Hamlet, Part II

The primary body character in Hamlet is Laertes, as will be illustrated below. Many people mis-identify the antagonist of the story as the body character, and this would be an easy mistake in Hamlet, since Claudius has many body characteristics. The body, mind, and spirit characters are all on the side of the protagonist. But as with any rule, there can be exceptions.

For the references and citations in these posts, I am using 'Hamlet,' Bantam Books, 1988, ed. David Bevington, fwd. by Joseph Papp

The Body Character: Laertes

Laertes returns to Denmark for the king's coronation, but is eager to return to France. In Shakespeare's time (and at many times throughout history), France was known for cuisine, arts, and leisurely pursuits. This contrasts well with Hamlet's desire to return to Wittenberg, known for intellectual pursuits and as the birthplace of the Reformation. Claudius's coronation seems like more of a nuisance to Laertes than an honor.

Claudius: What woulds't thou have, Laertes?

Laertes: My dread lord

Your leave and favor to return to France

From whence though willingly I came to Denmark

To show my duty in your coronation

Yet now I must confess, that duty done,

My thoughts and wishes bend again toward France

And bow them to your gracious leave and pardon.

Later, Hamlet suggests Laertes is living a soft life in France and is therefore out of practice with the sword - a weakness Hamlet intends to exploit.

I do not think so. Since he went to France,

I have been in continual practice; I shall win at the odds

In 'Characters & Viewpoint,' Orson Scott Card shows that what other characters say about a specific character is a large part of defining that character. What Polonius, Ophelia, Claudius, and even Horatio say about Laertes help define him as the body character. Most significant is Polonius's advise to Laertes before he departs for France, which the introduction to my copy calls a 'worldly gospel of self-interest and concern for appearances.' (p. xxii)

Give thy thoughts no tongue

Nor any unproportioned thought his act.

Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.

...

But do not dull thy palm with entertainment

... Beware

Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,

Bear 't that th' opposed may beware thee.

Give every man they ear, but few thy voice;

...

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,

But not expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy

For the apparel oft proclaims the man.

Polonius does give one piece of advise toward the end of this passage that is spirit-related:

This above all; to thine own self be true

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man.

Unfortunately, Laertes ignores this bit of advice when he returns to Denmark to find his father dead and his sister insane. Claudius lays out a plan to kill Hamlet, and Laertes agrees to let Claudius do the planning as long as he can be the one to carry it out. He doesn't know the whole story, though. Contrast that with Hamlet's desire to know the truth about his father's murder and the lengths to which he went to be sure.

My lord, I will be ruled,

The rather if you could devise it so

That I might be the organ

The introduction to my copy summarizes it this way. 'The pity is, however, that Laertes has only superficially identified the murderer in the case. He is too easily deceived by Claudius because he has accepted easy and fallacious conclusions, and so is doomed to become a pawn in Claudius's sly maneuverings.' (p. xxv)

The final straw in the definition of Laertes as a body character is how far Laertes was willing to go in order to avenge his father's death. He flatly states he would be willing to do something considered unthinkable at the time.

To cut his throat i' the church