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the foils of hamlet In his plays, Shakespeare often puts the antagonists in
circumstances similar to or resembling the problems of the main character or
hero. He does this in order to give us a clear perception of what the characters
are like, through contrast or similarity between them. These literary
experiments are called foils. In Hamlet, Shakespeare gives us many foils for
Hamlet, the main character. One major foil is Ophelia. Hamlet and Ophelia have
both lost their fathers. In the beginning of the play it seems that Hamlet is
mourning too much and over reacting, but when Ophelia loses her father it makes
Hamlet’s mourning seem subtle. Ophelia is very affected by her father’s death
and it eventually leads to a factor in her insanity and death. This changes the
way we look at Hamlet and Ophelia. Another foil for Hamlet is Polonius, Laertes’
and Ophelia’s father. Hamlet and Polonius are both very quick to speak or and
lash out in excitement. Both of them have made major mistakes because of this
unwanted trait. Hamlet has, on many occasions, spoken too quickly or acted out
of rage or ignorance and hurt himself and others. When Polonius spies on Hamlet
and the Queen, Hamlet thinks that it is the king who is spying behind the
curtain, and without knowing who it really is he stabs Polonius and kills him.
Polonius also has the same problem, but with much tamer results.
Polonius
usually ends up just making himself sound like a babbling fool by not thinking
things out first. He never really hurt anyone and his slaying by Hamlet’s sword
makes Hamlet seem more the fool. This foil gives Hamlet the image of a violent
person that doesn’t know how to control his emotions, and in this instance he
almost becomes the antagonist. Hamlet also has foils that aren’t as close to
him. Like the young Fortinbras, the nephew to the king of Norway. Fortinbras’
father, the king was killed, and his uncle, the king’s brother took over the
crown. The exact same thing happened to Hamlet. Both countries also have a
prince who feels that they were robbed from the crown. Fortinbras, in contrast
to Hamlet, takes an active role in Norway’s leadership. In act IV scene 4, he
leads an army on to Poland. He also does this because he want’s to avenge his
father’s death by taking what he believes to be rightfully his. Hamlet spends
most of his time sulking or complaining, and it makes him seem a little spoiled
and cowardly, as if he doesn’t want to face the world. He keeps his plot for
revenge a secret. In somewhat the same manner Laertes is a foil to Hamlet. He
too seeks revenge for his father’s death, and does it very openly. He goes as
far as getting a mob together supporting him to be king. It seems radical but it
probably would have been better for Hamlet to go about things this way.
If he
hadn’t kept it in the castle a lot of bad things wouldn’t have happened. Hamlet
could have saved a lot of trouble if he went about things the way Laertes did,
but then we would have a boring play. Another thing for Hamlet and Laertes is
their love for Ophelia. Obviously they are completely different kinds of love,
but both are extremely strong. Laertes cares greatly for his sister and gives
her strong advice concerning her and Hamlet. He warns her against keeping a
relation with him, showing that he doesn’t like Hamlet. After Ophelia rejects
Hamlet, his love dies off and he gets pale and sickly, showing how much he cared
for her. It is strange that both these characters care so much for Ophelia but
hate each other to death. When Ophelia dies, both are shocked and enraged. In
the end at her burial they both end up jumping into Ophelia’s grave and fighting
each other over her dead body. Their extreme love for her and profound hate for
each other is almost a mystery. Laertes also, like his father, has the same
rashness and spontaneity as Hamlet. There are many, many foils throughout this
play, some completely obvious, and some scarcely noticeable. In “Hamlet”, Hamlet
has a foil with almost ever other character in it. Foils greatly enrich all
literature and tell us much more than meets the eye about a specific character
and the decisions they make. Literary Phenomena like this make great stories
masterpieces.
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