Hamlet: Laertes An Important Character In Play Essay, Research Paper

Hamlet: Laertes An Important Character In Play

Though seeming to simply be a minor character, Laertes is of great

importance in the play, Hamlet, and much more than one would initially believe,

due to his extensive inner conflict. He is good, loyal, and honourable, seeming

to possess the greatest virtue of all the characters, yet he still is doomed to

die along with the other characters, precisely because of his great virtue.

As Scene Two begins, in the first lines which Laertes speaks in the play,

he requests that King Claudius allow him to return to his duties in France. This

is important from the viewpoint that it demonstrates his dislike for the King

and his wish to be away from the questionable circumstances of his marriage and

subsequent ascension to the throne, a wise decision, and an attempt to remain

apart and above the world, as the Greek ?superman? is seen to gain immortality

by doing, though Laertes does have personal feelings in the matter, unlike the

true Stoic, thus his attempt is a failure, though a noble one.

As Scene Three begins, Laertes is speaking with his sister, Ophelia,

about her relationship with Hamlet, and warning her to ?Weigh what loss your

honour may sustain,/ If with too credent ear you list his songs,? (1.3.29) else

she lose her virtue to Prince Hamlet. This exemplifies his loyalty and love for

his family, and especially his sister, though she replies to his warnings and

advice with the sarcastic reply to do not ?Show me the steep and thorny way to

heaven,/ Whilst, like a puffed and reckless libertine,/ Himself the primrose

path of dalliance treads/ And recks not his own rede.? (1.3.47) Following this,

Ophelia and Laertes? father, Polonius, enters, and Laertes departs with a final

warning to Ophelia.

Soon after Laertes departs, Polonius meets with Reynaldo, and instructs

him to bring money for Laertes, but first to spy on him and to make sure that he

stays out of trouble. It seems that it would be difficult for Laertes to not

know of this messenger?s second duty as spy, as it is mentioned in the text ?You

must not put another scandal on him,? (2.1.29), implying that this has happened

before, somehow. From this, one could feel that Laertes expects this from his

scheming, plotting, underhanded father, he still goes along with it, and

harbours great love for the old man, as is shown on Laertes? return to England.

While Laertes is off in France, however, Polonius is killed by Hamlet,

the Queen recalling that he ?Whips out his rapier, cries ?A rat, a rat!??

(4.1.10), implying that Polonius is indeed a ?rat?, in the most underhanded and

demeaning sense of the word. Then, Ophelia goes mad the same night as Laertes

returns to Denmark, with an armed mob shouting for him to take the throne,

though he finds it against his honour to take the throne from Claudius by force,

and only wishes to find what has become of his father.

Though Polonius was spying on him, and Laertes most likely was aware of

his father?s ways, he still feels great love for the old man, and desires only

revenge for the wrongful death of his kin. He declares that he will repay his

friends, and have vengeance on those who are his enemies. To this, King Claudius

replies ?Why, now you speak/ Like a good child?(4.5.143), and though he finishes

the statement with ?and a gentleman?, the implication is left that Laertes is

like a child, rushing headlong into the unknown, the first implication of

Laertes? own tragic flaw. Directly after this is said, Ophelia enters, and

Laertes, further incensed at the fate of his remaining family, cries out ?By

heaven, thy madness shall be paid with weight,/ Till our scale turn the beam.?

(4.5.152), this line being an implication of the scales being thrown out of

balance, and further attesting to Laertes? impending doom.

At this point in the story, Laertes has followed his loyalty, love, and

honour to the decisive point, and the scales have tipped off balance. He has

tried the Stoic way, similar to Horatio, of staying totally apart, but has

failed in this attempt, and he now tries to take the other end of the spectrum,

to balance his previous inaction with the action of vengeance, and revenge. He

makes a plan with Claudius to poison Hamlet during a fencing match, and even

brings his own poison with which to anoint his sword?s blade, another stone on

the scales, tipping them too far to the other end of the spectrum, and thus

unbalancing them again. Seemingly to drive this unbalancing in, Ophelia suddenly

drowns for no discernible reason, and Laertes forces down his grief, and after

Laertes leaves, King Claudius says ?How much I had to do to calm his rage!/ Now

I fear it will start again;? (4.7.193), showing that even the other characters

are realizing that Laertes has become unbalanced, so to speak.

In the following scene, during the burying of Ophelia, Laertes has

become so inflamed that he threatens that the priest will go to hell while his

beloved sister is in heaven, and then he nearly strangles Hamlet while they are

both standing virtually on top of Ophelia?s corpse, in the grave! If there was

still any question of Laertes? flaw, it has again been shown that his virtues

have driven him past the edge.

When the final half begins of Act Five, Scene Two, Hamlet and Laertes

are ready for the fencing match, and Hamlet begs forgiveness for all

transgressions against his foe. Laertes, knowing fully that Hamlet is doomed to

die because of Laertes? deal with Polonius, forgives Hamlet and has the perfect

way out, and the perfect chance to balance the scales, but, due to his great

desire for vengeance he goes on with the match, and the plan to kill Hamlet,

effectively closing all routes of retreat.

Once Laertes has poisoned Hamlet, Hamlet Laertes, and Queen Gertrude has

drunk from the poisoned cup, however, Laertes? honour finally takes control, and

he admits his guilt, and tells all of the king?s plot to kill Hamlet, even

though it does no good. The scales are broken.

Laertes enhances the message of consistency in the play, through the

extremes of his own actions. He shows that all the qualities of the characters

are akin to standing on a ball, and the more one leans to one extreme or the

other, without totally jumping off the ball, the more momentum is gained, and

the more force is needed to offset the rolling of the ball, which is just as

likely to send on spinning at a greater speed in the other direction! The only

two examples of characters who have gotten off the ball are Horatio and

Fortinbras. Horatio being the extreme neutrality of Stoicism, his inaction

leading to his not becoming caught up in the events, since he is merely an

observer, and Fortinbras is action taken to just as far of an extreme, he has no

indecision or change of heart, and he is able to pass by and over all that

stands in his way. Laertes tries both ways, but since he cannot decide which

path to take, he exemplifies the metaphor to its fullest, only getting off the

ball after it has passed over the cliff. Seeing his error and the path to

success, he cannot go back, and is doomed, learning-as do all other characters

who cannot stay with their path-that indecision is the true enemy.

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