Laertes, Claudius and Fortinbras as Hamlet's foilsIn Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, the young prince Hamlet must deal with murder, corruption and incest . The nods to Prince Hamlet give the reader a basis for summarizing his character in the play. These foils include Laertes, son of Polonius, Claudius, current king of Denmark and father-in-law of Hamlet, and Fortinbras, the prince of Norway. The first foil or character that features Hamlet in the play is Laertes. After King Hamlet's death, he returns to Denmark with Prince Hamlet for the funeral. This is the first sign that Laertes will become a foil for Hamlet in the play. Laertes and Hamlet are very fond of Laertes' sister Ophelia, which is the second similarity of the two. Another similarity between Laertes and Hamlet is that each's father figure, Polonius for Laertes and Claudius for Hamlet, has someone to watch over them to see if they act accordingly. [as a result?] In act two, scene one, Polonius asks Reynaldo to go to Paris to give money and messages to Laertes, and to find other Danes who will give him gossip about Laertes. In Act Two, Scene Two, Claudius asks Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find out why Hamlet is acting so strangely. The next similarity between Laertes and Hamlet is that they both mourn a death in the play. Laertes mourns the death of Ophelia, while Hamlet mourns the death of his father, King Hamlet. The final similarity between Laertes and Hamlet is that both seek revenge for the death of their father. Laertes wishes to kill Hamlet after the murder of Hamlet, Polonius and Hamlet wants to kill Claudius for the murder of King Hamlet. Both succeed in their quest for revenge. A major difference between Laertes and Hamlet is that Laertes did not procrastinate in his attempt at revenge. He got started immediately with Claude's encouragement. It's his haste that ultimately gets him killed. Because Laertes does not think long about taking revenge, it gives the reader a reason to compare Laertes and think about Hamlets' struggle to decide that revenge [H-50] is the right thing to do. [SS -1] He considers throughout the weather play [H-50] whether to kill Claudius or not, leaving the reader with the feeling that Hamlet is very careful when making decisions. [Doesn't this point deserve more discussion?