Fate as a Pitcher, Life as a Ball :: Character Analysis, Laertes, Claudius

Many people go through their lives questioning what would have happened if some aspects had been different. What if a person’s worst enemy had been his/her best friend? Would he/she be a different person if he/she had grown up in a different town? Such questions as these can puzzle a person in reality, as well as in literature. In Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, the protagonist raises the question of fate in the second scene of the fifth act, â€Å"There’s a divinity that shapes our ends.† Through the actions of the characters, a disastrous outcome is unfolded. Claudius’s designs to kill Hamlet ultimately kill Laertes and Gertrude. Polonius finds his death by spying on Hamlet’s conversation with his mother. Finally, many of the tragic elements stem from the ghost of Hamlet’s father speaking to Hamlet about his murder. Hamlet’s quote shows that fate is a divine force at work to create an outcome. Each character’s decision m arks the curves that fate pitches into their lives. In the seventh scene of the fourth act of Hamlet, Laertes joins Claudius in order to kill Hamlet. They devise a plan to have Hamlet and Laertes participate in a fencing match, in which Laertes used a pointed blade tipped with poison. Claudius intends to infect a glass of wine with poison in the case that Laertes fails (4.7.133-162). â€Å"And for his death no wind of blame shall breathe, but even his mother shall uncharged the practice and call it and accident† (4.7.66-69). These are Claudius’ words concerning Gertrude’s knowledge of his plan. Such a phrase is foreshadowing of fate. During the match, Gertrude drinks from the poisoned cup (5.2.295-296). Laertes is also victim to fate when he and Hamlet trade swords. â€Å"Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric. I am justly killed with mine own treachery† (5.2.311-312). Neither Laertes nor Gertrude would have suffered their poisonous fate had Claudius not devised this plan to kill Hamlet. Furthermore, Claudius would not have had this plan if Polonius had never been killed. â€Å"And so have I a noble father lost† (4.7.25). The death of Polonius is the incident that prompted Laertes to visit Denmark in search of vengeance. However, the death of Polonius would not be a factor in this fate if he had not been conspiring against Hamlet. â€Å"My lord, he’s going to his mother’s closet. Behind the arras I’ll convey myself to hear the process† (3.