Similarities Between Hamlet And The Truman Show

William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, and Peter Weir’s film, The Truman Show, are two artistic works that explore the intricate complexities of human existence. Hamlet follows a prince named Hamlet, who seeks revenge against his uncle for murdering his father. Hamlet later feigns madness to conceal his vindictive motives. The tragic conclusion of the play results in the demise of several characters, including Hamlet himself. The Truman Show revolves around a man named Truman Burbank, who leads a seemingly idealistic life in his small town. Unbeknownst to him, everyone and everything around him, including his family, friends, and surroundings, are all an elaborate façade, as Truman's existence is an intricately crafted reality TV show, with him

Hamlet and Truman each experience increasing paranoia and obsession as their realities become dismantled, eventually spiraling into personal demise. By delving into the detrimental impacts of deceit, Hamlet and The Truman Show compel individuals to question the fragility of their own realities and acknowledge the devastation that results from discovering fundamental truths are actually lies.

In both Hamlet and The Truman Show, the protagonists face isolation as they realize those around them may not be who they appear to be. A prominent similarity between both Hamlet and Truman is the deception they face regarding the death of their fathers, which is revealed when each character re-encounters their father after their respective deaths. Hamlet initially believed that his father’s death was merely accidental. However, when Hamlet encounters the ghost of his late father, the deceased King tells Hamlet “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown.” (Shakespeare 1.5 39-40), indicating that it was the King’s own brother who killed him, who has since remarried the Queen and assumed the throne. Once Hamlet confirms this

With their once stable lives crumbling under the weight of the lies to which they have been subjected, both Truman and Hamlet contemplate escaping their reality. Hamlet considers suicide to escape the pain of his circumstances, clear in his first line in the play’s infamous soliloquy “To be, or not to be: that is the question” (Shakespeare, 3.1 57-58). Hamlet’s eventual escape from his reality occurs through his death. The destructive consequences of his actions reverberate throughout the play, resulting in the demise of nearly every central character, including Hamlet himself. Truman, after realizing that his consciousness is the only non-corrupted aspect of his reality, states “You never had a camera in my head!” (Weir, 1998), and he ends up leaving the television set, concluding the film on an optimistic note. However, it can be interpreted that the turmoil he has faced will continue to follow him into his new beginning. He has been deceived by others his entire life, and though he has broken free from an artificial world constructed around him, he is now forced to confront an unknown reality. He has lost everything, including his family, friends, or any understanding of the real world. Both Hamlet and Truman face a tragic ending to the manipulated realities they lived in, highlighting the potentially devastating