(Hamlet) Laertes
- Created by: NHow02
- Created on: 27-05-19 08:55
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- Laertes
- As a sinner
- 'To cut his throat i'th'church'
- Hamlet hesitated to kill Claudius in prayer
- Critics found Hamlet's thoughts bloody, yet Laertes' actions are worse
- Hyppolyte Taine: 'the story of moral poisoning'
- Machiavellian- 'The Prince' in 1532 (one had to be 'ruthless' to be the best ruler)
- Hamlet hesitated to kill Claudius in prayer
- 'sick at heart'/'that I might be the organ'
- Claudius presents the 'body' of the state (leads others to corruption)
- Time of uncertainty as Elizabeth was old and hadn't named her successor
- Opportunities for direct anatomical dissection were restricted during the Renaissance
- Shakespeare possibly disagreed with the monopoly on knowledge (totalitarian)
- Corruption is a disease of the body
- Claudius presents the 'body' of the state (leads others to corruption)
- 'To cut his throat i'th'church'
- As a victim
- Hyperbole: 'fall ten times treble on that cursed head'
- Identifies as Malcontent (like Hamlet) - cycle of grief & revenge
- O'Toole: 'Death is the picture, not he frame'
- Presents a reflection of Hamlet (play acts as a mirror for Hamlet)
- Identifies as Malcontent (like Hamlet) - cycle of grief & revenge
- 'almost against my conscience'/'not near'
- Laertes is more virtuous than Claudius
- 'the king, the king's to blame'
- No other character in this play is entirely responsible
- Repetition emphasises the source of corruption
- Hyperbole: 'fall ten times treble on that cursed head'
- As ignorant
- 'from her fair and unpolluted flesh may violets spring'
- 'a violet in the youth of primy nature'
- Symbol of humility & faithfulness
- Ophelia stayed blindly faithful leading to her downfall
- Laertes' ignorance about Claudius will lead to his death
- Barker: 'dullard glutted by his own grief'
- Ophelia stayed blindly faithful leading to her downfall
- Symbol of humility & faithfulness
- Perceives Ophelia to be the innocent subject of corruptive forces
- 'withered all when my father died'
- Shakespeare presents the cycle of corruption which begins with death
- 'a violet in the youth of primy nature'
- 'from her fair and unpolluted flesh may violets spring'
- As a sinner
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