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Revenge And Ophelia As Dynamic, Round Character In William Shakespeare's Hamlet

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Revenge And Ophelia As Dynamic, Round Character In William Shakespeare's Hamlet
THE ROLES OF LAERTES AND OPHELIA AS CHARACTER FOILS TO HAMLET

"The spirit that I have seen May be the devil: and the devil hath power To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps Out of my weakness and my melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses to damn me:" (2.2.58)

In William Shakespeare's classic drama, 'Hamlet', the titular protagonist, Hamlet, is a dynamic, round character with constantly evolving traits. The character Hamlet, himself, interestingly, is not noted for what he does, but rather, is noted for his indecisiveness and lack of taking action throughout the play. Despite Hamlet having a ulterior motive throughout the play, he is constantly seen to be deliberating as to whether or not he should act on his …show more content…
In both families, the parent-child relationship is heavily focused upon. Compared to the other 'children' of the play - Laertes and Ophelia - Hamlet's slow, deliberate thinking is brought to the forefront, with both Laertes and Ophelia acting as character foils to …show more content…
Hamlet did not consider revenge until the Ghost told him to "revenge this most foul and unnatural murder". (1.5) Even then, Hamlet took action slowly, carefully and deliberately planning out the steps of his plan with which to get revenge. Laertes, however, upon hearing of his father's death, returned to Denmark, smashing the doors to the Elsinore castle open, demanding that the "vile king" should "give (him his) father". (4.5) Their moral compasses, too, are exceedingly different. Hamlet had had the opportunity to murder Claudius while Claudius was praying, but chose not to, thinking that if he killed Claudius then, he would "this same villain send to heaven", showing that he still believes in a higher power, and demands that justice be paid. (3.3) Conversely, Laertes, when asked by Claudius what he would do to prove that he was "in deed (his) father's son more than in words", Laertes stated that he would "cut his throat i' th' church". (4.7) Through this comparison, it may be seen that while Hamlet is uncertain about committing murder to avenge another murder, Laertes has no hesitation about
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