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To begin with, Laertes is Hamlet’s foil. Hamlet and Laertes contrast each other and both have similar goals, to avenge their father’s death. Hamlet is different from Laertes because he acts and think differently. Hamlet is someone who procrastinate and thinks over his action whereas Laertes does not rethink. Laertes is a character who ask questions right away. This can be seen when Laertes and his followers storm into the palace. Laertes asks the king, “How came he dead? I’ll not be juggled with. (IV, v, 141). It illustrates that Laertes want straight and definitive answers unlike Hamlet, who ask lots of question for himself but doesn’t take actions. In my opinion, Hamlet should be like Laertes. Hamlet should’ve went to Claudius and kill him right away. But I guess we wouldn’t have a book to read if it was straight forward. Moreover, Laertes is not interested in morals but rather want to fulfill his desire to avenge for his father. This can be seen when Laertes states, “To cut [Hamlet] throat i’th’ church” (IV, vii, 139). This shows that Laertes would do anything to kill Hamlet. In addition, he would kill Hamlet in a place of worship, church. This is a great example of Hamlet’s foil because in the previous act, Hamlet refuses to kill Claudius when he was praying.
To continue, Fortinbras is also Hamlet’s foil. Even though Fortinbras is not mention a lot in the play, we can see him in act 4 scene 4. In this scene, Hamlet asks the Captain why Fortinbras’ troops are marching through Denmark. The captain states “[The armies] go to gain a little patch of ground/ That hath in it no profit but the name. (IV, iv, 18-19). Fortinbras is the opposite of Hamlet because Fortinbras takes action whereas Hamlet asks many questions before taking action. In this scene, we see Fortinbras is going to fight for a piece of land that is worthless. Fortinbras is Hamlet’s foil because Hamlet does not have the power to take action. We also see Hamlet want to strive to become like Fortinbras because Fortinbras is willing to risk his life to fight for something that has no value. In contrary, Hamlet has a reason to avenge his father’s death, however he procrastinate throughout the play.
In conclusion, Fortinbras and Laertes are Hamlet’s foil since both of them contrast the main character. Hamlet is the main character who overthinks the situation and procrastinates while Laertes/Fortinbras take immediate actions. Even though they know that their life is at risk, they want to do what they think is right. What if Hamlet was like them? Would Claudius be dead already?
Comment on your thoughts and feel free to ask questions!