Hamlet and Simba: One and the Same, or the Complete Opposite? Hamlet, the renowned play written by William Shakespeare, tells the story of a boy who loses his father and faces hardship triggered by his uncle during the time of mourning. The Lion King, the famous Disney book, movie, and play, tells the same story in a different setting with different characters. Although Hamlet and Simba share many similarities, such as their relationships with their fathers and being exiled by their devious uncles, they also have differences in relation to their interactions with other characters in their stories. Hamlet and Simba share a similar relationship with their fathers. First, both of their fathers have been killed by their uncle. Hamlet's uncle …show more content…
Claudius instructed Hamlet to be sent to England and eventually be executed. "The bark is ready, and the wind at help, Th' associates tend, and everything is bent For England," Claudius orders Hamlet to leave for England, saying the ship is ready for sail (Shakespeare 197). However, Hamlet escaped this plan and later returned to Denmark. Shortly after reverting to his home, he kills his deceitful uncle by stabbing him with a poison-dipped sword. Scar tricked Simba to run away to the Pride Lands, when really he was plotting to have the hyenas kill him. Simba also escaped this strategy and returned home with the help of his new friends, Timon the meerkat and Pumba the warthog. Simba, similar to Hamlet, kills his uncle by pushing him off of a cliff. Hamlet and Simba have many similar aspects to their personalities, but are also very different. Their relationships with other people demonstrate how they differ. Simba does not let Nala, his love interest, down by telling her he never loved her. Simba loves Nala and she is never led to suicide. Hamlet, however, tells Ophelia that he never loved her. This drives her to drowning herself because she is insanely