Foils of HamletHamlet is a play about a young man who seeks revenge for the death of his father. In doing so, different things happen and it becomes more and more of a complex plot. Throughout the piece we discover many different foils. Including Laertes. Shakespeare chooses to represent Hamlet and Laertes differently although they are both very similar. Hamlet and Laertes are all basically in the same position. Both of their fathers were killed and they both seek revenge for their fathers' deaths. However, we see while reading that some characters are arranged so that they get more sympathy and such from the reader than others. For example, Shakespeare makes Laertes seem like a "bad guy" because he wants to kill Hamlet, but in essence, Hamlet does the exact same thing to Claudius. It’s as if Shakespeare is saying that it’s okay for Hamlet to kill, but it’s not okay for Laertes to feel the need to take revenge. Hamlet begins a soliloquy with the phrase: "How all occasions prove against me and stimulate my boredom." revenge!" (Act IV, sc. IV, li. 32-33) It's as if Shakespeare is trying to make people believe that it's a real shame that Hamlet's plans don't work out so well and that he's not not as stable as he wants to be. It's almost as if Shakespeare wants the reader to pity Hamlet who is not such a genuine person. He killed Polonius and some say he killed Ophelia. should people really pity him because his plans to kill his uncle don't come to fruition properly? Shakespeare is almost trying to get the reader to do it. On the other hand, there is Laertes who is the position of. Hamlet's father was killed, in fact by Hamlet, and he wants to avenge that death. He is furious and passionate, just like Hamlet, but it almost seems that when one reads the play, one should view Laertes as a "villain." " and as an antagonist. Laertes says "It warms the very sickness in my heart that I will live and tell it to the teeth, "you have done so. " (Act. IV sc.VII. li. 55-57). He basically says that it would make him so happy to kill Hamlet and show him what he really did.