Though seeming to simply be a minor character, Laertes is of great importance in the play, Hamlet, and much more than one would initially believe, due to his extensive inner conflict. He is good, loyal, and honourable, seeming to possess the greatest virtue of all the characters, yet he still is doomed to die along with the other characters, precisely because of his great virtue.         As Scene Two begins, in the first lines which Laertes …showed first 75 words of 1256 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1256 total…able to pass by and over all that stands in his way. Laertes tries both ways, but since he cannot decide which path to take, he exemplifies the metaphor to its fullest, only getting off the ball after it has passed over the cliff. Seeing his error and the path to success, he cannot go back, and is doomed, learning-as do all other characters who cannot stay with their path-that indecision is the true enemy.