The Characters Of Foils In William Shakespeares Hamlet

Foils In Hamlet In fiction, a foil is a character whom contrasts with another character in the story, typically the protagonist. The foil is able to highlight certain aspects of their opposing character. A foil can differ dramatically or be extremely similar but tends to have key qualities that distinguish the two apart from each other. When an author uses a foil in literature they are emphasizing not only strengths and weaknesses the main character poses, but also understanding the obvious as well as hidden aspects of their lives. In the Shakespeares tragedy, Hamlet, William Shakespeares applies foils to explore morality and social ethics and how to answer the overall question of the tragedy, what it means to be a human and†¦show more content†¦The two individuals go about this differently. Unlike Hamlet, Laertes is eager with motivation and wants to find answers right away. However, his personality is extremely superficial, while Hamlet’s is authentic. Laertes and Hamlet bot h pose similarities towards showing their anger. It can be very reckless and impulsive, causing them to bring up more problems than they already had before. The news about Laertes father brought exasperation to Laertes. He quickly jumped to conclusions and pinned the act on Claudius, â€Å"That drop of blood that’s calm proclaims me bastard, cries cuckold to my father, brands the harlot even here, between the chaste unsmirch’d brows of my true mother.† (4.5 115-118) Laertes wanted answers and he wanted them now or else he was going to reverse the act back and kill Claudius. Hamlet also went the same route after he found out Claudius killed his father, but in a more timely manner with a lot of background planning. He turned his anger into actions and attempted to kill Claudius, however he stabbed through the curtain and killed Polonius instead. Another foil in this tragedy is Ophelia, Hamlet’s â€Å"better half†. While Laeretes was a foil t o Hamlet between their actions after their fathers deaths, Ophelia and Hamlet contrasted each other emotionally after their fathers deaths, Ophelia is able to give the audience a deeper look into Hamlet’s heart and how he views certain aspects of his life. Revenge and death is how the readerShow MoreRelatedThe Foils of Hamlet Essay646 Words   |  3 PagesA foil is a minor character in a literary work that compliments the main character through similarities and differences in personality and plot. In William Shakespeares play Hamlet, the main character, Hamlet, has three major foils. These foils are his close friend Horatio, Fortinbras, Prince of Norway, and the brother of his love, Laertes. These three characters contradict and enhance Hamlets major characteristics. 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