Unlike Hamlet, Laertes is ablaze with motivation and action, and says that he will throw “conscience and grace to the profoundest pit” (4.5. 132). Laertes is very shallow and Hamlet is a genius in comparison. Yet, it is his intelligence and tendency to overthink and not act which is Hamlet’s problem. When Laertes learns of his father’s death he immediately assumes it was Claudius.
Felix Cole English 10 H Monica Espinasse Barbed Words Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet evokes a world where a nation can be seen as a diseased body and language can be used as a lethal weapon. Madness, defined in the dictionary as, “engaging in actions that are senseless or foolish”, is an issue that multiple characters deal with throughout the play. Many would say that Hamlet’s actions are very irrational, but everything he says and does eventually helps him achieve his desires. Despite how things seem Hamlet is an intelligent character who ultimately is in his right mind. The death of one’s father and a ghostly visitation thereafter are events that would challenge the sanity of anyone.
While Hamlet scrutinizes and evaluates the consequences of his actions, Laertes acts without forethought, saying, "Let come what comes only I'll be revenged / Most thoroughly for my father" (IV.v.138). However, his hastiness allows him to fall victim to Claudius' manipulative nature and he becomes a puppet in Claudius' plot to dispose of Hamlet. This accentuates one of Hamlets strengths, one that he reveals when he states, "Call me what instrument you will you cannot play upon me." (III.ii.380) he is not easily influenced by the people around him. Laertes further highlights Hamlet's strengths when he states that he would "cut [Hamlet's] throat i' the church" (IV.vii.126).
187-8.) This pretense of madness Shakespeare borrowed from the earlier versions of the story. The fact that he has made it appear like real madness to many critics today only goes to show the wideness of his knowledge and the greatness of his dramatic skill. In the play the only persons who regard Hamlet as really mad are the king and his henchmen, and even these are troubled with many doubts. Polonius is the first to declare him mad, and he thinks it is because Ophelia has repelled his love.
His attitude makes it seem like he finds women untrustworthy and weak. Throughout the play Hamlet’s treatment towards women were unkind, unfair and disrespectful. Hamlet is unkind towards Ophelia and Gertrude throughout the play. Hamlet: Ay, truly; for the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty can translate beauty into his likeness; this was sometime a paradox, but now the time gives it proof. I did love you once.
Though his planned maneuver to murder his uncle Claudius, the contrast between his feigned madness and Ophelia’s true madness, and his ability change behavior around different characters that possess his trust, Hamlet’s true, rational condition emerges from beneath his veil of insanity. Hamlet is not truly mad because he is merely using the guise if madness as part of his plan to murder Claudius. After the ghost of old King Hamlet relates the dreadful story of his demise to the young prince Hamlet realizes that his abhorrence of his uncle Claudius is wholly justified. To avenge his father’s murder, Hamlet valiantly uses his keen mind to devise a plan that will confuse Claudius and lure his uncle into a false sense of security. Hamlet decides the best method of deception to trick Claudius is to pretend that he suddenly becomes a raving lunatic.
Seemingly Polonius is open to a variety of interpretations. One the one hand he is a cautious father and a devoted, harmless courtier; on the other hand you may perceive him as sneaky, manipulative and malicious. Further, according to Hamlet, he is a ‘foolish, prating knave’ (act iii scene 4). This perception of Hamlet sees Polonius as incompetent and devious. Considering these aspects it seems to me that essentially, the character of Polonius demonstrates the self -serving nature of political intrigue.
Because Iago’s career path is blocked by a mere lack of paper qualification he first begins to start developing feelings of revenge on Cassio who stole his job. It is also quickly established that Iago is the master of masks. He appears to be “honest Iago” to his fellow citizens but at the end of his soliloquy in Act 1, he himself confesses, “I am not what I am” (1.1.66). Iago appears to be nice, friendly and the perfect citizen but in reality he is the master who likes to pull all the strings and he quickly establishes a net of intrigues and lies around him and his environment in order to satisfy the craving of power. Tied in with the jealousy he feels towards Cassio is the racial hatred towards Othello.
For the first half of the play, the fool acts as Lear's window to knowledge. He displays blatant honesty, rightfully criticising Lear for his ill-advised deeds of giving away his land without proper consideration. “To give away thy land, come place him here by me. Do thou for him and stand, the sweet a bitter fool will presently appear. (1.4.125) He further criticises Lear by saying “all thy other title hath given away; that thou wast born with.” Despite being Lear’s servant, Lear listens to him; he recognises that he is one of the very few sources the king gains wisdom from.
Othello is more jealous than Iago because his actions are a straightforward and candid response to his jealousy. On the other hand, Iago emotes a feeling, which, can initially be judged and rated as jealousy, as he focuses on acting like a wrongdoer and “playing evil” because of his enjoyment in doing so. His proficiency of playing evil is dependent on a malevolent and sinister, yet efficacious plan of bringing damage to the General. Defining whether Iago is more jealous than Othello and vice versa is a very complicated task. In premise, it would be impossible to not give a definition of jealousy in general, or more specifically in the particular context of this play.