Shakespear Reason vs Passion
In William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, Laertes, Fortinbras and Hamlet find themselves in similar situations. While Hamlet waits for the right time to avenge his father's death, Laertes learns of his father's death and immediately wants vengeance, and Fortinbras awaits his chance to recapture land that used to belong to his father. Laertes and Fortinbras go about accomplishing their desires quite differently than Hamlet. While Hamlet acts slowly and carefully, Laertes and Fortinbras seek their revenge with haste. Although Laertes and Fortinbras are minor characters, Shakespeare molds them in order to contrast with Hamlet. Fortinbras and, to a greater extent, Laertes act as foils to Hamlet with respect to their motives for revenge, execution of their plans and behavior while carrying out their plans. Although each character plots to avenge his father in the play, the motives of Laertes and Fortinbras differ greatly than that of Hamlet. Fortinbras, who schemes to rebuild his father's kingdom, leads thousands of men into battle, attempting to capture a small and worthless piece of Poland. After his uncle warned him against attacking Denmark. The added land will do little to benefit Norway's prosperity, but this campaign may cost "tw
o thousand souls and twenty thousand ducats" (4.4.26) . This shows that pride is a driving factor behind Fortinbras' plan because he is willing to put the lives of his countrymen at risk for a minimal gain. Laertes, on the other hand, is compelled to seek revenge because he loses his father and eventually his sister. The root of Laertes' revenge appears to be the love for his family because he proclaims that he will "be revenged / most throughly for [his] father" (4.5.138-139) . This shows that Laertes will either avenge his father's death or die trying. While Fortinbras and Laertes are driven by pride and love, Shula 3 Hamlet seems to act out of desperation. His uncle, Claudius, has killed his father, taken the throne, and married his mother. This leaves Hamlet feeling like his world has been crushed. By killing Claudius, Hamlet would not only avenge his father's death, but also dethrone a murderer and restore some order to his world. This sets Hamlet apart from Fortinbras and Laertes because Hamlet acts out of desperation while pride motivates Fortinbras and love makes Laertes act. In addition to each character's motive, Shakespeare uses imagery and allusions to differences in character traits. Shakespeare hints about the nature of Fortinbras simply by choosing this name. The name Fortinbras is very similar to fortitude, which is firmness of the mind. Fortinbras fulfills this description when he persists in trying to reclaim land by attacking Poland. Instead of giving up on reclaiming his father's land when his uncle tells him not to attack Denmark, he sticks to his plan by taking a piece of Poland. The name Laertes is also significant because in Greek mythology, Laertes was the father of Odysseus and helped his son reclaim the throne. This implies that Laertes will take action if necessary. Shakespeare also compares Laertes to the image of a tidal wave when he returns from France in order to show that Laertes is unfaltering in his decisions as is a tidal wave in its course. In contrast to Fortinbras and Laertes, Hamlet feels overpowered by his task, which makes him indecisive. Shakespeare extends the symbol of water; however, in Hamlet's case, it accentuates his feeling of helplessness. When Hamlet is considering taking action against Claudius, he mentions that this would be "[taking] arms against a sea of troubles" (3.1.60) . This shows the futility Hamlet feels about his task. While Laertes and Fortinbras are ready to carry out their plans, Hamlet feels overwhelmed by his duty. Shula 4 Since Fortinbras and Laertes are committed to achieving their objectives, they allow others of influence their decisions whereas Hamlet acts alone once he commits himself to killing Claudius.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1818
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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