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2      One of the foils that can be seen within the play is between Laertes and Hamlet. [Ouch!. We discussed this in class. A foil is a character, not "between" characters.] Although Laertes does not appear all that often in the play, he brings much to the plot and to Hamlet's character. These two are similar in many ways. They both seem to be about the same age, are well educated, and gentleman. One main thing that they have in common is they both are seeking revenge for their father's deaths. Both of their fathers were unnecessarily killed. Hamlet's father was killed by his father's brother for the crown and his wife, and Hamlet killed Laertes’ father over mistaken identity. It was the revenge of these two that made up the plot of the story. Because of Laertes, the two could finally fulfill their revenge in the battle at the end that killed both Hamlet and the new king. If Laertes had not challenged Hamlet, the king would have died by some other way; however, the king died by poisoning just as he had killed his brother. [Nice point.]

3      This brings about another similarity, that both Laertes and Hamlet died by the poisoned tip of the same sword. Laertes and Hamlet were the last two to die. This completed the circle of everyone that had been directly involved in the disgraceful scandal had died. [SS] The poison killed the King, Queen, Hamlet, and Laertes, Polonius was killed by Hamlet, and Ophelia kills herself. [CS -1] That is why Hamlet tells Horatio before he dies to tell the story to the kingdom because Horatio was the only one alive who knew the truth. It is something[,] how Laertes and Hamlet represented the finality of the two most influential families in the kingdom.

4      One of the major differences between Hamlet and Laertes was that these two did not trust each other. Laertes shows his mistrust right away when he warned to [Omit "to"] Ophelia not to get involved with him. Shakespeare could not have picked a better father for Hamlet to kill than Laertes’ because every other guy Hamlet was associated with seemed pretty much devoted to him, but only Laertes would have challenged him to a dual [duel].

5      Another foil to develop Hamlet's character can be seen with Polonius, Laertes’ father. One big similarity that seemed to stick out was that they were both full of wit. The first battle of the wits can be seen not long after the king and queen began hearing that Hamlet was mad. Hamlet and Polonius go back and forth for awhile [for a while], and Hamlet comes across as really being mad. It is almost as if Hamlet uses Polonius to attempt to convince everyone that he was mad. Hamlet knew Polonius would tell the king and queen, and that would keep a cover as he decides what to do with the information the ghost has given him.

6      Polonius has a common ground with Hamlet also in that they both love Ophelia. Ophelia is Polonius’ daughter[,] so of course the protectiveness of a father can be seen. It is because of this father's protection that Polonius convinces the king and queen that Hamlet is mad by using the letter to Ophelia from Hamlet. If it hadn't been for this common love, there would have been no focus on Hamlet's madness, and it would have blown his cover. [Nice point] The king, queen, and the rest of the kingdom thought Ophelia was the reason for his madness when, instead, it was finding out his uncle was a murderer, and his mother was an adulterer.

7      A noticeable difference between Hamlet and Polonius was their age. Polonius was much older, which was obvious because Laertes, his son, was about the same age as Hamlet. This made Polonius come across as being more wise, and, therefore, would know what he was talking about when claiming Hamlet was mad. [SS -1] Polonius was also the king's counselor, which also gave him the [Omit "the"] credibility; [, not ;] whereas, [no ,] Hamlet just came across as a lovesick puppy. The king and queen must have been surprised when they realized Hamlet had out-witted Polonius because Hamlet knew what he was doing. He was just waiting for the right moments to reveal all that he knew about his family.

8      Laertes and Polonius were only two of the foils Shakespeare used to develop Hamlet's character. The one that did the best in accomplishing this task was Laertes, though. Laertes and Hamlet had a common goal, and if it hadn't been for him[,] the story would have taken a totally different route. Polonius was a good foil in that he convinced everyone that Ophelia was the cause of Hamlet's madness. If he hadn't been Ophelia's father, this part of the story may not have been as effective.
 

ENL 121 (Vavra) Grading Sheet for MP3B (1 of 3) Foils in Hamlet (Revised 11/27/97)
 

Student's Comments: (You can also use the back of either page.)

     [Years ago, I had students identify their papers by number, such that I did not know whose essay I was grading. For many years after that, in final course evaluations, I asked students if they would prefer that. They always voted that they would not. The grade on this essay would probably have been lower if I had not known who wrote it. The writer was a bright, generally very good student who had recently suffered a major disappointment, a disappointment that would take the steam out of almost anyone. Perhaps that is why some of the grades above are a bit too high. The essay deserves a solid C, but probably not the low B. For a case in which the student's ethos had the opposite effect, see paper #674.]
 

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