Hamlet and The Lion King
Many perceive The Lion King, Disney's most successful movie to date, as Disney's only original movie; the only movie not previously a fairy tale from one country or another. This, however, is not the case. While The Lion King seems not to be beased on a fairy tale, it is in fact strongly based on the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Disney writers cleverly conceal the basic character archetypes and simplified storyline in a children's tale of cute lions in Africa. To the seasoned reader, however, Hamlet comes screaming out of the screenplay as obviously as Hamlet performed onstage.
The characters in The Lion King closely parallel Hamlet. Simba, the main character in The Lion King, embodies Hamlet, He is the son of the King and rightful heir to the throne. The King of the Pridelands, Mufasa, parallels Hamlet Senior, who is killed by the uncle figure. In The Lion King, the uncle is Scar, and in Hamlet, the uncle figure is Claudius. Laertes, the henchman and right-hand man of Claudius, becomes, in the movie, the Hyenas, Bansai, Shenzi, and Ed. The Hyenas collectively act as hero-worshippers to Scar, loyal subjects, and fellow doers-in-evil. They support Scar completely, just as Laertes supports Claudius. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are the comic reliefs of Hamlet, and in The Lion King, this role is fulfilled by Timon and Pumbaa, who are a meercat and warthog, respectively. Both sets compliment each other, complete each other's sentences, act as caretakers to Hamlet/Simba, and are comical to the point of being farcical. The role of Horatio, Hamlet's right-hand man, is fulfilled in The Lion King by Nala. Nala concentrates on the aspect that Simba is the rightful King and that it is his responsibility to ascend to the throne. She is his best friend and someone whom he trusts. Just as Horatio loyally follows Hamlet, Nala is completely loyal to Simba. Not only are there ties of friendship, but there is also an element of respect and reverence in both friendships. Horatio and Nala both know that they are friends and loyal followers of the rightful king.
In The Lion King, the plot mirrors the plot of Hamlet as well. In the very beginning, Hamlet Senior is poisoned by Claudius, who then ascends to the throne and marries Hamlet's mother Gertrude. Similarly, Mufasa is thrown to his death by Scar, who goes on to become King of the Pridelands and leader of the pack, thus "marrying" Simba's mother, Sarobi.
The featured protagonists in the Lion King, Scar, and in Shakespeare's Hamlet: Prince of Denmark, Claudius, are two comparable characters due to their envy of what has been denied to them by birth right — to be king. In the following you will read what separates the text from the 1994 film and what brings them together, with details of how they murdered their brother, whether they’re capable monarchs, and how their treason comes back to haunt them. By comparing the children's classic villain, Scar with the early modern english classic, Claudius, we can identify the subtle differences as well as the similarities between the characters from the film and the play.
The one common love interest of Nala in The Lion King by Simba, and Ophelia in Hamlet by Prince Hamlet. Nala also seemed to have some characteristics that were modeled around the character of Horatio; as Nala was both a love interest but also a close, trusted, friend of Simba. Both of these women served as a support system for the prince and were deeply cared for by him. These similarities only last until Ophelia from Hamlet is driven to madness and eventually death, after the death of her father. As The Lion King is a children's film, this dark tone is suppressed and only Nala’s support and strength is shown. This type of character adaptation for a children’s movie is also shown with Sarabi. Although both Sarabi and Queen Gertrude loved their sons very much, they are portrayed as very different people in their respected stories. Gertrude’s love for her son is shown when she stops him from drinking the poisoned goblet by saying “No, no, the drink, the drink! O, my dear Hamlet! / The drink, the drink! I am poisoned” (5.2.340-341). The Queen’s love for the prince is shown as she willingly sacrifices herself to save her son. However, she does not seem to possess the same loyalty or love for old Hamlet; as she chooses to marry Claudius shortly after the
Hamlet and a popular amount of Disney movies share many parallels. The Lion King was actually based entirely off the play Hamlet. There are many themes in this play that are relevant in many other pieces, such as Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, and Hercules. Beauty and the Beast helps convey betrayal among people who care for each other, while Mulan allows people to see a deeper meaning in Hamlet’s own personal passion. Furthermore, Hercules allows one to connect the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia to a romance that is almost as complicated. While constructing this essay, I was able to discern a deeper meaning from the wise words of Shakespeare by taking the minute details, and linking them back to something similar and familiar.
...f her son. She starts to feel the poison and she warns Hamlet of it before she dies. It is too late though, the poisonous sword had cut Hamlet. In anger, Hamlet steals the poisoned sword and runs it into Laertes. He then charges Claudius and runs it into him. He also takes the wine and forces Claudius to drink from it. Both Claudius and Laertes die before Hamlet. Hamlet regains his throne for a few seconds, until the poison sets in and takes his life. The Lion King has a happy ending. Simba returns to his kingdom and he finds Scar. He tells Scar that he knows about his father’s death. Scar lies to Simba by telling him that the Hyenas were the ones who killed Mufasa. This upsets the Hyenas. They leave Scar to fight Simba by himself. Simba wins the fight and throws Scar off a cliff, into the herd of the Hyenas. The hyenas show no remorse for Scar and they trample over him, killing him. Once Simba takes back the throne, the whole kingdom becomes beautiful again and everyone is happy.
In a fission reaction, the nucleus of an atom is split. Neutrons are released, forming nuclear energy, and the remaining nuclei are lighter.1 Think of fission a little bit like opening a nutshell, for example, a pistachio. As you put pressure and force into breaking the shell, it breaks in two and pieces may fly off. Similarly, when the atoms are forced apart, they break in two and neutrons fly away and energy is released.
Nuclear energy must be a consideration for the future with the rapidly depleting supply of fossil fuels. This type of energy can be created through nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. Nuclear fission is the splitting of a heavy atom into two or more parts, releasing huge amounts of energy. The release of energy can be controlled and captured for generating electricity. Nuclear fusion involves bombarding hydrogen atoms together to form helium. In the long run, nuclear fusion has greater potential than fission.
Nuclear power is generated through a process known as nuclear fission which occurs when the uranium molecules are placed in the water. This process causes the water to heat up to boiling point and generates steam, from there it operates like most other power plants by using the steam to turn turbines and create energy. Stea...
Rhodes, Richard. "The Manhattan Project - A Millennial Transformation." Remembering the Manhattan Project: Perspectives on the Making of the Atomic Bomb and Its Legacy. New Jersey: World Scientific, 2004. 15-38. Print.
In 1934 it was known that atoms consisted of a nucleus, containing protons and neutrons, surrounded by electrons. It was also known that certain nuclei were radioactive. Radioactive nuclei emit alpha particles, which are pieces of nuclear matter containing two protons and two neutrons. After the alpha particle leaves the nucleus radium is changed into radon. If the radon gas is combined with several grams of beryllium then neutrons are found to be emitted. When the alpha particle enters a beryllium nucleus it provides enough kinetic energy for a neutron to burst out, leaving behind a carbon nucleus in the process. It was later determined that this energy could be harnessed by a nuclear reactor and used for power.
Nuclear energy is produced during the process named nuclear fission or nuclear fusion. The development of nuclear energy started in the 20th century and there is now worldwide recognition for using nuclear energy. Popular countries that operates nuclear power are United States, France, Japan, and Russia, the nuclear energy generates up to 6% of the world’s electricity supplies. Even though the energy is mostly used by many countries, but it may causes side effect to the living things in the environment. (WNA, 2012)
The entire nuclear energy process starts with uranium. Uranium is the fuel for the nuclear reactors, often harvested near coal mines. Uranium is found in two types, U-235 and U-238, the one needed for the nuclear energy power is U-235. Uranium U-235 is one of the least plentiful elements making only 0.000002 percent of the earths’ crust. Although it is quite rare, one pound of Uranium can produce the same amount of energy as three million pounds of coal. U-235 is unstable in nature and highly radioactive making it a perfect match in the fission process. (How Nuclear Power Works 2)
Nuclear power is generated by using electricity created during a controlled fission or fusion reaction (“Nuclear Energy.” Global Issues in Context Online Collection). Nuclear fission is a process that releases energy when a nucleus in one atom is separated into two nuclei. Nuclear fusion occurs when the nuclei of two hydrogen atoms are fused together producing a larger nuclei along with energy (“Nuclear Energy.” Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection). In the 1950s, the use of nuclear power became a realistic idea for countries with nuclear capabilities and nuclear power programs (“Nuclear Energy.” Global Issues in Context Online Collection). The international nuclear program grew rapidly and by 1999 there were 436 nuclear power plants in 32 different counties. The United States, Japan, Canada, Russia, India and France remain the largest users of nuclear energy since the 1990s; however, the dependency on nuclear power varies greatly around the world because of differences in the individual nuclear power programs availability of needed resources (“Nuclear Energy.” Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection).
Nuclear energy is produced from the splitting of millions of uranium atoms in a very interesting process called fission. This type of process is used in big power plants where there are numerous tools and machinery that help produce the energy. From generators to pumps to turbines and transformers there are up to 12 main components that all come and work together to create high amounts of electricity. The fission process is used to produce a lot of heat and steam from the reactor where uranium rods are placed. That very hot steam then travels to big turbines and spins them through the generator to generate and produce high amounts of electricity. The electricity then travels to transformers and from there it travels through land wires that run hundreds of miles into cities and towns (World Nuclear Association [WNA], 2014).
How does the use of comic relief best contrast the tragedy of Hamlet? In great works of literature a comic relief is used as contrast to a serious scene to intensify the overall tragic nature of the play or to relieve tension. As illustrated in Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, intense scenes are joined with character’s banter and vacuous actions as to add a comic relief. In Hamlet, Polonius acts as a comic relief by his dull and windy personality, Hamlet uses his intelligence and his negativity toward the king and queen to create humor, while on the other hand Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are a comic relief by their senseless actions and naïve natures. Polonius, Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are all used as a comic relief to increase the ultimate tragic nature of the play.
Throughout Shakespeare 's Hamlet, the protagonist, Hamlet himself, is determined to achieve his ultimate goal by seeing that Claudius is put to justice for the crime of murdering the king of Denmark, Claudius 's very brother and Hamlet 's father, and figures that he must pretend to have been driven insane by his father 's death in order to gather the evidence needed on Claudius without anyone figuring out his true intent. However, this ultimately becomes the undoing of Hamlet and causes harm to everyone that comes in contact with him. The suffering of others in the story, inflicted by Hamlet, are examples of the motifs of misogyny (evoked by his mother), incest and incestuous desires (occurring between Ophelia and Laertes, Claudius and Gertrude, and even Hamlet and Gertrude), which compliments and help develop the main themes, such as, the impossibility of certainty,