The ocean, overpeering of his list, / Eats not the flats with more impetuous haste / Than young Laertes, in a riotous head, / O’erbears your offices.
Act IV, Scene 5
Context
A gentleman reports to Claudius that Laertes has returned from France with an armed mob, using this extended simile to convey the violence and speed of Laertes's advance.
Analysis
The simile compares Laertes to a flood breaching its boundaries ('overpeering of his list'), a natural force that 'eats' the land. This diction frames Laertes as both unstoppable and destructive, but also mindless—oceans do not choose their targets—which subtly undercuts the moral authority of his rage even as it conveys its power.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that Shakespeare structures the play's revenge plot to question the ethics of vengeance—Laertes is described in language that makes him powerful but inhuman, suggesting that the commitment to revenge costs him his reason and self-control.