Hamlet vs. Laertes: Revenge and Honor in Shakespeare
This paper examines the revenge motives of Hamlet and Laertes in Shakespeare's Hamlet, analyzing how each character's approach to vengeance reflects the shifting codes of honor during the Renaissance. While both characters are driven by the murder of their fathers, Hamlet's prolonged deliberation contrasts sharply with Laertes' impulsive resolve. Drawing on critics including A.C. Bradley and Reta Terry, the paper argues that this difference mirrors a broader cultural transition from the medieval chivalric honor code — externally imposed and publicly enacted — to a more internalized, conscience-driven conception of honorable conduct. Hamlet emerges as the more "modern" figure, torn between duty and individual morality, while Laertes embodies the older tradition of unquestioning retribution.
- Introduction: Two Sons, Two Revenge Motives: Establishes both characters' revenge contexts and aims
- The Contrast Between Hamlet and Laertes: Hamlet procrastinates; Laertes acts with instant fury
- Hamlet's Delay and the Question of Conscience: Ghost's validity and Hamlet's need for personal proof
- The Renaissance Honor Code in Transition: Medieval chivalric code evolves toward individual conscience
- Hamlet and Laertes as Symbols of Competing Honor Systems: Hamlet as modern, Laertes as traditional honor figure
- Conclusion: Tension Between Old and New Honor: Hamlet torn between duty and personal moral struggle
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper anchors its character analysis in a clearly defined historical framework — the evolution of the Renaissance honor code — giving literary comparison a scholarly grounding.
- It balances primary textual evidence (direct quotations from the play) with secondary critical sources (Bradley, Terry, Council), demonstrating how literary criticism supports close reading.
- The main plot / subplot parallel is introduced early and carried consistently, giving the argument structural coherence throughout.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper uses comparative character analysis to illuminate a thematic argument. Rather than treating Hamlet and Laertes in isolation, it treats them as counterpoints — each illuminating something the other lacks — and then uses that contrast to argue a larger point about cultural and ethical change during the Renaissance. This mirrors how professional literary scholars use foil characters as interpretive lenses.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens by establishing the revenge contexts of both characters, then identifies the key difference (Hamlet's delay versus Laertes' immediacy). It introduces and briefly addresses the "ghost's validity" explanation before pivoting to the more developed argument about the changing Renaissance honor code. The final sections synthesize character behavior with cultural history, positioning Hamlet as "modern" and Laertes as "traditional" within that framework. A bibliography follows the conclusion.
Introduction: Two Sons, Two Revenge Motives
In Hamlet, the focus and action of the play revolve around Hamlet's obsession with the murder of his father and his desire for revenge. Claudius has not only killed Hamlet's father, the King, but has also usurped his throne and married Hamlet's mother. Laertes, on the other hand, also seeks revenge on Hamlet for the murder of his own father, Polonius. Hamlet mistakes Polonius for Claudius and inadvertently kills him. Furthermore, Laertes blames Hamlet for the madness of his sister, Ophelia, and for her subsequent suicide.
As in many of Shakespeare's plays, the two characters and their two revenge motives present a counterpoint, being at times both similar and different. This difference between Laertes and Hamlet also relates to some of the central aspects of the play and expands upon and exposes the deeper meanings of its themes. This paper discusses the differences and similarities between these two characters in terms of the revenge motif and how it relates to the code of honor and the concept of revenge during Elizabethan times.
In the play there is an obvious comparison between the main plot and the subplot. The main plot refers to the murder of Hamlet's father, while the subplot relates to the murder of Polonius and the subsequent theme of revenge by Polonius's son, Laertes. Both are similar in that each character takes a vow of revenge.
Bibliography
Bradley, A.C. Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. 2nd ed. London: Macmillan, 1905.
Corum, Richard. Understanding Hamlet: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998.
Council, Norman. When Honour's at the Stake. London, 1973.
Herz, Sarah K., and Donald R. Gallo. From Hinton to Hamlet: Building Bridges between Young Adult Literature and the Classics. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996.
Hibbard, G.R., ed. Hamlet. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
James, D.G. The Dream of Learning: An Essay on the Advancement of Learning, Hamlet, and King Lear. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1951.
Littauer, J.S. "The Cracked Mirror: The Minor Characters." August 12, 2005.
MacCary, W. Thomas. Hamlet: A Guide to the Play. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998.
Ralli, Augustus. A History of Shakespearian Criticism. Vol. 1. London: Oxford University Press, 1932.
Terry, Reta A. "'Vows to the Blackest Devil': Hamlet and the Evolving Code of Honor in Early Modern England." Renaissance Quarterly 52.4 (1999): 1070.
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