The Foils of Hamlet Hamlet is dominated by an emotion which is inexpressible, because it is in exces s of the facts as they appear....

We should have to understand things which Shak espeare did not understand himself." T.S. Eliot (Hamlet and His Problems) In the play Hamlet [Titles] by William Shakespeare the cast of main characters u se the support given to them by the foils to enhance the play. A foil is a minor character who by simulations [?] and differences reveals character, and who, as an element of plot, is there for the more important character to talk to (vevra [sic] ). Such an example is Laertes is a foil to Hamlet. [SS -1] [Is the last s entence in this paragraph the thesis?] Before the events of the play Ophelia[,] the daughter of Polonius and sister of Laertes, tells us that Hamlet was a model courtier, soldier, and scholar, ["?]Th e glass of fashion and the mould of form, Th observed of all observers."( pg 676) [Citation] With the death of his farther [sic] and the hasty remarriage of his mother to mother [sic & sloppy] to his uncle, throws Hamlet into a frustrated st ate were [where-H50] he lashes out at evil he sees and then relapse into a suici dal misery. [SS] It is in the [this?] state of mind that he meets the ghosts [mo re than one?] of his father. When he meets the ghost he isn t afraid of the ghost but instead wants to confront the ghost face to face. It is at this point in the play were [that] Hamlet finds out that his uncle murdered his father[.] [How do es this paragraph relate to foils?] A foil to Hamlet is Laertes. Laertes who likes Hamlet [a sloppy error which send s the reader into wondering about homosexuality in the play] has returned to Els inor because of King Hamlet s death. Laertes is a young man whose good instincts h ave been somewhat unclear by the concern of his superficial [??????], which he h as learned from his father, Polonius. Such is the case when Hamlet taunts him fo r his poor performance, at the fencing match. The taunting hurts Laetes['] pride and this shows how insecure he actually is. Like his father[,] Laertes apparent ly preaches a morality he does not practice and fully believes in a double stand ard of behavior for the sexes. [Examples?] More foils in the play are Rosecrantz and Guildstern. Rosencrantz and Guildenste in are not conscious criminals, since they unaware of the criminal designs of th e King they obey without any scrutiny into the King s purpose. If[,] as model cour tiers[,] they feel like they have nothing on their consciences, their lack of in dividual integrity and total dependence upon the King doom them to the fate of t he King to whom they are thus "mortised and adjoined." (pg 689) [Citation] As model courtiers, they obey the King s orders without presuming to examine their nature. When this involves them in carrying Claudius orders for the execution of Hamlet, they become criminal accomplices of a criminal King and are to be punis hment, which Hamlet deals out of [to?] them. [First, why is this presented as a separate paragraph rather than being combined with the preceding one? Second, do esn't it raise, rather than answer, questions about their guilt? And third, what does it have to do with the thesis -- Laertes as a foil?] The gravediggers['] comments about death provides some much-needed comic relief just before the final scene of multiple deaths. [SV Agr] The clowns talk about t he funeral rites of the lady for whom they are preparing a grave. The clowns ask one another if the burial is for a Christian lady. You get the feeling that the clowns resent the treatment the body is getting [RO] they express this by sayin g " And the more pity that great folk should have count nance in this world to dr own or hang themselves more than their even-Christen. Come, my spade. There is n

o ancient gentle but gard ners, ditchers, and grave makers. They hold up Adam s prof ession." (pg 716) A little bit later in the scene Hamlet and Horatio enter the g raveyard. To find the one gravedigger singer [sic] a song while digging the grav e, which makes Hamlet very upset. [Frag] Hereto [sic] calms Hamlet down by basic ally telling him that the gravediggers are uneducated individuals and aren t worth the grief they are giving to Hamlet. What is important to get from this scene i s that this contrasts Hamlet with Laertes, who always stands upon "ceremony." (p g 721) [Is this paragraph supposed to be about the gravediggers as foils, Horati o as a foil, or Laertes as a foil?] The epic battle between the foil and the main charter [sic] develops in act 5: s cene 2. This is the final scene of the play at his point of time Hamlet had not earlier been convinced of the rightness of killing a king. [RO - 1] By waiting u ntil this time, however[,] and forcing Claudius to show his hand. [Frag - 1] By this time in the play you realize that the play has to come to an end soon. [Act V usually does mean that.] Shakespeare ends the play by killing off the entire cast. [This is simply not true.] In doing so he leaves no questions not answered about what could have happened.