Laertes

Group: Tara Anderson, Alex Gudalis, Autumn Black, and Tiffany

McElheny
Character Description
Laertes is the son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia

Laertes is away in France for college for most of the play but is first
introduced when he had came home for King Claudiuss coronation

Laertes does not support Ophelia and Hamlets relation and warns
Ophelia to protect herself

When Laertes comes home for the second time he is angered to find out that Hamlet killed Polonius, making
Ophelia have psychotic fits

After Ophelia drowns, King Claudius convinces Laertes to duel Hamlet with a poisoned dipped sword

During the duel, Laertes is stabbed in the heart with the poisoned sword. In his last seconds, Laertes confesses
to the plan and apologizes to Hamlet (Thomas)
Diagnosis and Definition
PTSD- A disorder characterized by failure to recover after experiencing or witnessing a
terrifying event.

Five Stages of Grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance

Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet:

Mine and my fathers death come not upon thee,

Nor thine on me.

Part of the five stage of grief is acceptance
(Shakespeare) and Laertes is accepting the death by
asking for forgiveness from Hamlet
Information About the Five Stages of Grief
The five stages of grief
Denial- When someone is in denial of a tragic incident and can not believe that it
happened
Anger- When someone becomes angry and feels anger towards someone or something
easily
Bargaining- When someone tries to find another way to cope with the incident
Depression- When someone becomes overly sad and needs reassurance, or when
someone removed themselves from their loved ones.
Acceptance- When someone finally accepts the incident and fully comprehends what
happened happened and that there is nothing anyone can do about it.

A document in madness, thoughts and remembrance fitted. He is agreeing with

Ophelia about their
fathers death.
(Shakespeare)
Symptoms of PTSD
Staying away from places or events that remind them of the experience.
Avoiding thoughts or feelings that are related to the event.
Difficulty Sleeping
Startled Easily
Always feeling tense or on edge
Loss of interest in enjoyable activities
Distorted thoughts about feeling of oneself or the world

(National Institute of Mental Health)

Probable Causes/ or events that triggered the symptoms
Quote from Laertes:
And so Have I a noble father lost:
A sister driven into desperate terms,
Whose worth, if praises may go back again,
Stood Challenger on mount of all the age,
For her Perfections: but my revenge will come.
His father is dead and his sister is going
slowly losing her mind, because of what
has been going on with her (Father
dying, and Hamlet treating her badly)
Quote from Laertes later on:
Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia
And therefore I forbid my tears
Later in
the
story Confronting the fact that his sister has
drowned to death
Laertes has now been faced with the
death of his father and sister, the
main cause of these deaths are from
the hands of Hamlet. This could
trigger the 5 stages of grief and
PTSD.
(Shakespeare)
Proof of symptoms
5 Stages of Grief
Denial- He does not believe in the death of his father and sister
Anger- He is out to revenge Hamlet for the death of his father and sister
Bargaining- Laertes makes a plan with Claudius to get revenge and kill Hamlet for what he has
done
Depression- He realizes what happened during the fight with Hamlet
Acceptance- When he confronts Hamlet on the whole plan during the fight
PostTraumatic Stress Disorder
He blames Hamlet for Ophelia going crazy
He becomes so consumed that Hamlet killed his father

(Kessler)
Impact on the character and other characters
His illness effects his actions
He plans with Claudius
He harms Hamlet
He tells the truth about Claudius
Impacts other characters
Showed Claudius's intentions to kill Hamlet
Eventually leads to the death of Hamlet by killing him
Is planning on killing
That is but scratchd withal: Ill touch my point someone, a normal
person wouldn't
debate killing
With this contagion, that, if I gall him slightly someone for
revenge
It may be death. (Shakespeare)
Treatments that would be available today
For the stages of grief one would just work through it and if needed receive some sort
of therapy to prevent the the stages of grief from escalating into something more.

Treatment for PTSD:

Medications
Antidepressants
Prazosin (Helps with sleep)
Psychotherapy (cognitive behavioral therapy)
Exposure Therapy: Experience the traumatic event in a safe way (Imagining, writing, or visiting the
place where it took place
Cognitive Restructuring: Helps make sense of the event, change the way the person may view the
event

(National Institute of Mental Health.)

Cited Works
Wills, William Gorman. Laertes and Ophelia. 1880, Private Collection. Public Domain. Web. 11 Jan. 2017

Thomas, Shamekla. Character Analysis and Traits.

Study.com/academy/lesson/laertes-in-hamlet-character-analysis-revenge-quiz.html. Web. 11 Jan. 2017

National Institute of Mental Health. Post -Traumatic Stress Disorder.

nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disoder-ptsd/index.shtml#part_145375. Web. 11 Jan. 2017

Kessler, David. The 5 Stages of Grief. grief.com/the-five-stages-of-grief/. Web. 11 Jan. 2017

Shakespeare, WIlliam. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. shakespeare.mit.edu/hamlet/full.html. Web.

11 Jan. 2017

Axel, Julie. The 5 Stages of Grief & Loss. psychcentral.com/lib/the-5-stages-of-loss-and-grief. Web. 13 Jan. 2017