Laertes and Polonius as Foils to Hamlet Essay -- GCSE Coursework Shake

Laertes and Polonius as Foils to Hamlet Foils are the minor characters in a play that aid in give outing the more important characters. By using the similarities and differences between two characters, the audience can get a infract understanding of that major character. In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses many foils to develop the major characters of his play. Two foils that Shakespeare used to develop Hamlets character were Laertes and Polonius. One of the foils important to the play is Laertes. Although Laertes does not come forward often in the play, he brings much to the plot and to Hamlets character. These two are similar in many charges. They both seem to be about the alike(p) age, are well educated, and gentleman. One main thing that they have in common is they both are seeking revenge for their sky pilots deaths. Both of their fathers were unnecessarily killed. Hamlets father was killed by his fathers brother for the crown and his wife, and Hamlet killed Laertes father o ver mistaken identity. It was the revenge of these two that made up the plot of the story. Because of Laertes, the two could finally take their revenge in the battle at the end that killed both Hamlet and the new king. If Laertes had not challenged Hamlet, the king would have died by some other way however, the king died by poisoning just as he had killed his brother. Another similarity in the play is the fact that both Laertes and Hamlet died by the poisoned flower of the same sword. Laertes and Hamlet were the last two to die. This completed the circle of everyone that had been directly involved in the disgraceful scandal had died. SS The poison killed the King, Queen, Hamlet, and Laertes, Polonius was killed by Ha... ...of the foils Shakespeare used to develop Hamlets character. The one that did the best in accomplishing this task was Laertes, though. Laertes and Hamlet had a common goal, and if it hadnt been for him, the story would have taken a totally different route. Po lonius was a easily foil in that he convinced everyone that Ophelia was the cause of Hamlets madness. If he hadnt been Ophelias father, this part of the story may not have been as effective. Works Cited Bloom, Harold. Modern comminuted Interpretations Of Hamlet. New York, NY Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Charney, Maurice. All of Shakespeare. New York, NY. Columbia University Press. 1993. Magill, Frank N. Masterplots. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1995. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. The Riverside Shakespeare. ED. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston Haughton Mifflin Company, 1974.