Thursday, November 10, 2011

Why was pyrrhus revengeing and how does he compare to hamlet and laertes?

fwd: fwd:Hamlet chooses to hear a story about Pyrrhus who was Achilles' lover. , Pyrrhus vows revenge. When the Greeks leave the Trojan Horse behind and it is taken into the city of Troy and the Greeks come out from its belly, opening the gates to their fellow Greek soldiers, Pyrrhus seeks our Priam, King of Troy, for his revenge. Thus Pyrrhus is another foil for Hamlet since he is seeking revenge over another king.At this point in the Pyrrhus story, he has hesitated, and though he has the opportunity to kill King Priam, he has stopped with his sword in his air, just as Hamlet has hesitated to kill Claudius. One of the causes of Hamlet's delay might be understood by his calling for the end of the Pyrrhus story, which changes the focus from Pyrrhus and his revenge to Hecuba, Priam's wife, and her grief over the death of her husband. If Hamlet is like Pyrrhus, and Claudius like Priam, then Gertrude is similar to Hecuba. Just as Claudius hesitates to act against Hamlet because of Gertrude's love for her son, obviously Hamlet takes her love for Claudius into consideration as he plans his revenge.the only similarity between Hamlet and Laertes as avengers is their desires are rash in anger.Hamlet and Laertes also can be compared as sons. Both Hamlet and Laertes have fathers deeply concerned with whether or not their son is going to soil their family name. Hamlet’s and Laertes’s differences are most evident in their personalities. To begin with, the single biggest difference between the characters of Hamlet and Laertes is the fact that Hamlet is a thinker – for that matter, an over-thinker. Until the very last act of the play, Hamlet is plagued by procrastination. Although he is extremely motivated by the story of his late father’s ghost, Hamlet sits to think about mortality and the usefulness of killing the king. and in it he ponders whether or not it is better to live an unhappy life or to face the unknown beyond of death. His thinking generally renders him inactive. Standing in stark contrast to Hamlet’s thinking-not-action style, Laertes moves quickly and acts rashly in his anger, choosing to act first and apologize later.Laertes quick action and lack of though also leads to another contradiction in his and Hamlet’s personalities. Laertes is significantly more obedient then Hamlet. While Laertes listens carefully to both his father’s and Claudius’s words, Hamlet often defies and even goes so far as to manipulate Claudius. Hamlet’s character is much deeper than Laertes. He is more intelligent, which results in Hamlet’s quick wit and sarcasm. Undoubtedly, Hamlet’s and Laertes’s personalities are considerably different.the characters of Hamlet and Laertes are developed as foils through Hamlet. The two characters compare and contrast largely in the areas of avengers, sons, and personalities. Truly, Shakespeare’s text develops Hamlet and Laertes into tainted mirror images, highlighting Hamlet’s personality and actions.

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