...downstairs and watch Hamlet!” A statement which might sound ludicrous at first, is in reality, more sensible than one might think. Since 1994, The Lion King has been a must-see film for children all around the world. Its 8.5 rating on IMDB lists it alongside of some of the greatest movies ever made. Children’s movies that were released around this time were all shallow and simplistic. The reason why The Lion King was so successful is because it was an unexpected and pleasant anomaly. The Lion King is a story of responsibility and revenge, masked by a setting that is known to be appealing to children. However, this is not the first time something with this same story line has been told. In fact, William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, one of the most popular pieces of literature of all time, parallels The Lion King in many more ways than one. The Lion King and Hamlet are best compared through the actions of the secondary characters, the exploration of the theme of death, and the striking similarities present in each works’ protagonist. Obviously, all plot events are not exactly the same, however the differences are insignificant to the point that the majority of the storyline and major characters still remain the same. The reflections of Hamlet in The Lion King are so strong that there are 3 sets of secondary characters that bear a striking resemblance to one another: Mufasa and King Hamlet, Claudius and Scar, as well as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and the hyenas. King Hamlet ruled his country...
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...Comparative analysis: Hamlet and The Lion King Hamlet is a 1990 drama film based on a tragic play with the same name, written by William Shakespeare. On the other side The Lion King is an animated musical movie. Walt Disney Pictures released the movie in 1994. As the movie Hamlet, The Lion King was also influenced by Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. Both the movies are about revenging the death of a cherished family member but in different ways. Since a long time the idea of revenge has existed in our human nature. It has been our instinct to take back for a person that has been hurt. Today we find that many literary works uses revenge as a theme for the plot but how it is shown depends from a character to another. Hamlet and The Lion King are two superb examples. In the castle of Elsinore in Denmark, prince Hamlet sees his father’s ghost. Through the ghost Hamlet learns that his own brother, Claudius, who wants the thrown to Denmark had murdered his father and married his dead brothers wife, the queen Gertrude. The spirit tells Hamlet to, “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.25 Shakespeare) and Hamlet obeys the spirit’s wishes. He then begins to seek more evidence on Claudius and his betrayal towards his brother. Hamlet enters into a deep melancholy and appears to be in madness, which makes Claudius and Gertrude worry about his erratic behavior. They employ Hamlet’s friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to watch over him and to discover the cause of his...
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...The Lion King and Hamlet As innocent and young the Disney movie “The Lion King” may seem, it is, indeed, loosely based off of the renowned Shakespeare play “Hamlet”. It would seem strange to the typical audiences of each, but when looked at closer, it is seen that they are actually related underneath the youthful, animated surface of The Lion King. One of the main aspects that connects The Lion King and Hamlet is the characters. Simba and Hamlet are both princes of their kingdoms. Hamlet, a man, and Simba, a lion cub, are in the same situation which is coping with and avenging their fathers’ deaths. Hamlet goes crazy and creates a whole plan of revenge but Simba simply runs from the problem altogether only to come face to face with it later. Nala, representing Ophelia, is a beautiful young lion as Ophelia is a beautiful young girl. Both have a developing relationship with the prince of the kingdom. Although they play practically the same part, Nala is more forceful and stubborn than Ophelia who is obedient and passive more times than not. Another difference between the two is that Nala doesn’t die at the end of the movie as Ophelia dies in Hamlet by suicide. Scar and Claudius is another pair that is quite obviously nearly reversible. Scar, through means of a stampede, causes the death of Mufassa and properly manipulates the situation so as to make Simba think it was his own fault. Simba carries this guilt for years and years to come. Claudius more directly kills Hamlet but...
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...Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Bloom's Classic Critical Views alfred, lord Tennyson Benjamin Franklin The Brontës Charles Dickens edgar allan poe Geoffrey Chaucer George eliot George Gordon, lord Byron henry David Thoreau herman melville Jane austen John Donne and the metaphysical poets John milton Jonathan Swift mark Twain mary Shelley Nathaniel hawthorne Oscar Wilde percy Shelley ralph Waldo emerson robert Browning Samuel Taylor Coleridge Stephen Crane Walt Whitman William Blake William Shakespeare William Wordsworth Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Edited and with an Introduction by Sterling professor of the humanities Yale University harold Bloom Bloom’s Classic Critical Views: William Shakespeare Copyright © 2010 Infobase Publishing Introduction © 2010 by Harold Bloom All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information contact: Bloom’s Literary Criticism An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data William Shakespeare / edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom : Neil Heims, volume editor. p. cm. — (Bloom’s classic critical views) Includes bibliographical references...
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...Literary Criticism The Two Gentlemen of Verona The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy about the adventures of two bosom buddies, Valentine and Proteus. When Proteus falls in love with his best friend's girlfriend, the guys find themselves torn between the bonds of male friendship and romance. (If you're thinking all this sounds like a modern day "bromantic comedy," you're right. Two Gentlemen of Verona is the great, great grandfather of buddy flicks like the 2009 comedy I Love You Man.) Written as early as 1590-91, Two Gentlemen appears to be William Shakespeare's first play. (As usual, some literary critics are divided over this issue, but we're going with the editors of The Norton Shakespeare and the editors of The Oxford Shakespeare on this one.) As Shakespeare's first theatrical effort, Two Gentlemenhas been referred to as a "limping forerunner" of Shakespeare's later works. Even famous literary scholar Harold Bloom says it's "the weakest of all Shakespeare's comedies." We, on the other hand, prefer to think of Two Gentlemen as Shakespeare's test kitchen, where a budding young playwright begins to work out the recipe for his "comedies" and begins to explore themes and conventions that he'll develop more fully in later works – particularly the themes of male friendship and heterosexual love, which come into conflict in plays like The Merchant of Veniceand also in Shakespeare's collection of Sonnets. Like all test kitchen creations, Two Gentlemen is far from perfect...
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