Shakespeare Tragedies and the Correlation to Modern-Day Entertainment: Shakespeare, an author and notorious writer of the late 1500s, is one we have all come to know as he is an extremely influential part of modern-day literature. One of his most popular plays that he wrote was Hamlet, one of his many tragedy stories. It was an extremely big play during the decade, and even today, 400 years later, high school and numerous college students still study it. Many different books, movies, television shows, and other aspects of our lives have been written and created using Shakespearean literature ideas. One example of this is the cherished movie, The Lion King. Although many may not know it was created by using the story Hamlet, it uses influential …show more content…
In Hamlet, King Hamlet was murdered with poison and died a quick yet painful death. Yet, in The Lion King Scar tricks the Mufasa, Scar puts Simba in a terrible position, and has the hyenas start a stampede, as Simba is running for his life Scar gets Mufasa and tells him his son is in trouble. With Mufasa saving his son's life yet losing his own as Scar throws him off a cliff, Scar gains the seat as King. Scar then scares young Simba into making him believe it was his fault and that he needs to run far away and never come back. Simba runs far away, finally meets his best friends, and lives in the jungle for a long period until he sees the ghost or spirit of his father. Sounds familiar, right? That’s because Hamlet also saw his father’s ghost and knew he had to avenge his death, as Hamlet’s overarching goal is to kill his uncle and get rid of the problem all at once. Simbas is quite different; his goal is to get the kingdom back on its feet, become king, and banish his terrible uncle from the kingdom. Overall, the films share the idea of their villainous uncles and the goal to avenge their …show more content…
First, let's break down Hamlet, the play ends with Latres and Hamlet having a sword fight, and with Hamlet gaining the first point Latres and Claudius’s plan begins to unfold. In both the films, the uncles wanted their nephews dead and took many measures to try and ensure that would happen. In Hamlet, the intense sword fight continues and Hamlet wins, yet Claudius and his mischievous plan start to fall into place. Claudius killed King Hamlet by poisoning him, and his goal was to do the same with Hamlet. The duel was simply a friendly type of fight with a secret and hideous plan. Laertes and the king knew Hamlet would most likely win so they put poison in the cup of wine to kill him, however after Gertrude (Hamlet's mother) accidentally poisoned herself by drinking it Laetres came up with a new plan. He dipped the tip of his sword into the capsule of poison in hopes of stabbing Hamlet, ending it once and for all. It leads into an intense moment of them fighting and Laetres ends up stabbing Hamlet, Then with Hamlet realizing what was on the tip of the sword he stabs Laetres and throws him over the
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.
No story is entirely original. Authors, playwrights, and songwriters all pick and choose elements from stories regardless of whether they intend to or not. Some stories mirror those of the past more similarly than others while adding a fresh, new twist. The Disney movie The Lion King contains many similarities to Shakespeare's play Hamlet, some of which are more obvious than others. Similarities in the character complexes of the three hyenas and Polonius's family, betrayal from Scar and Claudius, and the kingdoms deterioration and resolution are a few examples of the likenesses of the movie and play.
There is no doubt that today's entertainment has lost most of its touch with the more classical influences of its predecessors. However, in mid-1994, Walt Disney Pictures released what could arguably be the best animated feature of all time in The Lion King. With a moral base unlike most of the movies released at the time, TLK placed a children's facade on a very serious story of responsibility and revenge. However, this theme is one of the oldest in history, and it is not the least apparent in one of the oldest works of literature by The Bard himself, William Shakespeare. The work that Disney's TLK parallels is none other than Hamlet: Prince of Denmark, and the film shadows this work so closely, that parallels between the main characters themselves are wildly apparent. This very close comparison has led critics "to compare the movie to Hamlet in the importance of its themes" (Schwalm 1). But with a closer inspection of the characters themselves do we see just how apparent these similarities are.
Some stories that are considered ‘classics’ often get reiterated to offer a similar message to a younger generation. As Shakespeare was such a strong author and playwright, many of his pieces are retold. The story of Hamlet is often retold with different characters, however, perhaps the most popular adaptation is the Walt Disney film, The Lion King. As The Lion King and Hamlet were developed for different demographics, there are similarities and differences between the main characters, and the supporting characters, which also affect the overall theme and plot tone.
Lion King vs Hamlet The movie, The Lion King, and the book, Hamlet, both have a similar story line. In both stories, the king is killed and revenge is sought by the king’s son. The murderers in the story are the king’s brothers who want the power of the throne. After the death of the Kings, both of the villains successfully took over the kingdoms. While these villains ruled, the kingdom slowly deteriorated.
The Lion King and Hamlet. In one film it is “to be or not to be” and the other is “to hunt or to be hunted”. At the surface these two seem to have nothing in common, but when one digs deep he/she can see how similar they are. Yet with all their similarities a few of their characters are written differently. Was it really bad for Claudius to be king? Was Hamlet’s Crusade as justifiable as Simba’s? Was Hamlets plot a reverse of The Lion King? Was their circle of life corrupt from the beginning and was Claudius Mufasa? Hamlet/Simba and Claudius/Scar may be similar in terms of ideology, but different from their results.
Shakespeare & Disney Characterization The Lion King and Hamlet both feature princes. Hamlet is the prince in the Shakespeare play named after him. Hamlet is very indecisive and this is shown throughout the play. Hamlet wants to avenge his father by killing his uncle but, when he is presented with an opportunity to do so while Claudius is confessing his sins.
In the last scene of the play Claudius sends for Hamlet asking if he will duel with Laertes for a wager the king has made. Horatio, the prince’s closest and dearest companion , advises against the jester notifying the prince, “You will lose this wager, my lord”(5.2.196). Horatio is aware that the king is attempting to mischief Hamlet, but the prince rejects horatio's notion and attends the duel anyway. Little to prince Hamlet's knowledge, the sword Laertes uses in the fight along with a cup of wine that is poured for the prince has been poisoned. Hamlet’s swordsmanship dominates Laertes's and the Queen mistakenly drinks Hamlet’s tainted cup wine. In the midst of the battle, Hamlet and Laertes are both cut with the poisonous sword. The Queen dies from the poison wine then Laertes, realizing he to will die, confesses and blames Claudius for
William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet strikes many literary chords and themes. It primarily chronicles a quest for revenge, political intrigue and a slow descent into madness. Throughout the play, two men of different rank and intellect; Hamlet and Laertes are portrayed in this play as each other’s foils. Hamlet who has lost his father in the hands of his uncle and Laertes who has lost his father in the hands of Hamlet, seek out similar goals but in very distinct ways. Hamlet and Laertes both go through stages of their carving vengeance to finally fulfill their goals of killing their fathers’ murderers. The readers detect that Hamlet goes in the path of plotting and deceiving to kill Claudius whereas Laertes goes in a more haste and reckless path
Claudius quickly takes advantage of this by manipulating Laertes to duel Hamlet. Laertes, under the influence of Claudius takes his fury one step further and poisons his sword, a poison so lethal that one cut will end Hamlet. During their duel, Laertes wounds Hamlet then "In scuffing", they exchange swords. Hamlet wounds Laertes and they are both poisoned.
The Lion King is Disney's most successful movie to date. Many believe that the Lion King is Disney's only original movie; the only movie not previously a fairy tale from one country or another. In fact, The Lion King is in on based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Disney writers conceal the basic character archetypes and simplified storyline in a children's tale of cute lions in Africa. On the other hand William Shakespeare’s Hamlet was based on the Epic of Son-Jara or Sundiata. This lead to the debate is the Lion King based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet or the West African story, the Epic of Son Jara. Simba, Hamlet, and Son-Jara are all heroes in their own story. All of them must take on a villain that knew very well, but who does Simba’s journey resemble the most Does Simba represent Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, or Son-Jara, the lion king.
Claudius is the brother of Hamlet’s late father, and is now married to Hamlet’s mother. Claudius appears to be a sympathetic husband who only has Gertrude and Hamlet’s best interests at heart. He is actually the main conspirator against Hamlet. He arranges for Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and others, to spy on Hamlet. When he feels Hamlet is becoming too big of a problem, the ‘loving father and husband’ plans to have his stepson murdered upon arrival in England. Hamlet finds evidence of this, and returns to Elsinore. Claudius receives a letter from Hamlet, stating he will be returning, which causes Claudius to manipulate Laertes by pretending he cares for him. He also claims to mourn the death of Laerte’s father, Polonius, stating, “I loved your father”, in order to convince Laertes to agree to kill Hamlet (IV.vii,34). Claudius arranges for what appears to be a friendly duel between Hamlet and Laertes, but plots to use this match to end Hamlet. He poisons Laertes’s blade, and as a backup, poisons the cup of wine Hamlet is to drink from. Claudiu...
Finally we arrive at the sword match between Hamlet and Laertes. Hamlet is unaware of Claudius’ poisoned goblet and the poisoned tip of Laertes’ sword. When Laertes cuts Hamlet, he makes the choice to stab Laertes, who would see him dead as well.
A remodel or a twist of fate? The Lion King adapted from Hamlet. The huge war of words if The Lion King is the Disnified version of Hamlet will never end. William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of the, if not the most notorious tragedies in the history of English literature. The mad man, Hamlet, is looking for vengeance against his uncle, Claudius, for killing his father, King Hamlet, to take over the throne and rule Denmark.
“Mine honor is my life; both grow in one. Take honor from me, and my life is done” (William Shakespeare). Hamlet is a Shakespearean tragedy set in Denmark that follows the story of a young prince, Hamlet, who seeks revenge on his uncle for murdering his father, the previous king of Denmark. Throughout the play, Hamlet is recognized as a madman after he harasses his old flame Ophelia and hints at his uncle, King Claudius, that he was aware of the dreadful murder of Old Hamlet. Similarly, The Lion King tells the tale of a cub, Simba, who sets on an adventure to reclaim his rightful throne from his uncle, Scar, who had killed his father, Mufasa.