Verified answer

When Laertes first hears of Ophelia's death, Claudius has just finished calming him over the death of his father Polonius. The new news is so overwhelming that he cannot cry, he says, but he vows revenge again doubly. His grief has something adulterated about it because it is not 100% grief. It is mixed with anger and self-interest. Consequently there is something indulgent and show-offish, about it; the metaphor Laertes chooses is too elaborate. (It is a little like his earlier remark saying that he won't cry because Ophelia, being drowned, has "too much water.")

Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead,

Till of this flat a mountain you have made,

To o'ertop old Pelion, or the skyish head

Of blue Olympus.

Then he leaps into Ophelia's grave and wants to embrace her one last time.

Nearby Hamlet, with typical perspicacity, right away sees this quality and detects the falseness:

What is he whose grief

Bears such an emphasis? whose phrase of sorrow

Conjures the wandering stars, and makes them stand

Like wonder-wounded hearers?

Then Hamlet too is angry, but at Laertes, not for himself. He leaps into the grave as well eager to fight Laertes. In a sense they are equals except that his emotion is not adulterated. When he confronts Laertes he rings truer because he is not being "poetic." His excited syntax is that of a man desperate and crazed.

I loved Ophelia: forty thousand brothers

Could not, with all their quantity of love,

Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?

...

'Swounds, show me what thou'lt do:

Woo't weep? woo't fight? woo't fast? woo't tear thyself?

Woo't drink up eisel? eat a crocodile?

I'll do't. Dost thou come here to whine?

To outface me with leaping in her grave?

Be buried quick with her, and so will I:

And, if thou prate of mountains, let them throw

Millions of acres on us, till our ground,

Singeing his pate against the burning zone,

Make Ossa like a wart! Nay, an thou'lt mouth,

I'll rant as well as thou.

Where Laertes can be controlled because his feelings are not unidirectional, proud Hamlet ("This is I, Hamlet the Dane") cannot be, except by himself. He is able to pull back from his emotion ("I'll rant as well as thou") and master it himself. In this sense he is a more dangerous and adult figure than his putative rival.

Hear you, sir;

What is the reason that you use me thus?

I loved you ever: but it is no matter;

Let Hercules himself do what he may,

The cat will mew and dog will have his day.

So he exits of his own.

It is interesting that this is the first we hear Hamlet's naked avowal of his feelings for Ophelia. He is more reserved than we knew.

These speeches also have more stirred feeling in them than in his feeble attempt to write love poetry ("Doubt thou the stars are fire...") earlier.

Assuming that Hamlet actual became mad: a million) His massive "get thee to a nunnery" speech (3/a million) upset Ophelia and probable contributed to her going insane. whether he meant to upset her or, as some critics believe, he guessed he became being watched and became consequently performing loopy is debatable. evaluate that this section comes straight away after the fairly lucid "to be or to not be" speech -- is it probable that Hamlet actually switched from sane to insane so promptly? 2) the full factor approximately Polonius' dying is that Hamlet, after agonising for aaaaages approximately killing Claudius, can so hastily homicide him (he concept) while suspecting it became Claudius backstage. it is much greater exciting with the scene the place Claudius is praying and Hamlet merely approximately kills him there. that is exceptionally rash to kill somebody so switfly, while they are in hiding, so as that must be data for his insanity. 3) that is Polonius' homicide that spurs Laertes to seek for revenge, so that is fairly a knock-on concern. evaluate additionally that Hamlet's killing of Laertes became a warmth-of-the-2nd act after he realises Laertes poisoned Gertrude. If it have been me, i could take concern with the inherent assumption that Hamlet geniunely is insane. you ought to then argue that the deaths of the above characters have been because of situations a minimum of partly previous his administration.