In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, we see both Laertes and Hamlet attempting to attain the same goal: to avenge both their father’s murders.
Upon learning of his father’s death, Laertes is grief stricken. He desires revenge after the murder of Polonius. Laertes’s feelings of revenge are further fueled by Claudius’s manipulation and lies. Even though Polonius’s death was an accident, Claudius convinces Laertes that Hamlet killed his father on purpose. Laertes replies by wondering how his father could be dead and swearing that he will abandon the fear of damnation and avenge his father’s death “Let come what comes, only I’ll be revenged Most thoroughly for my father.” His desire to avenge Polonius is so great that he returns from Paris to Denmark to achieve his goal. His eagerness is further shown in a conversation with Claudius, in which he states “Vows to the blackest devil! Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit! I dare damnation. To this point I stand that both the worlds I give to negligence. Let come what comes, only I’ll be revenged most thoroughly for my father.”. Laertes is blinded by the idea of revenge, to the extent in which he rejects the consequences of murder in the afterlife.
Sadly, Laertes’s feelings of loss lead to his death, but not before, he stabs Hamlet with a poisoned blade. In the end, Hamlet uses his last strengths to murder Claudius and dies knowing he had avenged his father’s death.