Laertes (Hamlet)
| Laertes | |
|---|---|
| Hamlet character | |
Laertes and Ophelia by W. G. Wills | |
| Created by | William Shakespeare |
| Portrayed by | Terence Morgan John Cullum Nicholas Jones Nathaniel Parker Hugh Bonneville Michael Maloney Liev Schreiber Edward Bennett Kobna Holdbrook-Smith Luke Thompson Tom Felton |
| In-universe information | |
| Occupation | University student |
| Family | Polonius (father) Ophelia (sister) |
| Nationality | Danish |
Laertes /leɪˈɜːrtiːz/ is a character in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. Laertes is Polonius' son and Ophelia's brother. In the final scene, he mortally stabs Hamlet with a poison-tipped sword to avenge the deaths of his father and sister, for which he blames Hamlet. While dying of the same poison, he implicates King Claudius.
The Laertes character is thought to be originated by Shakespeare, as there is no equivalent character in any of the known sources for the play. His name is taken from Laërtes, father of Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey.