Hamlet
Prompt #28 · Hamlet
Prompt Type: Relationship/Contrast
Analyze the contrast between Hamlet's relationship with his father's Ghost (characterized by duty, doubt, and delay) and Laertes's relationship with Polonius's memory (characterized by immediate, passionate revenge). How does Shakespeare use this contrast to explore different models of filial obligation and the ethics of revenge? Explain how it contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
Quote 1
“Now might I do it pat, now he is praying. / And now I’ll do’t. And so he goes to heaven; / And so am I reveng’d. That would be scann’d: / A villain kills my father, and for that / I, his sole son, do this same villain send / To heaven. O, this is hire and salary, not revenge.”
Act III, Scene 3
Argument
This quote represents Hamlet's side of the contrast, demonstrating his paralysis through overthinking and moral scruples that delay his revenge—he rationalizes inaction by worrying about Claudius's spiritual fate rather than acting immediately like Laertes would.
Quote 2
“That both the worlds, I give to negligence, / Let come what comes; only I’ll be reveng’d / Most throughly for my father.”
Act IV, Scene 5
Argument
This quote represents Laertes's side of the contrast, showing his willingness to damn both this world and the next for immediate revenge—a stark opposition to Hamlet's theological hesitations and embodiment of passionate, unquestioning filial duty.
Quote 3
Act III, Scene 4
Argument
This quote represents Hamlet's side of the contrast, revealing how the Ghost must repeatedly intervene to redirect Hamlet's 'blunted purpose,' highlighting the doubt and delay that characterize his relationship with his father's command, unlike Laertes's self-motivated fury.
Quote 4
“Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, / And thus the native hue of resolution / Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought, / And enterprises of great pith and moment, / With this regard their currents turn awry / And lose the name of action.”
Act III, Scene 1
Argument
This quote represents Hamlet's side of the contrast, using the metaphor of thought 'sicklying o'er' resolution to diagnose his own paralysis—his conscience and overthinking transform action into cowardice, directly opposing Laertes's unreflective rush to revenge.
Quote 5
Act IV, Scene 7
Argument
This quote represents Laertes's side of the contrast through Claudius's manipulation, articulating the philosophy of boundless revenge that Laertes embraces—rejecting even sacred sanctuary for murder, a stark contrast to Hamlet's moral scruples about killing Claudius at prayer.