William Shakespeare's play Hamlet strikes many literary chords and themes. It mainly tells of a quest for revenge, political intrigue and a slow descent into madness. Over the course of the show, two men of different rank and intellect; Hamlet and Laertes are represented in this play as complements to each other. Hamlet who lost his father at the hands of his uncle and Laertes who lost his father at the hands of Hamlet pursue similar goals but in very distinct ways. Both Hamlet and Laertes go through the stages of their revenge to finally achieve their goal of killing their fathers' murderers. Readers find that Hamlet takes the path of plotting and deception to kill Claudius while Laertes follows a more hasty and reckless path. During the final scene and Hamlet's act, both protagonists are engaged in a supposedly friendly battle, in which the king has placed a bet on Hamlet that he will win over Laertes. After the fight Laertes manages to hit Hamlet with the poisoned tip of his foil and Hamlet in turn takes him back. After the queen falls to her death, Laertes declares to Hamlet: "Hamlet, thou art slain: ... here I lie, never to rise again: thy mother is poisoned: I can no longer: the king, it is the king's fault" ( 5.2.306-313). Laertes tells Hamlet that he will die from the poisoned blade, that he will also die from the same reason, and that Gertrude will also die from drinking the poisoned cup meant for Hamlet. He also claims that Claudio is the one who masterminded everything. This line symbolizes how Hamlet's prolonged revenge caused the death of so many innocent lives that had nothing to do with the death of his father. If he had killed Claudius in the church or before, then Hamlet would not have lost so many lives in the crossfire. After Laertes was wounded by his own sword, he declared, "Well, like a woodcock to my spring, Osric: I am justly slain by my own treachery" (5.7.299-300). Laertes admits that his plan failed by killing him. He caused his own death, but unlike Hamlet, Laertes did not kill any innocents along the way with his plan except himself. Finally, after all the time spent acting like a madman, choosing to live or not, hesitating to act by chance, Hamlet finally kills Claudius “Behold, you incestuous, murderous, damned Dane, drink this potion. Is your union here?'' (5.2.318-319). Hamlet killed Claudius with the same weapon he killed his father with being poison. Although after such a prolonged mission, Hamlet kept his word that he had promised himself during Claudius' confession "or concerning some