Foils Between Hamlet And Fortinbras
Foils begin to comes into play during a work of literature when a secondary character is made similar to the main character to bring importance to the main character and his or her relationship with the secondary character. In Shakespeare's work: Hamlet, there are many foils including Fortinbras, Claudius, and Laertes. These characters have been created to make the audience understand how important Hamlet is in the story.
Hamlet and Fortinbras are not the best of friends and they do not see each other often, but when Fortinbras comes into the scene shortly after Hamlet dies, it is clear that their personalities, mechanisms, and goals are the same, but also different. When looking at the comparisons between Fortinbras and Hamlet, there …show more content…
In scene three, during Claudius’ monologue, it is clear how similar Hamlet and Claudius have become. During this time, Claudius tells himself: “Pray can I not, / Though inclination be as sharp as will. /My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent, / And like a man to double business bound / I stand in pause where I shall first begin, / And both neglect” (Shakespeare, page 75). One part of Claudius wants to confess and be forgiven of his sins, but the other part of him does not want to lose all that he gained from killing King Hamlet and becoming the king. Hamlet does this quite often as he strongly wants to avenge his father’s death, but can not decide on a choice of action. Also, Hamlet and Claudius are both haunted and driven by their conscience. Hamlet feels extremely guilty about his father’s death, even though his blood was not on Hamlet’s hands. Claudius feels guilty for actually killing King Hamlet.
The last foil in the play is Laertes for Hamlet. Both Laertes and Hamlet’s fathers have been killed during the play, but by different actions. They way the men respond to each of their father’s deaths is important to how they relate as foils. They are both rash with anger, Hamlet’s first words after he finds out about his father are, “Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as
Hamlet and Fortinbras are not the best of friends and they do not see each other often, but when Fortinbras comes into the scene shortly after Hamlet dies, it is clear that their personalities, mechanisms, and goals are the same, but also different. When looking at the comparisons between Fortinbras and Hamlet, there …show more content…
In scene three, during Claudius’ monologue, it is clear how similar Hamlet and Claudius have become. During this time, Claudius tells himself: “Pray can I not, / Though inclination be as sharp as will. /My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent, / And like a man to double business bound / I stand in pause where I shall first begin, / And both neglect” (Shakespeare, page 75). One part of Claudius wants to confess and be forgiven of his sins, but the other part of him does not want to lose all that he gained from killing King Hamlet and becoming the king. Hamlet does this quite often as he strongly wants to avenge his father’s death, but can not decide on a choice of action. Also, Hamlet and Claudius are both haunted and driven by their conscience. Hamlet feels extremely guilty about his father’s death, even though his blood was not on Hamlet’s hands. Claudius feels guilty for actually killing King Hamlet.
The last foil in the play is Laertes for Hamlet. Both Laertes and Hamlet’s fathers have been killed during the play, but by different actions. They way the men respond to each of their father’s deaths is important to how they relate as foils. They are both rash with anger, Hamlet’s first words after he finds out about his father are, “Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as