Simba And Hamlet Research Paper

557 Words3 Pages
“There is no new literature being done, only old literature, redone” This old axiom perfectly describes the relationship between Hamlet and The Lion King, but some insist that comparing William Shakespeare to the corporate writers at Disney is like comparing Mozart to Justin Bieber. Though Hamlet and The Lion King were written some four hundred years apart, similarities between characters are uncanny, especially between Hamlet and Simba. To begin, Simba and Hamlet are both left fatherless and without their rightful thrones after their fathers’ are murders are played off as accidental, tragic deaths. In The Lion King, Scar kills his brother, Mufasa, and in Hamlet, Claudius kills his brother, Hamlet Senior. These deceased fathers both reappear as ghosts to their sons, but for different reasons. Hamlet Senior appears to his son to tell him how he was murdered, and clued Hamlet to who committed the crime. He urges his son to “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (I.v.25). When Mufasa appears to his son, it is to remind him of his duties and responsibilities to the kingdom he left behind. The princes each flee from their fathers’ tragic demise in different ways. Simba leaves his home to escape the painful memories, and later lives a relatively happy, albeit unfulfilled, life. On the other hand, Hamlet folds into himself, going mad…show more content…
In The Lion King, Simba’s loyal companions, Pumbaa the warthog and Timon the meerkat, unknowingly remind Simba of his home at Pride Rock. The pair urge him to stop running from his past, and his future duties as the rightful king. This is a mirror image of Hamlet’s relationship with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. These are the two that essentially tell Hamlet to snap out of his self-pitying mood and step up to rule his kingdom. Simba and Hamlet both have one more important friend; forever loyal and trustworthy Nala and Horatio,
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    Hamlet and Lion King are movies that share the some similarities, but also have some differences. Although Hamlet and Simba come from a royal family and their dad is murdered; they also have differences as to how they were killed and the roles they had to take on. Hamlet and Simba try to find ways to bring out the truth of how their dad died. Hamlet and Simba came from a royal family.Simba’s dad was killed by his uncle, Scar, so was Hamlet’s dad. The difference is Mufasa was pushed off the cliff

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