Similarities and Differences Between Shakespeare´s Hamlet and Macbeth

Macbeth vs. Hamlet

The Shakespearean playwrights Macbeth and Hamlet are both very well-known tragedies. They have many things in common but are different in some ways. Both plays involve greed but the characters are different. There are some characters that have the same qualities such as Hamlet and Malcolm who both killed for revenge. Macbeth and Hamlet are different in character even though they both killed. The tragedies are the same in that many people are killed but the reasons are very different. Macbeths need for power has caused him to lose control while Hamlets need for revenge causes him to lose his own life.

Both Hamlet and Macbeth fight for what they want and are eventually killed in the end. Something they have in common is that their journeys both start with something evil and spiritual. For example, Hamlet sees the ghost of his father in the beginning and Macbeth runs into the witches and their prophecies. These apparitions lead both of them to their horrible fates. They each have a relationship with supernatural occurrences. Macbeth acts upon the prophecies the witches give him and make him greedy for power. Hamlet feels obligated to follow the instructions of his father’s ghost. Hamlet and Macbeth both make choices that cause them to do evil and horrible things. They each end up killing a king. Macbeth seems to lose his morals because of the supernatural apparitions. Furthermore, both of their consciousness makes them second guess themselves and crazy. Their decisions make them and everyone around them mad. Lady Macbeth, for example, becomes mad because of her conscience and the evil deeds of her husband.

Another thing the plays have in common is that they both have characters that seem to go mad and lose...

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...r. Hamlet, on the other hand, thinks things through and has worries and hesitations about what the right thing would be. They both die but Hamlet dies respectably avenging his father’s death, while Macbeth kills many people to get what he wants.

Macbeth and Hamlet both start out the same with supernatural occurrences and end the same with a lot of blood and death. They have many things in common such as all of the bloodshed and craziness, but the main characters have different purposes. Hamlet killed for revenge while Macbeth only killed for power and greed. Both Macbeth and Claudius killed a king because of their greed but they both end up dying at the end of each play. Malcolm and Hamlet complete their goals of seeking revenge, but Hamlet ends up dying as well. The plays involve much of the same themes and tragedies; however the main purposes are distinctive.