Comparing Hamlet to The lion King
...ngdoms. The similarities in theses stories are very ironic. In Hamlet, Hamlet not only loses his father as well as his own life, but the lives of his mother (Gertrude), his girlfriend (Ophelia), his girlfriend’s father (Polonius), his girlfriend’s brother (Laertes), his friends (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) and also his uncle (Claudius). Obviously, Disney did not want to have nine deaths in a children’s movie so they just had two. Simba loses his father (Mufasa) in the beginning but he kills his uncle (Scar) in the end. Claudius relates to the character, Scar, in certain ways, such as being born into royalty as well as being the brother of a king. Both characters kill their brother in order to rule their land as king. But both have nephews who know about the murders and they both want revenge. But there is a snag. Claudius was not portrayed as an entirely evil villain. He does murder his brother but he realizes that he is guilty of this act and almost doubts his actions. Yet Scar, not for one second, doubts that what he did to Mufasa was wrong in any way. With everything that is similar in the stories, this is an exception. Simba’s new friends in the jungle, Timon and Pumba, are almost a replica of Hamlet’s old friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Although in The Lion King there is no evidence of Timon and Pumba working for Scar similar to how Rosencrantz and Guildenstern worked for Claudius to find out secrets from Hamlet, both parties come into the princes’ lives when they are going through a rough time. These friends help the princes get through the mess of losing a father and having to get used to a new ruler in town. Gertrude from Hamlet and Sarabi from The ...