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Compare and contract Hamlet and Oedipus
123 essays on character analysis
Compare and contract Hamlet and Oedipus
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Recommended: Compare and contract Hamlet and Oedipus
Hamlet and Oedipus share some common background, as in they both come from well-off families. Oedipus was born with the blood of gods and also raised by King Polybus and Queen Merope in Corinth. Hamlet was the prince of Denmark, soon to be king. They also have somewhat similar motivation when it comes to the the decision and need to kill the current king from each story. Hamlet’s motivation is the fact that he was questioning about his father’s death as well as his mom’s strange reaction since she had already moved on to a new marriage with Hamlet’s uncle.
By verbally harassing Ophelia and estranging himself from her, Hamlet provides the apparent image of losing his prior care without a great amount of consideration. Additionally, Hamlet further displays his anger for his father’s death through this display. By dissolving his relationship with Ophelia, Hamlet furthers his image of insanity to further illustrate himself as incapable within Claudius’s eyes while still communicating distaste for his loss of his father. With Hamlet’s intentionally swift change of heart for Ophelia, Hamlet’s procedure warrants a certain level of sanity. Regardless of the sudden nature, Hamlet’s continual barring from Ophelia possesses procedure which causes further doubt of Hamlet’s mental instability from the audience of the
The story of Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a story of betrayal, revenge, and intrigue. Hamlet, the title character discovers that his uncle killed his father and married his mother effectively stealing the throne. Hamlet decides he must kill his uncle Claudius as revenge for what he had done. However, as the new king, Hamlet isn't sure how to get to him, so he decides to fake madness, but his plan backfires as Claudius doesn't trust him and makes sure he is always watched. In his fumbled plan for revenge, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, forces Polonius's son Laertes to seek revenge against him, and drives Ophelia crazy causing her to kill herself.
The world of literature offers many different works; some may offer similarities while there are differences between others. There are more similarities than differences between Odysseus and Oedipus. Two great examples of literature is the tragic play “Oedipus the King”, written by Sophocles and “The Odyssey”, an epic poem written by Homer who were both Greek poets. Both poets’ work shows similar examples of life altering changes that were ultimately controlled by the Greek gods.
The definition of a tragedy is a narrative poem or story that describes the downfall of a good man. Both Othello and King Oedipus Rex Fall into this class of literature, even though they were written by two totally different authors and in two utterly different time periods. These two works share several comparisons to every different, while having an honest quantity of variations similarly. Pride is characterized as one of the seven deadliest sins. Most pleased individuals will never see themselves as to be genuinely glad until they encounter the results of their pride.
Although Homer and Shakespeare lived centuries apart, they both managed to write their own masterpieces that were well ahead of their time. Homer, an ancient Greek writer creates a very intelligent character, Odysseus, who experiences the highs and lows of life and identity formation. Similar to Homer, Early seventeenth-century English playwright, Shakespeare, tailors his main character to have similar attributes to that of Odysseus. Both characters are intelligent, quick witted and natural born leaders, and their creators both focused heavily on their wits and their moral didacticism, which is portrayed throughout both the Odyssey and Hamlet. When creating Odysseus, Homer didn’t leave him without any admirable traits.
Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth, Must I remember? Why, she would hang on him As if increase of appetite had grown By what it fed on, and yet, within a month Let me not think on ’t. Frailty, thy name is woman!” (Act1 Scene 2,lines 140-145)
Throughout the play, Hamlet is forced to make difficult decisions; as he is conflicted with almost every decision he makes, his uncertainty and unsophisticated thoughts will eventually lead to his downfall. Man vs. Self is a common theme in Shakespeare’s work, and Hamlet is no exception. The most distinct example of this sophisticated concept is Hamlet himself. When analyzed thoroughly, Hamlet is his greatest obstacle and enemy. The earliest of his internal conflicts is when his mother married his uncle, Claudius, in such a short window of time after his father’s death.
Critic Northrop Frye claims that tragic heroes “seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them… Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divisive lightning.” A perfect example of this assertion would be King Oedipus in the classical tragic play “Oedipus Rex,” written by Sophocles, where Oedipus, himself, becomes the victim of his doomed fate. As someone who was born and raised of royal blood, he becomes too proud and ignorant, believing that he was too powerful for his fate. Using the metaphor “great trees [are] more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass,” Frye compares the heroic but unfortunate Oedipus to the great trees as they both are apt to experience victimization of tragic situations
Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, centers around Hamlet’s contemplation of killing his uncle in order to avenge his father’s death. His decisions and values determine his fate. However, Hamlet’s intended action to avenge his father’s death is continuously postponed due to his moral dilemma. However, this moral dilemma causes him to make the decisions he does, and therefore, demonstrates the theme of his uncertainty versus his faith. Not only does faith stop him from taking alternative routes to achieve his goal, but his uncertainty causes him to either delay his revenge or make the wrong decisions.
Hamlet and Oedipus Rex are both sharing some common themes. '' self- destruction'' is one example of them. Oedipus's personality leads him to his self-destruction because he is '' a man of quick action and hasty conclusions who doesn't even attempt to foresee the consequences of his actions.'' () Similarly, Hamlet selfishness leads him to his own destiny. He didn’t think how his actions would affect others.
Jan-Erik Aavik IB English HL B. Raid 04.11.2016 Written Task 2 Outline: Part of the course to which the task refers: Part 3 Literature - text and context Title of the text for analysis: Hamlet, William Shakespeare 1599
Oedipus the King is one of the most ironic plays ever written. Sophocles, the author, is a famous philosopher of the ancient times The Play is about Oedipus, the king of Thebes, who kills his father and marries his mother. An oracle warned Laius, the king of Thebes prior to Oedipus, that his son would murder him. Accordingly, when his wife, Jocasta, had a son, he exposed the baby by first pinning his ankles together. The infant, who was adopted by King Polybus of Corinth and his wife was then brought up as their very own.
The character Hamlet clearly portrays Freud’s three parts of personality; id, ego and super-ego. Additionally, Freud indicates Hamlet as an example in his theories, such as ‘’Mourning and Melancholia’’ and Oedipus complex. However, in ‘’The Interpretations of Dreams’’ Freud interpreters and even Freud himself states that Hamlet was more related to Oedipus complex, which is a significant example for the theory. (Desmet, 1999, p.161) Obviously it was a very controversial claim and there were many scholars who didn’t agree with this.
Williams Shakespeare is recognized as the greatest English writer. One of his best works ever written is “Hamlet”, which is the most complex, confusing, and frequently performed play. The extreme complexity of the main character – prince Hamlet in this play contributes to its popularity until today. “Hamlet is supposedly the most quoted figure in Western culture after Jesus, maybe the most charismatic too” (Bloom 384). In the most famous revenge tragedy, his biggest weakness that he procrastinates completing his revenge for his father’s death by killing the murderer.