I picked this prompt because it was the one that stuck out to me the most, even before we discussed it with the panel. FOILS play a huge role in this play and without them, I doubt that I would have caught some of the deep things going on within Hamlet’s mind and why he acts the does. I am centering my post around two main FOILS that are shown throughout the play, the foil between Hamlet and Fortinbras, and the foil between Hamlet and Ophelia.
There are many Foils within the men throughout this play. Although they are all equally important, there is one that seems to be the most important for me: the foil between Hamlet and Fortinbras. It shows the fatal flaw within Hamlet, his inability to act. The foil between Hamlet and Fortinbras begins within the first couple of acts. Within the the first act, Fortinbras is introduced as a young man who is impulsive because of his want to take back a worthless piece of land for his father. Claudius refers to him as “Young Fortinbras, holding a weak supposal of our worth… hath not failed to pester us with message importing the surrender of those lands lost by his father” (Hamlet I.i.17-19). While there is not much time doted upon him in this act, come act IV, Hamlet contrasts himself with Fortinbras and embarks on a path of self realization. Fortinbras has assembled an entire army to get back the land for his father. He took such control and did not let anyone stop him from doing what he thought was right. After this, Hamlet begins to see a fatal flaw within himself, his inability to take action. Hamlet witnesses “this army of such mass and charge, led by a delicate prince, whose spirit with divine ambition puffed makes mouths at the invisible event, exposing what is mortal and unsure to all that fortune, death and danger dare, even for an eggshell” (Hamlet IV.iv.50-56). While Hamlet has just been sitting around, contemplating which passive aggressive act he will do next, Fortinbras is out gathering troops, going through countries to avenge his father and get back the land. It is then when Hamlet realizes that he has not really done anything to avenge his father’s death and needs to get his act together. Rather than just beating around the bush, he need to go head to head with his problems and take care of them once and for all. The foil between Hamlet and Fortinbras displays the contrast between the inability to act and taking action from the beginning.
The second foil that I would like to discuss is the foil between Hamlet and Ophelia. While this foil also shows us Hamlet’s inability to act when he is unable to commit suicide; it also shows us the how making one’s own decision within this play is though due to circumstances. Even within one of the most famous speeches of all time, Hamlet’s inability to act is shown, especially when Ophelia kills herself in the latter part of the play. As Hamlet tries to think over his life, it is evident that he might possibly kill himself. However, instead of just going through with it, Hamlet must contemplate it by making a long speech which open with “to be or not to be that is the question: whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and, by opposing, end them (Hamlet III.i.64-68). Even though suicide is a difficult choice, Ophelia had no trouble making her decision. While it is not said in stone that she killed herself, majority of people within the play believe she did indeed commit suicide. The gravedigger believes that since she willingly went into the water with all of her clothes, she drowned herself, his logic was that “if the man go to this water and drown himself, it is (will he, nill he) he goes; mark you that. But if that water come to him and drown him, he drowns not himself (Hamlet V.i.16-19). I, too believe that she willingly killed herself. Another point that I would like to bring up between this foil is the relationship it displays between not having to make one’s own decision and not being able or allowed to make one’s own decision. In the beginning of the play, it is evident that because Ophelia is a woman, her life decisions are to the discretion of her father and brother. Even though she loves Hamlet, they do not see it fit for her so therefore, she must “think it no more” (Hamlet I.iii.13). However, with Hamlet, he has the ability to make his own decisions but he has never had to before. He is somewhat of a man child because of his status in society, he has never had to do anything for himself. This part of the foil helps the reader understand that although Hamlet needs to take action, it is easier said than done because of the circumstances of him being a prince. By contrasting the notion of making decisions and not being able to make decisions, Shakespeare allows for the reader to have a better insight on Hamlet’s inability to act. The foil between Hamlet and Ophelia helps the reader to see the reason behind his inability to act due to the circumstances of his life.
apoolofkys 