Hamlet/Lion King Response Characters: Compare and contrast Hamlet-Simba is like Hamlet in that he is young and uncertain what

his future will be. The difference is that Simba while glum after his fathers dead, demonstrates a resilience Hamlet lacks. The only semblance Hamlet has is that he bounces back for poor reasons, as in revenge, fear of death, fear of rebelling, fear of existing. Claudius-Scar is a more cunning version of Claudius. The Claudius in Hamlet gets what he wants initially, but its difficult to say how he even managed that. Hes not too far from Osric in breeding and mentality. Even though Scar is animated, hes a lot more dangerous and shows a deeper sense of follow-through. The Ghost-Mufasa in the stars and clouds ghost is inspiration to Simba, whereas Hamlets father cares about his memory and little about helping his son. Hamlets father feeds him with vengeance. Simbas father cares about his son and his pride. He up builds his son, while Hamlets father knocks him down by not loving him as he should have. Gertrude-Sarabi is stronger and nobler than Gertrude who would rather forget her transgressions. Also Sarabi isnt in the wrong. Shes a victim of circumstance, while Gertrude is mercenary in all she has done. Gertrudes first concern is herself. Polonius-Zazu is a pencil-pusher, in a manner of speaking, but lovably pompous unlike Polonius. Unlike Polonius he wouldnt betray his charges, even though theyre lower on the totem pole as Simba was. Hes stuffy, but his intent is pure. Ophelia-Nala is stronger and clearly does not kill herself. She is selfless, interested in her people, and has the strength to go on even when she thinks Simba is dead.

Laeretes-Nala doesnt have a brother. Horatio-Timon and Pumba are friend/brothers to Simba. They care for him and are companions to Simba. Rosencrantz & Gildenstern-Shenzi, Banzai and Ed The Gravedigger-the closest we come is Rafiki but hes more a spiritual being. Like the Gravedigger he has a firm grasp on mortality, but unlike him hes more of a healer/spiritual voodoo monkey. ** Second: Themes-Compare and Contrast Revenge-Scar wants revenge on his brother, so he sends Simba to the elephant graveyard, hoping hell be killed by hyenas. More revenge is when Scar has Simba sit below where hell be crushed in the stampede. Its similar to when Claudius pits Laertes against Hamlet. Scar watches and foils Zazu when he would have gone for help, much as Claudius did by adding the poison to the goblet. The difference being that the wine goes to Gertrude and Scar throws Mufasa. Overall revenge is left for the darker characters like Scar, but Simba is too pure for revenge, unlike Hamlet who cares mostly about revenge. Holy figure/mentor: Rafiki is this for Simba, in that he teaches him how to move on from any lingering pain he may have. Fear leading to Uncertainty-Initial fear and uncertainty is when Simba is cast away with nowhere to go. Its unclear what will happen to him and Simba fears this. Then there is

the fact that Simba fears the responsibility of being king. Hamlets fear knew his father expected him to kill, but still being uncertain how to finally do it. Uncertainty leading to Inaction-More abstractly Scar joins hyenas with the lion pack. The lions dont know what this will mean, to have these bottom -feeders around them. There is fear in this unnatural act. Simba takes leave of his future and welcomes escapism with Timon and Pumba because he worries he wont make a good king. He also feels guilt believing he is why his father is dead. Conversely, Hamlets inaction is killing Claudius face to face. He kills Polonius through a curtain and rationalizes he cant kill Claudius when he is praying. Time and again fear of taking a life stops him in doing what his father asked him to. Suicide-Scar essentially kills himself by lashing out at Simba when he could have accepted a hand up. In Hamlet, Hamlet talks about death, is obsessed with it, but never has the guts to go for it, not that it should be aspired to. The one who does kill herself is Ophelia. Lust-Nala and Simba awaken as young adolescents in their prime. They show interest in one another that blooms into more lasting love. Unlike the chaste quality to Simba and Nalas love, Hamlet and Ophelia burn for one another. Injustice creating action- Simba realizes what Scar has done, the injustice of all that has happened to his pride and take back his kingdom with prompting from Nala. In Hamlet, injustice culminates when Laertes stabs Hamlet out of turn and points out the real culprit-Claudius. Hamlet does what he always planned by stabbing Claudius and to be certain he kills him he forces him to drink the poisoned wine.

Foreshadowing of death-Mufasa tells Simba of the kings in the sky. The point is that he wont live forever and one day he will be a constellation in the sky, a remem brance for Simba. Hamlet also foreshadows his own death in little ways. The fact that hes so obsessed with death is our first indicator. It escalates after that, with him making offhand statements leading us to believe someday he will die. Hitlers regime: The marching done during Scars song with the hyenas, shows the hyenas marching in formation. Scar is transformed into Hitler and the hyenas his mindless but dangerous soldiers. Not very child appropriate- Aspects of Hamlet, such as his killing Polonius and dumping his body are too adult. Also, there is the intent to kill his uncle, Claudius aim to kill Simba and having killed his brother for his position. Among the other adult themes is Laertes pure intent to kill Simba by any means and Claudius need for a fail-safe with the poisoned wine. More adult themes is Gertrude having married her late husbands brother. Conversely, the Lion King demonstrates that while adult themes are intended, they are not as graphic or violent as their adult predecessors. The only exception being when Scar throws Mufasa. There we get to see the murder and Simba is left with his fathers body. Another difference is that Scar proves more cunning than Claudius and uses psychological tactics to send him away and then uses a further failsafe to kill Simba with the hyenas.