Summary: Difference Between Hamlet and The Lion King

It is family affairs on who or how they killed someone or the relationships between characters in both text. The Lion King and Hamlet have themes that they also share that are both good and bad. They share loyalty and revenge, power and corruption, and trust and friendship. The most common theme to be shown to us is loyalty and revenge.

The loyalty that is present in both text and film is constant, whether it is respect to family members or hierarchy.

Lion King shows loyalty between family, where Sarabi is a loyal wife to Mufasa and Mufasa is loyal to Simba. Hamlet presents loyalty in the same way. King Hamlet is loyal to Hamlet and Queen Gertrude is loyal to King Claudius. Loyalty to hierarchy would be Laertes to King Claudius and doing the “dirty” work for him and King Claudius to Hamlet sometimes. “Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death/The memory be green, and that it us befitted/To bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom/To be contracted in one brow of woe…”.

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In Lion King, it would be Zazu to Mufasa who follows his orders of watching over Simba and Nala. (Mufasa orders Zazu to follow Nala back to Pride Rock while he tries to teach Simba a lesson). Although there is loyalty there always has to be drama.Revenge can sometimes be considered the climax in plays and films, but in these two text they are more of a rising action.

Lion King presents it to us where Scar is jealous of Mufasa for being the King so he wants revenge. “Well I was first in line, until the little hairball was born” (Scar) shows that he is upset because he does not have high hopes of becoming king anymore due to Simba being born. In Hamlet, King Claudius, Hamlet’s Uncle, kills King Hamlet and Hamlet tries to get revenge on King Claudius for also marrying his mother. “And so am I That would be scanned:/A villain kills my father, and for that,/I, his sole son, do the same villain send/To heaven”. Scar gets revenge on Mufasa by killing him in front of Simba and Hamlet kills King Claudius after the sword play. Not only does this show revenge, but it also shows power and corruption.

Power is showed in who is fighting for throne in both text. King Claudius fights for throne in Denmark and Marcellus knows that something is going wrong, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”, and Scar fights for throne in spite of jealousy. Scar says “Life’s not fair, is it? You see I, I shall never be king”. Not only are they wanting power they kill in order to achieve their goals. King Claudius is successful at becoming King, while Scar becomes successful but then fails when Simba gets older.Scar being along with his hyenas in a dark place is a sign of corruption after he fails to gain power over the kingdom. Scar also orders them to kill Simba “No, fool – we’re going to kill him. Simba too.” He acts as if they are his servants and anger them around. Scar has his hyenas just as King Claudius has his alcohol and treats his kingdom with hatred. “They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrase/Soil our addition; and indeed it takes/From our achievements, though perform'd at height”. Their corruption is not just seen as corruption, but also as depression. Depression also can lead to trust in others who serve them well.Trust in Hamlet is mainly seen when they are being requested to do something by high authority. You can tell that Hamlet trust Horatio by what he says in his letters. He also trust that Horatio will spread the word of his story. Hamlet says “and in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain/to tell my story”. King Claudius also trust Laertes to help carry out his way of killing Hamlet. Laertes keeps King Claudius’s plans to kill Hamlet a secret until the sword play. Trust in Lion King is not as largely depended on as it is in Hamlet. Simba receives guidance from Nala to get back to the promise land and he trust that she is good and that everything will be okay. Not only did this create trust, but it also created friendships.

Hamlet has his friendships with Horatio and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern just as Simba has his friendships with Nala and Pumba and Timon. As Timon and Pumba say “Hakuna Matata/It means no worries”. All of these friendships where not just created over a short period, but over time. Pumba and Timon and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been friends with the main character since they were little kids.