Hamlet and Death of a Salesman may have been written hundreds of years apart, but Shakespeare’s iconic Hamlet is very similar to Arthur Miller’s more contemporary play, Death of a Salesman. From country ideals to father-son relations and even to the concept of death, these two pieces provide perceptive views on many similar issues that revolve around the father son relationships in the play.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet revolves around Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, and his motivated need to avenge his father’s murder after his father’s ghost reveals that he was murdered by his brother and current King, Claudius. Meanwhile, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman shadows the story of salesman father Willy, who very much wants his son Biff to succeed in the business world as he had high hopes of his future since he was a young child. The father-son relationships in both of these stories are essential to the success of both these plays. In Hamlet, Hamlet’s vengeance upon his homicidal uncle is what drives him. Although his desire for revenge is not has nothing to do with the throne because he has no desire to reacquire the throne of Denmark. Hamlet, in fact, shows little to no inclination towards becoming king. When he speaks of it he is afraid. Biff
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Both of these plays focus much of the father son relationship around death. In Death of a Salesman the thing that brings Biff to have an epiphany and want to try and please his dad is when his mother Linda tells him about when his dad tried to kill himself using the tube, learning that his father has tried to kill himself many times before. In Hamlet there is death all over the place but there’s one death that makes the play what it is. That is the poisoning of Hamlet, it is what starts off the story, and the reason the that this father son relationship is brought out to light. Death changed both of the sons, in a way to please their