotions of Hamlet throughout the play. They are also important in Hamlet, as they are imperative to the plot of the play and the final resolution.

Laertes is a mirror to Hamlet. Shakespeare has made them similar in many aspects to provide a greater base for comparison when avenging their respective father's deaths. Hamlet and Laertes love Ophelia. Hamlet wishes Ophelia to be his wife, Laertes loves Ophelia as a sister. Hamlet is a scholar at Wittenberg, and Laertes at France. Both are admired for their swordsmenship. Both men loved and res


pected their fathers, and display deviousness when plotting to avenge their father's deaths. Hamlet's response to grief is a trait starkly contrasted by Laertes. Laertes response to the death of his father is immediate. He is publicly angry, and he leads a riot that occurs outside Elsinore, for which Polonius' death and quick burial served as a catalyst. He is suspicious, as is evident in his speech to Claudius. "How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with. / To hell, allegiance!" (Act 4, 5:130). Hamlet however is very private with his grief. His mourning for King Hamlet is long and drawn out, two months after his father's death, he is still observed to be wearing "...suits of solemn black." (Act 1, 2:78) Claudius and Gertrude comment on his unhappiness, however it is not until Hamlet's first soliloquy that

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Approximate Word count = 552
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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