Directions:
1) Read the following essay prompt: In a literary work, a minor character, often known as a FOIL CHARACTER, possesses traits that emphasize, by contrast and/or comparison, the distinctive characteristics and qualities of the main character. For example, the ideas or behavior of a minor character might be used to highlight the weaknesses and/or strengths of the main character. William Shakespeare's Hamlet offers fascinating comparisons in which a minor character serves as a foil for the main character, Hamlet. Choose a foil character to compare and contrast with Hamlet, our main character. Compose an essay in which you analyze how the relationship between the minor character and Hamlet illuminates the meaning of the work on the whole. In other words, show us the development of these two characters from Act I through Act V. Possible foil characters: Fortinbras, Laetres, Ophelia, Claudius, Gertrude, or Polonius. You may also choose two foil characters, if you wish (For example, Using Laertes AND Fortinbras to compare to Hamlet).
2) Return to the text. Share your first discoveries. After you have made your selection, go through the play and find examples to show their similarities and differences. Start from the beginning. (For example, if you choose Hamlet and Fortinbras, find a passage to show how Fortinbras reacted to this father's death, and one where Hamlet reacts to his father).
3) In this blog space, share FOUR direct quotations (two for Hamlet and two for the foil character) and explain, IN DETAIL, how the foil characters are similar and different. This will provide the early work for your formal essay. I should see four quotations and at least two solid paragraphs.
Ophelia by Sir John Everett Millais, completed in 1851 and 1852
It's clear that Hamlet and Ophelia were intended for one another. The following letter makes it quite clear: "To the celestial, and my soul’s idol, the most beautified Ophelia—
ReplyDeleteIn her excellent white bosom, these, etc.—Doubt thou the stars are fire, Doubt that the sun doth move, Doubt truth to be a liar, But never doubt I love. O dear Ophelia, I am ill at these numbers. I have not
art to reckon my groans, but that I love thee best, O most best, believe it. Adieu. Thine evermore, most dear lady, whilst this machine is to him, Hamlet."(2,2,121-132) The way they're seated during the performance of The Murder of Gonzago also hints at their intimacy.
▶HAMLET Lady, shall I lie in your lap?
OPHELIA No, my lord.
HAMLET I mean, my head upon your lap?
OPHELIA Ay, my lord.
HAMLET Do you think I meant country matters?
OPHELIA I think nothing, my lord.
HAMLET That’s a fair thought to lie between maids’ legs.
OPHELIA What is, my lord?
HAMLET Nothing.⏸(3,2,119-128).
They have quite a lot in common, too. They both become a bit out of character once they learn more about how their fathers were killed. However, their approaches are different. Ophelia goes crazy immediately, whereas Hamlet only fakes it at first.
DeleteIn their madness, both consider suicide. Hamlet is actually rather hesitant, for there may be something worse after death. "Who would fardels bear," he wonders, "To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns, puzzles the will and makes us rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of?"(3,1,84-90) Ophelia, on the other hand, doesn't take the time to think this over. Shortly after her brother, Laertes, comes back, Queen Gertrude informs him that her corpse was found in a brook.
Delete"There on the pendant boughs her coronet weeds, clamb’ring to hang, an envious sliver broke. When down her weedy trophies and herself fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide, and mermaid-like awhile they bore her up, which time she chanted snatches of old lauds, as one incapable of her own distress. Or like a creature native and endued unto that element. But long it could not be till that her garments, heavy with their drink, pulled the poor wretch from her melodious lay to muddy death."(4,7,197-208) When Hamlet finds this out, I don't think he'll last much longer himself.
You know, you could easily make film noir out of this.
DeleteBefore the play began, King Hamlet died, apparently due to a snake bite. It was later in the play where Hamlet discovered that his father was murdered by “The serpent that did sting thy father's life // Now wears his crown.” (I, V, 24). Claudius was able to successfully plan and execute King Hamlet, without news going out that he was the cause of death. Hamlet, on the other hand, does the complete opposite. After hearing what the Ghost had to say, he decided to do all of these random things before he finally takes action even though he has every reason to dislike his uncle and kill him. But two months dead: nay, not so much, not two: // So excellent a king; that was, to this, // Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother // That he might not beteem the winds of heaven” (I, II, 11). Hamlet says it all himself. His father, a figure he seems to respect so much as to call him Hyperion, was murdered by his uncle, a man he has no regard for as he is a satyr, who then replaced him as king. Yet, despite this difference in respect, Hamlet still spends so long debating if he should kill Claudius.
ReplyDeleteAgain, later in the play, the King continues to try to kill his enemies. This time, he has discovered that Hamlet knows of his sins and tries to arrange his death before Hamlet spoils his name and reputation. He sends Hamlet to England with a letter pleading the King of England to “The present death of Hamlet. Do it, England; // For like the hectic in my blood he rages, // And thou must cure me: till I know 'tis done,” (IV, III, 84). Again, King Claudius swiftly and secretly tries to dispose of his foes. Unfortunately, this time, Hamlet caught wind of his plans, but Claudius was able to attempt to kill Hamlet without many other people knowing about it. Instead of just killing the King and getting everything done and over with, “I'll have grounds // More relative than this: the play 's the thing // Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.” (II, II, 50). Hamlet wants to put up this play that practically mirrors the death of his father, as told by the ghost, to see if his uncle is guilty. So rather than trying to quietly murder the King for his father’s revenge, he has to convince himself that it’s the right path to take. Hamlet continuously dawdles with his plan whereas Claudius just simply kills whoever stands in his way.
Hamlet & Laertes
ReplyDeleteHAMLET
When honor’s at the stake. How stand I, then,
That have a father killed, a mother stained,
Excitements of my reason and my blood,
And let all sleep, while, to my shame, I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men
That, for a fantasy and trick of fame
Go to their graves like beds
HAMLET
But I am pigeon-liver'd and lack gall
To make oppression bitter, or ere this
I should have fatted all the region kites
With this slave's offal: bloody, bawdy villain!
Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!
O, vengeance!
Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave,
That I, the son of a dear father murder'd,
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,
Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words,
And fall a-cursing, like a very drab,
A scullion!
LAERTES
How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with:
To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil!
Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit!
I dare damnation. To this point I stand,
That both the worlds I give to negligence,
Let come what comes; only I'll be revenged
Most thoroughly for my father.
LAERTES
I am justly kill'd with mine own treachery.
Hamlet and Laertes are two characters that foil each other perfectly in the play Hamlet. They share obvious similarities, yet their personalities are completely unalike. Before the climax, we learn that Hamlet has slain Laertes’ father, Polonius. As a result, Laertes finds himself in the same predicament as Hamlet. His father has been murdered and he must take revenge on whomever had committed the crime. How they go about their business is what differentiates the two. The disparity between their demeanor is why Hamlet and Laertes are a great foil pair.
DeleteHamlet has demonstrated his indecisiveness in several scenes throughout the play. When told about the murder of his father by his father’s ghost, he questions the validity of its words. Furthermore, he spends several scenes creating a play to validate the ghost’s claims. In act 3, when given the chance to avenge his father, he does not take it. It is only after this missed opportunity when he finally acts. His poor judgement, however, leads to the murder of Polonious instead. Hamlet is a “pigeon-liver'd and lack gall.” He’s constantly reflecting rather than acting. In act 4 scene 4, Hamlet realizes people are willing to do a lot for much less when “honor’s at the stake,” but it’s already too late. Rash impulse has already taken the life of Polonius. Fulfilling his father’s wish will be the last thing he does before he falls.
Laertes’ is the complete opposite when comparing their personalities. As soon as he hears about the death of his father, he rushes out of Paris to throw a revolution. Indifferent on who’s to blame, he still aims to take revenge. Rather than reflect, he throws “conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit.” Immediately, the Claudius and Laertes devise a plan to murder Hamlet. In the end, impulsiveness leads to the downfall of both characters. Hamlet acts to quickly and accidentally kills Polonius and Laertes will die by his “own treachery.” Hamlet should’ve acted earlier while Laertes should’ve reflected more on his revenge.
LAERTES
ReplyDeleteHow came he dead? I'll not be juggled with:
To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil!
Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit!
I dare damnation. To this point I stand,
That both the worlds I give to negligence,
Let come what comes; only I'll be revenged
Most thoroughly for my father.
HAMLET
So, gentlemen,
With all my love I do commend me to you:
And what so poor a man as Hamlet is
May do, to express his love and friending to you,
God willing, shall not lack. Let us go in together;
And still your fingers on your lips, I pray.
The time is out of joint: O cursed spite,
That ever I was born to set it right!
Nay, come, let's go together.
LAERTES
He is justly served;
It is a poison temper'd by himself.
Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet:
Mine and my father's death come not upon thee,
Nor thine on me.
HAMLET
The point!--envenom'd too!
Then, venom, to thy work.
Stabs KING CLAUDIUS
Explanation:
Laertes is a perfect foil for Hamlet in that in the main parts of the play, Laertes contrasts Hamlet in his big decisions. When Hamlet’s father dies, he is sad and despondent. Though angry at his mother, he is not out for revenge though this may be due to the fact that he is unaware that his father was murdered. When Hamlet finds out that Claudius killed his father, he is angry, but he is far more angry at Gertrude, and though he vows to get revenge, his immediate thought is to devise a plan to act crazy and throw people off. This is in contrast to Laertes, whose immediate reaction to his father’s murder is to band a bunnch of men together and storm the palace to overthrow the king. He insists that he will “be revenged Most thoroughly for my father.” Laertes first though is violence, as tells the king that he would like to be the one to kill Hamlet and that he will “cut his throat i' the church.” His actions are immediate and firm, while Hamlet takes his time and seems as if he does not really have any intention of killing Claudius.
At the end, when they have both been poisoned, Laertes manages to ask Hamlet for forgiveness. He takes responsibility for his hand in Hamlet’s own death and forgives Hamlet for killing Polonius, saying that it was not his fault, despite the fact that Hamlet impulsively stabbed Polonius before dragging his body through the palace. Laertes was able to think reasonably and find peace in his last moments. Hamlet, on the other hand, is not quite able to manage this level of forgiveness. While he seems to have forgiven Gertrude, he remains in a rage at his uncle and kills him with the poison sword quite gruesomely and without remorse.
My selection for a foil character in Hamlet is Gertrude (With Hamlet.) The relationship between these two characters is obviously that Hamlet is Gertrude's son, but the relationship goes deeper than that. The conflicting views, in the beginning, are that Gertrude the queen remarried so fast that Hamlet is not comfortable with it. A quote of Hamlet’s towards the beginning starts to show this: “Seems, madam! nay it is; I know not 'seems.'
ReplyDelete'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,
Nor customary suits of solemn black,
Nor windy suspiration of forced breath,
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye,
Nor the dejected 'havior of the visage,
Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief,
That can denote me truly: these indeed seem,
For they are actions that a man might play:
But I have that within which passeth show;
These but the trappings and the suits of woe.” Here Hamlet is remarking to his mother about the grief of losing his father. Later in act 2, we watch as the King and Queen call upon Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet. Some of the queen’s take on this endeavor in relation to Hamlet are here in this particular quote; “Good gentlemen, he hath much talk'd of you;
And sure I am two men there are not living
To whom he more adheres. If it will please you
To show us so much gentry and good will
As to expend your time with us awhile,
For the supply and profit of our hope,
Your visitation shall receive such thanks
As fits a king's remembrance.” Here Gertrude mentions the supply and profit of our hope and in this case our refers to her and the king. Here is the conflict present: Shouldn’t Gertrude be looking out for the interests of Hamlet just as much as herself and her husband? It seems odd that a mother supports her son being spied on for whatever reason.
Then we jump to act 3 in which the queen is in her closet with Polonius when Hamlet enters. Ultimately Hamlet kills Polonius and then begins some major dialogue between Gertrude & Hamlet. Within this dialogue, the queen says “What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongue
In noise so rude against me?” It is ironic that she is saying this because what she did was marry Claudius very quickly which only added to Hamlet’s anger and grief. Hamlet then responds to this by saying, “Such an act
That blurs the grace and blush of modesty,
Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose
From the fair forehead of an innocent love
And sets a blister there, makes marriage-vows
As false as dicers' oaths: O, such a deed
As from the body of contraction plucks
The very soul, and sweet religion makes
A rhapsody of words: heaven's face doth glow:
Yea, this solidity and compound mass,
With tristful visage, as against the doom,
Is thought-sick at the act.” Here Hamlet mentions a hypocrite which is also ironic because Hamlet is now the hypocrite because he has now killed someone, and originally he was out to avenge his father’s death...
A common theme in Hamlet is the theme of control. Who is controlled and who is doing the controlling? Both Hamlet and Polonius feel a need to be in control of the situations and people around them. In the beginning of the play Hamlet resists his mother and uncles attempt to get him to change his attitude about his father, responding to his mother with “Seems, madam! nay it is; I know not 'seems.''Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother”. He does eventually make a promise to obey his mother, but it is clear he is reluctant to be controlled. While Hamlet resists the control of his parents, Polonius takes control of his children. Polonius gives conflicting advice to his son, making it clear that he is much wiser and more knowledgeable than him, saying “Marry, I'll teach you: think yourself a baby;That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay”. In Polonius’s eyes, Laertes is a child, and he wants to continue to think of him that way so he can keep control of him.
ReplyDeleteAnother way Hamlet keeps control of the situations that he is faced with is by talking himself through them. When he is faced with the decision of killing himself, he speaks for 33 lines about the pros and cons of the afterlife and decides to do nothing with the line “Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution”. Polonius also takes control by talking a lot. In trying to convince the King and Queen that Hamlet has gone mad because of his love for Ophelia, he begins with the line “brevity is the soul of wit”, and then talks for two pages.
-Solace Lockheardt
Hamlet and Fortinbras are two characters that are good examples of foil characters. They are in the same boat when they lost their father. Fortinbras' father got killed by Hamlet's father as he was trying to claim Denmark. He decided to take revenge immediately. Hamlet's father was killed by Claudius.They way each of them handled the situation after is what makes them a perfect pair of foils in this play.
ReplyDeleteWhen Hamlet was given the chance to kill Claudius, he did not take the opportunity because he thought it was wrong to kill him when he was asking to go to heaven. As he waited for the right time, he ended up killing Polonius during his conversation with Gertrude. He finally killed Claudius at the end which was expected.
Fortinbras on the other hand, invaded Denmark to claim the land in honor of his father. He also claimed the throne as king. He took matters into his own hands immediately without any thought like Hamlet. He was probably more attached to his father than Hamlet. Hamlet should have acted earlier while Fortinbras should have reflected more on his revenge.
Fortinbras: Go, Captain, from me greet the Danish king.
Tell him that by his license Fortinbras
Craves the conveyance of a promis'd march
Over his kingdom. You know the rendezvous.
If that his Majesty would aught with us,
We shall express our duty in his eye;
And let him know so.
Fortinbras: Let us haste to hear it,
And call the noblest to the audience.
For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune.
I have some rights of memory in this kingdom
Which now, to claim my vantage doth invite me
Hamlet: And so am I revenged.—That would be scanned.
A villain kills my father, and, for that,
I, his sole son, do this same villain send
To heaven. This is hire and salary, not revenge.
He took my father grossly, full of bread,
With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as May.
And how his audit stands who knows save heaven?
Hamlet: No. Away, sword, and wait for a better moment to kill him. (he puts his sword away) When he’s sleeping off some drunken orgy, or having incestuous sex, or swearing while he gambles, or committing some other act that has no goodness about it—that’s when I’ll trip him up and send him to hell with his heels kicking up at heaven.
Quotations:
ReplyDelete1. HAMLET: O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I! Is it not monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,
Could force his soul so to his own conceit
[Pg. 95, Ln. 502-505]
2. CLAUDIUS: O, my offense is rank,
it smells to Heaven; It hath the primal eldest curse upon't,
A brother's murder!
(III, iii, 39-41).
3. CLAUDIUS:"O, what form of prayer Can serve my turn?
'Forgive me my foul murder?'
That cannot be; since I am still possess'd Of those effects for which I did the murder
--My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen
(III, iii, 55-58).
4.HAMLET: Sir in my heart there was a kind of fighting
That would not let me sleep. Methought I lay
Worse than the mutines in the bilboes.
[Pg. 217, Ln 4-6]
Response and analysis:
Claudius is a perfect example of a foil character to Hamlet in many ways. Claudius is similar to Hamlet and compliments his regret in the actions hes taken in his life and has made similar mistakes to him. In my first quote, Hamlet experiences much guilt when he sees the actor cry on command. He questions how he could be reacting less strongly than an actor in a fictional situation. This, arguably, is the action that triggers Hamlet's guilt to a point where he is forced to act - triggering the 'Mousetrap Scene'. Hamlet feels extreme guilt as he is now the vehicle for his fathers will and he feels he needs to act on this or he is not honoring himself and his father. Claudius has a similar situation in my second quote. Claudius finally admits and comes clean to his brothers murder after Hamlet has shown him a representation of the situation he now know has happened. As he confesses to god he expresses how he has done something 'rank'. This compliments and brings out Hamlets emotions in the previous quote. Claudius's character is similar to Hamlets in his regret and disappointment of himself. Hamlet also is similar in that he ends up in a similar situation to Claudius after the accidental murder of polonius, therefor making Claudius and Hamlet murderers.
Although Hamlet and Claudius share a lot of similarities in the emotions and view of themselves there are still many differences that can be seen within each-other. In my second quote of Hamlet criticizes himself for being indecisive.A 'mutine' is a slave who would be chained together meaning that, when trying to sleep, a small movement of one would disturb all those connected. So therefor Hamlet only sees himself as a slave to his fathers will, as he is continuously put into dangerous situations that don't even benefit himself directly and are rather for the honor of his father. In Claudius's other quote he continues to show his regret about killing his brother, but stops himself, he comes to the realization that he is still in possession of the benefits of his murder. He still has his crown, his queen and his ambition. In this sense Claudius and Hamlet differ in that Claudius is able to see benefits from his wrong doing and murderous ways. When Hamlet only views himself as a slave to his father and that he does not even directly benefit from his actions. Claudius revels in his immorality and ability to achieve his goals no matter what the cost, Hamlet is plagued by the choices that he must make. This is the only case in which someone acts as a true foil to Hamlet, with Claudius’ negative characteristics highlighting Hamlet’s rationale and regret.
- TROY KENNEDY
Claudius vs Hamlet
ReplyDeleteClaudius
“Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death
The memory be green, and that it us befitted
To bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom
To be contracted in one brow of woe,
Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature
That we with wisest sorrow think on him
Together with remembrance of ourselves.” - Act I Scene II
This passage is from the beginning of the play, where the death of the old king is still recent, and where hamlet was first introduced. In this speech that the new king gives, he talks of how much his brother will be missed and how much grief it’s caused everybody. He gives this heartwarming speech to a crowd in the castle and pretends to share everyone’s sadness when it was him that killed the king. This is a prime example of the king’s trickery, a pattern that continues throughout the play. He manipulates people into thinking he’s sympathetic when he really isn’t.
“Why, now you speak
Like a good child and a true gentleman.
That I am guiltless of your father’s death
And am most sensibly in grief for it,
It shall as level to your judgment ’pear
As day does to your eye.” - Act IV Scene V
This is another example of the king’s ability to smooth talk anyone into doing his will. When a furious laertes bursts into the room and puts a sword to the king's throat, he manages to weasel his way out by talking Laertes down. Although Polonius’ death is mostly Hamlet’s fault, Laertes has reason to be upset with the king too. As usual the king shifts blame and joins his assailant to kill Hamlet.
Hamlet
“I have heard of your paintings too, well
enough. God hath given you one face, and you
make yourselves another. You jig and amble, and
you lisp; you nickname God’s creatures and make
your wantonness your ignorance. Go to, I’ll no
more on ’t. It hath made me mad. I say we will have
no more marriage. Those that are married already,
all but one, shall live. The rest shall keep as they are.
To a nunnery, go.” - Act III Scene I
Hamlet claims that women who wear makeup to look like something they’re not is deceitful and is driving him mad. This quote illustrates nicely Hamlet’s hatred for trickery, as earlier in the play he feels like he can’t trust anyone after the death of his father. The fact that Claudius specialises in trickery makes him a perfect foil to Hamlet
“I am but mad north-north-west. When the
wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.” - Act II Scene II
When Rosencrants and Guildenstern follow Hamlet around trying to get information out of him, Hamlet acts (or maybe he can’t help it?) like he’s mad to deter them. As the play progresses his act grows more and more until the audience can’t even tell when the act ends and the real Hamlet begins. As we’ve seen before, Claudius is a professional smooth talker, usually getting his way and befriending his adversaries, while Hamlet’s crazy talk actively drives people away and makes them question his intentions and his sanity.
One foil character that makes a big impact to the play is Laertes. Very early in the play Laertes leaves to continue his education leaving nothing behind and no reason to give much thought into him. His father on the other hand stays and in a fit of rage is killed by Hamlet. Hamlet tries to run from what he has done at first but is chased down and talked to by his father’s brother, the new king. KING CLAUDIUS
ReplyDeleteNow, Hamlet, where's Polonius?
HAMLET
At supper.
KING CLAUDIUS
At supper where?
HAMLET
Not where he eats, but where he is eaten. A
certain convocation of politic worms are e'en at
him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet. We
fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves
for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is
but variable service—two dishes but to one table.
That's the end.
Laertes finds out about this when he returns and challenges Hamlet for revenge.
“How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with.
To hell, allegiance! Vows, to the blackest devil!
Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit!
I dare damnation. To this point I stand,
That both the worlds I give to negligence,
Let come what comes, only I'll be revenged
Most thoroughly for my father.”
The two fight and the battle leads to the death of both of them. Although Laertes did not have a big role throughout the play he did come back to avenge his father's death and kill Hamlet ultimately ending the play. They start to realize what they have done and squabble for they know that the end of their lives are near. Laertes says “I am justly killed with mine own treachery.” Realizing that he fought for something he should not have been fighting for and it was not worth his attack on Hamlet. They both forgive each other as well as themselves before finally dying and ending the play. This clearly shows how Laertes is a foil character to Hamlet. Laertes brings out forgiveness and peace in Hamlet before they both die. He also brings out anger and his murderous actions based on impulsive decisions. Laertes though being a small part of the beginning of the play becomes a huge part of the end of the play and to Hamlet.
LAERTES
ReplyDelete“How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with:
To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil!
Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit!
I dare damnation. To this point I stand,
That both the worlds I give to negligence,
Let come what comes; only I'll be revenged
Most thoroughly for my father.”
HAMLET
Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swift
As meditation or
the thoughts of love,
May sweep to my revenge.
LAERTES
He is justly served;
It is a poison temper'd by himself.
Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet:
Mine and my father's death come not upon thee,
Nor thine on me.
HAMLET
Now might I do it pat, now he is praying;
And now I'll do't.
And so he goes to heaven;
And so am I revenged.
That would be scann'd:
A villain kills my father; and for that,
I, his sole son, do this same villain
Send to heaven.
In the play of Hamlet, Hamlet the protagonist endures a journey where he seeks revenge for his father. However, he was not the only one. There was also another one seeking revenge for his father and it was Laertes, a close friend of Hamlet. In literature terms, these two characters are “foil characters”, or characters that reflect each others actions. Hamlet and Laertes are perfect foil characters for their actions both emphasize their similarities but also their differences.
An action made my both that emphasized their similarities is when both characters figure out the cause of their father’s death. When the Ghost told Hamlet that King Claudius has killed his father, Hamlet immediately plots his revenge for his father. He is consumed by this thirst for revenge. His actions became irrational and his thoughts as well. Accusing his mother of plotting to kill his father, imagining the Ghost in a room urging him to seek revenge, even killing a man and not caring. Very similar things occured to Laertes when he figured out his dad has been killed as well. Laertes immediately comes home from France and his furious with the King seeking revenge. His actions and thoughts become irrational as well. He knew that Hamlet has killed his father by accident but still did not care to approach him and hear him out rationally.
Their actions also emphasize differences in the foil characters as well. When Hamlet seeked revenge for his father, his plot seemed to show as if he was delaying the revenge of his father. Including a play in the plan, and when the opportune came for him to fulfill the revenge, he opted not to. On the contrary, Laertes plot for revenge was very straightforward. He would simply use poison to kill Hamlet in a joust whether it would be delivered by the sword, or the drink. Hamlet lacks the drive to accomplish his goal right away whilst Laertes shows the audience the drive.
Fortinbras is an excellent example of a foil character to hamlet because of the similar situation he faces and how he acts in a completely different manner than Hamlet. He is used as a minor character to contrast Hamlet’s actions with another path he could have taken. They both face the death of their fathers but act in completely different ways. Horatio decides to take action immediately and exact revenge on Denmark.
ReplyDeleteHoratio:
“Now, sir, young Fortinbras,
Of unimprovèd mettle hot and full,
Hath in the skirts of Norway here and there
Shark'd up a list of lawless resolutes
For food and diet to some enterprise”(1.1)
Horatio speaks of how Fortinbras is arming and readying himself to invade Denmark. Hamlet, on the other hand, acts differently when he finds out his father has been killed. He acts in secret and thinks about his actions more before doing anything.
Hamlet:
“Come hither, gentlemen,
And lay your hands again upon my sword.
Never to speak of this that you have heard,
Swear by my sword.”(1.4)
He doesn’t tell anyone what tho ghost told him and makes the people there swear to never speak of this encounter again. Hamlet decides to take his time in acting while Fortinbras immediately act.
Hamlet references this foil almost exactly when he compares himself to the Fortinbras army and how they have taken different paths from their fathers’ death.
“Witness this army of such mass and charge
Led by a delicate and tender prince,
Whose spirit with divine ambition puff'd
Makes mouths at the invisible event… O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth.”(4.4)
He wants to be more like Fortinbras and take action because he is now sick of being too hesitant to act. He had previously skirted around the idea of killing Claudius and decided to set up a play to see how Claudius reacted in a long drawn-out process to avoid having to kill him. Fortinbras acts in the way Hamlet speaks of him by succeeding in his plan of action by taking over Denmark. Hamlet had wanted to take action on his revenge but ended up failing while Fortinbras ended up succeeding like Hamlet says he always does.
Fortinbras:
“Let us haste to hear it
And call the noblest to the audience.
For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune.
I have some rights of memory in this kingdom,
Which now to claim my vantage doth invite me.” (5.2)
Fortinbras just marches into Denmark and takes what he wants because he is always quick to act while Hamlet is dead after waiting too long to act and acting in a round about way.
When it comes to Hamlet and the way he interacts with the women in his life, the way Ophelia and Gertrude express their love is different from one another; in fact, these two women shape the course in some of how it affects Hamlet mentally and emotionally. As a result, Hamlet carries this emotional baggage that none of these women realized they had put on him until later in the play. With Ophelia, since the beginning of play, it’s been made out that Hamlet and Ophelia have had romantic relations with each other. However when Ophelia is told to not to see Hamlet again, with her father Polonius telling her to“somewhat scanter of your maiden presence” and not allow her to “slander any moment leisure, as to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet” (1.3.121,133-134) , this restriction from her father and brother not only makes it harder to express the love she has for Hamlet but also cuts off the communication she has with him, which makes Hamlet starts to develop and question the trust he has with the people around him, including Ophelia by asking her, “Are you honest?”. (3.1.105) Also, keeping in mind that Hamlet is initially putting on an act in front of Claudius and Polonius, I feel like when he was expressing the hatred he has toward Ophelia, it might’ve been slightly true that he may not love her anymore. And it’s even more upsetting when she thinks that Hamlet is still in love with her and confronts him about the love letters he sent her and his love for her, to hear him say “No, not I. I never gave you aught.” (3.1.98) Even after she tries to convince him otherwise, he denies he’s ever had feelings for her and say horrible things to her, such as, ''I have heard of your paintings too, well enough. God has given you one face and you make yourselves another. You jig and amble, and you lisp, you nickname God’s creatures and make your wantonness your ignorance`` (3.1.144-148) and ''If thou dost marry, I’ll give thee this plague for thy dowry. Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a nunnery, go.`` (3.1.136-139) Even though it might’ve not been entirely Ophelia’s fault for Hamlet’s madness, she still unintentionally managed to take a toll on Hamlet’s emotion for not being there with him when his father was murdered and now the murderer marrying his mother.
ReplyDeleteCompared to Ophelia, Gertrude still managed to be there for Hamlet during the important parts of the play. Though she did not have the same restrictions as Ophelia, she still managed to take a toll on Hamlet because of her marriage with her brother in law Claudius. To Hamlet, he sees his uncle as this greedy monster who killed his father in order to get the throne and his mother but to Gertrude, she sees her brother in law as someone who would be good king and lover because she doesn't know the real truth of her husband’s death. Hamlet is disgusting by their relationship and say that not even “ within a month, ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears
ReplyDeletehad left the flushing in her gallèd eyes, she married. O most wicked speed, to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets! It is not nor it cannot come to good.” (1.2.153-158) As his craziness starts to build up throughout the play, he finally encounters his mother and takes all his frustration out to her on how she has hurt him and that she doesn’t understand the severity of how she’s forgotten about the most important man in her life. He even further his point by saying that “such an act that blurs the grace and blush of modesty, calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose from the fair forehead of an innocent love and sets a blister there, makes marriage vows as false as dicers' oaths—oh, such a deed as from the body of contraction plucks the very soul, and sweet religion makes a rhapsody of words. Heaven’s face doth glow o'er this solidity and compound mass with tristful visage, as against the doom, is thought-sick at the act.”(3.4. 41-52) But as Hamlet keeps telling his mother to repent for the sin she has committed, his father spirits appear and tells him that his uncle should repent for his sin, for his mother did nothing wrong but marry the next man heir to the throne. Hamlet, realizing that he has been blinded by his selfish desires, starts to fall short and Gertrude starts to comfort Hamlet, for the pain he has to deal with since his father’s passing, in saying “be thou assured, if words be made of breath and breath of life, I have no life to breathe what thou hast said to me.” (3.4.201-203)
The foil characters I will be comparing to Hamlet will be Fortnabras and Leartes. I will first start off with Fortinbras. Once Fortanbras figured out his father has died, and King Hamlet had seized his father's land years back, he swore to take the land back in the name of his father. “Now, sir, young Fortinbras, Of unimprovèd mettle hot and full, Hath in the skirts of Norway here and there Shark'd up a list of lawless resolutes For food and diet to some enterprise That hath a stomach in 't; which is no other (As it doth well appear unto our state) But to recover of us, by strong hand And terms compulsatory, those foresaid lands So by his father lost”(Act I Scene I). This is vastly different from Hamlet because Fortanbras gets his army together so fast and needs to be told by his uncle not to try and take back the land, but Hamlet tries to be very percises. He wants to ensure that his uncle killed his father, so he wants to put on a play to see if his uncle reacts when a similar situation to Hamlet's father's death occurs in the play. If his uncle reacts that would mean it is true that he killed Hamlet's father. This is so different because Hamlet obviously wants to make sure he is not killing an innocent man, which I understand, but there is another incident where Hamlet knows his uncle is guilty, but because he’s praying he decides to wait to kill his uncle. I feel if Fortinbras had king Hamlet in his sights, then and there he would have killed Hamlet's father. It would not have mattered if the man was praying, Fortanbras wants revenge.
ReplyDeleteWith Laertes it’s kind of similar to Fortinbras in the sense that he wants his revenge, and he wants it fast. When he finds out his father has been murdered, he gets some of his friends together and storms the castle, he is ready to kill Hamlet's Uncle strictly because his father has died “under the kings watch”Save yourself my lord. The ocean, overpeering of his list, Eats not the flats with more impetuous haste than young Laertes, in a riotous head, O’erbears your officers. The rabble call him lord, and, as the world were now but to begin, antiquity forgot, custom not known the ratifiers and props of every word they cry ‘Choose we! Laertes shall be king.’ Caps, hands and tongues applaud it to the clouds, ‘Laertes shall be king, laertes king.’”(Act IV Scene V). This is a drastic change for Laertes, in the beginning of the play, he is begging the king to allow him to travel to Paris, but when his father died he is a completely different character. “My dread lord, Your leave and favour to France, From whence though willingly I came to Denmark, To show my duty in your coronation, Yet now, I must confess, that duty done, My thoughts and wishes bend again toward France and bow to them to your gracious leave and pardon”(Act I scene 2II). Now comparing this to hamlet, again Leatertes hears his father has died and he’s ready to kill someone over it. Hamlet on the other hand seems scared to try and get revenge.
- CJ
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ReplyDeleteClaudius/Hamlet
ReplyDeleteThe most direct FOIL character to Hamlet’s personality is King Claudius. The King and Hamlet are confronted by one another constantly throughout the play. The way Claudius acts and handles himself highlights opposite characteristics of Hamlet. The most prevalent way their character differs can be shown by Claudius’s deception. This can be seen most clearly when Claudius addresses the loss of the King to the kingdom, "Though yet of our dear brother's death the memory be green, and that it us befitted to bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom to be contracted in one brow of woe" (Act 1, Scene 2). It is no secret that the King is a typical political mastermind, which entails being a pathological liar. He shows very little remorse and has no trouble telling lies through his teeth. These political skills do not come as naturally to Hamlet on the other hand. The way Claudius disregards moral law highlights Hamlet’s morality.
Additionally, Hamlet struggles to be decisive. This inability to make decisions is highlighted by the king’s ability to make rash decisions. Hamlet’s indecisiveness is most blunt in his “to be or not to be” soliloquy. He contemplates suicide and almost over analyzes his own thoughts,“Thus conscience does make cowards of us all/ And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied over with the pale cast of thought...some craven scruple/ Of thinking too precisely on the event.” Hamlet also mourns the death of the King for an appropriate amount of time, whereas Claudius pushes the fact that grieving is unmanly, “‘Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet, To give these mourning duties to your father,...“must know your father lost a father, That father lost, lost his...’Tis unmanly grief.”(Act 1, Scene 2). Claudius tries to cover his tracks with his decisiveness while Hamlet’s indecisiveness arguably leads to his own downfall.
Laretes is a perfect foil to Hamlet in the play. They both come from similar family status’, but their personalities are very different. In the beginning of the play we learn that Hamlet father is dead, and his uncle Claudius killed him. Hamlet is given the task to kill Claudius to avenge his father, but Hamlet spends the entire play trying to find out when to do it, and if Claudius is guilty. Hamlet is dodging around his task and won’t fully commit to killing his uncle. Laretes is the complete opposite of Hamlet. When Laretes returns home, and finds out his father was killed he immediately charges the castle with his own army of men demanding answers about his father's death. Laretes takes immediate action to avenge his father's death, unlike Hamlet who can’t fulfill his father's wishes.
ReplyDeleteLAERTES
How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with:
To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil!
Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit!
I dare damnation. To this point I stand,
That both the worlds I give to negligence,
Let come what comes; only I'll be revenged
Most thoroughly for my father.
LAERTES
I will do't:
And, for that purpose, I'll anoint my sword.
I bought an unction of a mountebank,
So mortal that, but dip a knife in it,
Where it draws blood no cataplasm so rare,
Collected from all simples that have virtue
Under the moon, can save the thing from death
That is but scratch'd withal: I'll touch my point
With this contagion, that, if I gall him slightly,
It may be death.
Hamlet
When honour's at the stake. How stand I then,
That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd,
Excitements of my reason and my blood,
And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men,
That, for a fantasy and trick of fame,
Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,
Which is not tomb enough and continent
To hide the slain? O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!
HAMLET
Now might I do it pat, now he is praying;
And now I'll do't. And so he goes to heaven;
And so am I revenged. That would be scann'd:
A villain kills my father; and for that,
I, his sole son, do this same villain send
To heaven.
Christine
Claudius as Hamlet's Foil
ReplyDeleteQuotes-
HAMLET
Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing
you make of me! You would play upon me, you
would seem to know my stops, you would pluck
out the heart of my mystery, you would sound me
from my lowest note to the top of my compass;
and there is much music, excellent voice, in this
little organ, yet cannot you make it speak. 'Sblood,
do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe?
Call me what instrument you will, though you can
fret me, yet you cannot play upon me.
(III.ii.)
KING Claudius
O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven;
It hath the primal eldest curse upon 't,
A brother's murder.
(III.iii.)
KING Claudius
My words fly up; my thoughts remain below.
Words without thoughts never to heaven go.
(III.iii.)
Hamlet
Conscience doth make cowards of us all
(III.i.)
Response-
I selected Claudius as the foil of Hamlet in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. He is the character that brings out all the different characteristics of Hamlet the most. One trait that he brings out of Hamlet’s is his constant truth seeking. The first quote shows Hamlet wanting Rosencrans and Guildenstern to stop lying to him because he just wants to find out the real truth in the matters. This characteristic it not shown strongly through that quote alone, but when you examine Hamlet and King Claudius together it is prevalent. The second quote shows how the King is truly lying about killing his brother and how he did it all to become king. Hamlet shows his truthfulness more as he desires to find out what really happened with his father’s death and puts on a whole performance just to see if King Claudius is lying or not.
Another character trait of Hamlet, that is shown through King Claudius as the foil, is the fact that he is very conscientious. King Claudius is the exact opposite of that, as in the third quote while he is attempting to pray he says that he is just saying these words to say them and does not actually mean any of it. Hamlet on the other hand only sees King Claudius attempting to pray so he does not kill him in that moment because then it would be “wrong.” In the fourth quote he says that “conscience doth make cowards of us all.” Meaning he still has value that he holds even though he is about to attempt murder.
Hamlet and Fortinbras FOIL
ReplyDeleteQuotes:
1. How now, a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead!(III.IV)- Hamlet killing Claudius, shows how fortinbras and hamlet ended up having same intentions although they did not have the same originally.
2. Now, sir, young Fortinbras,
Of unimprovèd mettle hot and full,
Hath in the skirts of Norway here and there
Sharked up a list of lawless resolutes
For food and diet to some enterprise
That hath a stomach in ’t; which is no other
(As it doth well appear unto our state)
But to recover of us, by strong hand
And terms compulsatory, those foresaid lands
So by his father lost.(I.I)
3. Come hither, gentlemen,
And lay your hands again upon my sword.
Swear by my sword
Never to speak of this that you have heard.(I.V) - Shows he difference of approaches that the 2 characters take when they hear the news about the deaths of their fathers.
4. I’ll have grounds
More relative than this. The play’s the thing
Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.(II.II)
Hamlet and Fortinbras are two characters that are foils for each other. Although their storylines never directly meet in the play, we can draw from these two characters experiences that they share similar and also different traits. One thing that they have in common is that they both are Princes in a kingdom, and there father has just been killed. Fortinbras father was killed by King Hamlet, and Hamlet's father was killed by his uncle Claudius. They both share the same pain of losing there fathers, and also the desperate need to avenge their father's death. This is shown in the second quote when it says that Fortinbras is "Of unimprovèd mettle hot and full", or very angry about the death of his father.
While the situation of Hamlet and Fortinbras is very similar, they have different views on how they will seek revenge for their fathers. Comparing the two characters, Fortinbras has a much more angry and impulsive reaction, with his first thought is to storm Denmark to avenge his father. When his uncle hears about this he puts a stop to it immediately by forbidding Fortinbras to invade Denmark, but he instead says that he is going to invade Poland which requires him to walk through Denmark. Hamlet takes a much more passive and drawn out approach to catching his uncle. Unsatisfied with the amount of evidence he has at the time, Hamlet plans to put on a play "Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king., and expose him in front of the whole Kingdom." His goal is to use his fake play to make the king confess to the Kingdom that he killed his Father. Fortinbras on the other hand seeks his revenge by marching on Denmark with hopes of taking the kingdom as a repayment for his father death.
Bryant Kroeger
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