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Horatio And Hamlet Similarities

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Words 585
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James Males
Mr. Frieling 1st Hour
English 12
12 January, 2015
Hamlet
Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, can be quite difficult to comprehend at fight sight. Some of the many characters in the play support the similarities and differences shown in Hamlet. Certain traits seen in these characters are sometimes seen in Hamlet, adding to who he’s seen as. Without these characters, there wouldn’t be the development seen by Hamlet’s character. By having them, Shakespeare attributes to Hamlet without deliberately saying it. In the play, the main ideas shown by some characters is betrayal and revenge. This idea is mainly developed through the similarities and differences seen between Horatio and Laertes towards Hamlet. Horatio compares in a way that …show more content…
Like Horatio, betrayal and revenge is also shown in Laertes. Although an enemy, Laertes is found to have similarities towards Hamlet. He somewhat helps in development of Hamlet through the similarities they share. These include the sudden deaths of their fathers and the anger that follows, and the desire to exact revenge. Betrayal is also relevant here, because Laertes eventually betrays Claudius at the end by revealing his plans to kill Hamlet. Likewise, Hamlets betrays his father by abusing his mother verbally, against the instructions of his father’s ghost. But the differences between the two are very strong. Hamlet would not kill Claudius in the church because he was at prayer. Laertes, however, made it very clear he would kill Hamlet in the church at prayer or not. Hamlet and Laertes also differ in one other major aspect. Hamlet has been noticed to have the major flaw of not being able to be a man of action and thought at the same time. He does not use his mind as he acts. When Hamlet’s contemplating something, he is unable to act out of his thoughts seen again and again. Laertes although, is able to act and think together. When he finds out of Hamlet killing his father he immediately devises a plan for revenge, to kill him. This flaw makes Hamlet dangerous to himself and is his

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