Hamlet

ShakespeareÐŽ¦s Hamlet is a story of revenge. It portrays two young men- Hamlet and Laertes who avenge their fatherÐŽ¦s death. HamletÐŽ¦s father is murdered by Claudius, while LaertesÐŽ¦s father is killed by Hamlet. Shakespeare places them in resembling conditions which establishes Laertes as a mirroring figure to Hamlet. Laertes mirrors Hamlet but performs in an opposite way.

Hamlet and Laertes share several similarities: both of them grow up in a royal family in Denmark; their fathers are highly respected, and yet being murdered. They both love and admire their father so much, which leads to the biggest theme of the play- Revenge. Hamlet devotes himself to avenge his fatherÐŽ¦s death ever since he witnesses the ghost. The rest of the play describes the psychological struggle and physical violence within Hamlet throughout his process of revenge. Correspondingly, when Laertes identifies his father is murdered by Hamlet, he goes mad and swears to avenge. Together with Claudius, they compromise to kill Hamlet, to ÐŽ§let the great axe fallЎЁ. Hamlet and Laertes are driven to revenge due to their fatherÐŽ¦s death. Because of the revenges, both of them share the same fate of being killed by a poisonous sword.

Both of them seek revenge for their father, but each has his own attitude and approach. First of all, Hamlet and Laertes react oppositely towards their fatherÐŽ¦s death. Hamlet is drown in misery, he mourns in his first soliloquy: ÐŽ§O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, /Thaw ,and resolve itself into a dew.ЎЁ Hamlet wishes his flesh would melt and he could die. It notifies the audience of the depth of his anguish. On the other hand, Laertes responses to his fatherÐŽ¦s death with anger, instead of grief. We can see this in Act 4 scene 5, when he angrily asks Claudius to give him his father.

If Hamlet is a man of contemplation, then Laertes would be a man of action. It takes a long time and several steps for Hamlet to determine to kill Claudius as a revenge for his father. Hamlet has never thought of revenge until he saw the ghost. Even after he is informed by the ghost of King Hamlet that he is murdered by Claudius, Hamlet does not take any immediate action. ÐŽ§The spirit that I have seen / May be a devil, and the devil hath power / T' assume a pleasing shapeЎЁ