Fortinbras, Laertes and Horatio, as Foils to Hamlet Essay -- GCSE Cour

Fortinbras, Laertes and Horatio, as Foils to hamlet What a piece of work is a man (II, 2, 305). In his statement Prince Hamlet, in his role as the star character in William Shakespeares Hamlet, acknowledges the complexity of man as infinite in faculties. . . express and admirable. . . uniform an angel or like a god. . . and yet. . . a quintessence of dust (II, 2, 307) is man described. Shakespeare emphasizes the thoughtfulness by casting Hamlet as a man, exposing his strengths and weaknesses through the teleph unrivaled circuit provided by Fortinbras, Laertes and Horatio, as foils to the tragic hero. At his first appearance, young Fortinbras is shown to be inferior to Hamlet being of unimproved metal, hot and full (I, 1, 96) immoderately sharking up a list of landless resolutes (I, 1, 98), he is in lancinate contrast to the sweet and commendable (I, 2, 87) Hamlet introduced in the next scene. As the play develops, however, Hamlets weakness are highlighted as Fortinbras works to earn his name, which seems to present the strong arm of the soldier (xxvii). Fortinbras uncomplicated, simple-minded determination towards final penalize of this fathers death contrasts with Hamlets intermittent efforts towards the same goal. The Norwegians first appearance in the play, which does non occur until act IV, scene 4, is conveniently placed as Hamlet is on another of his lows. Fortinbras triumphant and majestic entry into Denmark evidences his ability to computer program and act, circumventing obstacles in his plan as they arise, which contrasts with Hamlets inability to do the same. Hamlet condemns himself and exposes one of his weaknesses -- his inability to act when required or possible -- by inquisitive Wh... ... the deadly duel in the final scene. The scholars strong code of discover and ethics, which pushes him to commit suicide at Hamlets death, contrasts with Hamlets lack of morals, sending his old acquaintances Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their d eaths in England and mercilessly wringing his mothers heart (III, 4, 35) during the closet scene. By exposing and emphasizing Hamlets many strengths and weaknesses as they appear throughout the play, Fortinbras, Laertes and Horatio act as foils to the tragic hero. Although they assist in the understanding of Hamlet, they do not completely dissect the inner whole caboodle of the main character, thus testifying to the complexity of an individual. Indeed, what a piece of work is a man Works Cited Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Betty Bealy. Toronto Canadian School Book Exchange, 1996.