] And it could also be argued that not only does Laertes have cause, that he is a man of action who is eager for his vengeance, unlike Hamlet who vacillates during most of the play as to whether or not to extract his revenge.

Yes. I think that we are supposed to see Laertes and his quest for revenge as a mirror to Hamlet in a similar situation. Hamlet's problem is he thinks too much. Actually, although Hamlet seems to vacillate a whole lot, the fact that he has a hard time with murder definitely makes him the better man, IMO. But that's enough about Hamlet... let me return to the week's topic. Laertes I think is fairly thoughtless. Yes, a man of action, but he doesn't really think ahead very much, which why he's so easily calmed down. His careless dismissal of Ophelia's advice has to be read this way I think. Laertes doesn't like ethics. He prefers to act rather than think. I'm afraid I don't like him very much either, but I consider him an example of an ordinary, not very villainous, if rather stupid man. I think his grief at Ophelia's death is sincere although conventional, and the fact that he is easily persuaded by Claudius doesn't make him bad. He just doesn't have Hamlet's intellect.