Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras: A Character Comparison
This paper presents a comparative character analysis of the three primary young male characters in William Shakespeare's Hamlet: Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras. All three share the common experience of a father's death and are driven by the desire for revenge, yet their temperaments and methods diverge significantly. The paper examines how their similarities — including youth, idealism, and a capacity for forgiveness — and their key differences, particularly in decision-making and aggression, shape the play's central conflicts. The analysis draws on direct quotations from the play and secondary critical sources to argue that Hamlet's irresolution distinguishes him as the quintessential tragic hero.
- Introduction: Revenge and the Young Male Characters: Overview of themes, characters, and comparative method
- A Common Bond: The Deaths of Their Fathers: Shared motive: revenge for each father's death
- Forgiveness and Fate in the Final Act: All three characters seek mutual forgiveness before death
- Differences in Temperament and Decision-Making: Hamlet's irresolution contrasted with Laertes and Fortinbras
- Conclusion: Hamlet as the Tragic Hero: Hamlet distinguished as tragic hero by his own weakness
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds its claims in direct quotations from Shakespeare's text, using specific act and scene references that anchor the argument in the primary source.
- The comparative framework is clearly established early and maintained throughout, keeping all three characters in view simultaneously rather than treating each in isolation.
- The paper identifies a single unifying circumstance — the death of each character's father — and uses it as a structural spine from which both similarities and differences are developed.
Key academic technique demonstrated
This paper demonstrates the use of comparative analysis as an interpretive tool. Rather than simply describing each character in turn, the writer places them in dialogue with one another, using contrasts (especially between Hamlet's irresolution and Laertes and Fortinbras's aggressiveness) to illuminate the deeper significance of each character's role. This technique allows the conclusion — that Hamlet is the true tragic hero — to emerge logically from the evidence presented.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens by establishing its thesis and methodology, then identifies the central shared circumstance (fathers' deaths) and each character's resulting motivation. It next examines a key shared behavior (forgiveness at the play's end), before turning to the most important point of contrast: temperament and decision-making style. The conclusion synthesizes these findings to argue for Hamlet's unique status as a tragic hero undone by his own weakness.
Introduction: Revenge and the Young Male Characters
The play Hamlet by William Shakespeare revolves around the central themes of revenge and the search for truth. Shakespeare's male characters, in particular, are portrayed somewhat villainously because of the element of revenge inherent in each character's motivations. Among the male characters in the play, Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras emerge as the most remarkable figures in Shakespeare's piece. Many characteristics are shared among these three primary male characters. The first is that they each possess the vitality of youth, and the second is that all three face the world from an idealistic and somewhat naive perspective. Their youth, naivety, and idealism are the primary reasons why, throughout the play, they resort to radical actions and behavior that will ultimately cause either their victory or their downfall.
This paper conducts a character analysis of Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras in relation to the events and circumstances of Hamlet. This character analysis is accomplished through comparative essay analysis, in which a causal relationship among the three characters is established, revealing the actions, behavior, and motivations of each through their differences and similarities with one another. Texts from Shakespeare's original play and critical commentary on the play's characters are also used in support of the claims presented.
Bibliography
"Character Analysis." 2003. Available at http://www.geocities.com/julie51903/analysis.html.
"Hamlet." 2001. Theatre History Web site. Available at
"Passage Analysis of Hamlet 5.2." University of Toronto Web site. Available at http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~cpercy/courses/220Passage2Keyke.htm.
Shakespeare, W. E-text of "Hamlet." Available at
Wilson, K. 1993. "An Analysis of 'Hamlet.'" African Postcolonial Literature in English in the Postcolonial Web Web site. Available at http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/post/soyinka/hamlet3.html.
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