The plays
of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark and Oedipus
the King, are very similar in plot because they both are about the kings of
their perspective cities being murdered, and the murderer subsequently is
crowned king and marries the queen. They
are also based on an incestuous relation with the queen. The plays differ in that Hamlet knows who
killer of his father is, whereas Oedipus unknowingly kills his father and
marries his mother. They have both
pledged to avenge the kings' death. The
men are initially portrayed as strong and powerful. However, by the end of the plays both men are
weak in character and status. There is
no reversal by Hamlet, whereas there is both recognition and reversal by
Oedipus. The manner in which the conducted
themselves, results in additional tragedies.
In Oedipus the
King, the queen and Laius the murdered
king were told by a prophet that Oedipus, their newborn son, would kill his
father and marry his mother. To avoid
committing this terrible sin, they instructed their servant to kill him but,
instead, out of compassion for Oedipus, he gave him to a childless couple. After reaching adulthood, Oedipus would
later be warned by an oracle of the same fate that was predicted by the
prophet. To avoid committing this
horrific act against the people that he thought were his real parents, Oedipus
left and on his journey he came across some servant who cut him off in his
path. In a fit of rage, he killed all
but one of the passengers. Among the
dead was Laius, the King of Thebes and Oedipus's natural father. Soon after, he would be crowned king of
Thebes for answering the riddle of the Sphinx and would marry the queen.
The priests of
Thebes came to visit Oedipus because of the undue suffering of the people and
the animals of Thebes. They had great
respect for him as king because he had defeated the Sphinx; however, they did
not think that he was doing enough to bring an end to the suffering. He seemed genuinely concerned and assured the
priests that he would find the reason for the plague. Oedipus sent Creon, his dear friend and both
of the queen to Apollo, the god to find out what was causing the
suffering. The message from Apollo was
'that relief from the plague can only come way.
Uncover the murders of Laius, put them to death or drive them into
exile'(1129). The leader suggested to
Oedipus that he seek answers from Lord Tiresias, the blind prophet because he
sees with the eyes of Lord Apollo and could shed some light on who was
responsible for the crime.(1128). He
agreed and summoned him to the castle.
At first, Lord Tiresias was very reluctant to tell Oedipus what he
knew. However, after he insulted him by
calling him a scheming quack, he told him that he was responsible for the
curse. Oedipus became very angry and
upset by his comment. After provoking
Tiresias further, he told him that he is the murderer. Oedipus became enraged and mocked his blindness as well as calling
him other unpleasant names. Tiresias,
being of equal power to Oedipus predicted his fate. He told him, 'Blind who now has eyes, beggar
who now is rich will grope his way toward a foreign soil, a stick tapping
before him step by step' (1132). At
this point, Oedipus was desperate to find the killer. He began to accuse Creon of trying to
overthrow him as king. Oedipus is very
blind to the truth and is very suspicious of everyone. Anyone that offers to help him, becomes a suspect. He thinks that every is plotting against
him. When he reflected back on the
murders that he committed, he immediately ruled himself out as being the
killer.
There is finally
a moment of recognition by Oedipus when Jocosta, the queen, told him of her
account of how the king had been murdered.
When she told him that he was murdered where three roads met, he
realizes that this is where he had committed his murders. He was not convinced until the messenger
told him the story of how he gave him away at birth. At this point, there was a reversal by
Oedipus. He was very sympathetic and
sorry for the pain and suffering that he had inflicted upon everyone for
committing this sin. Out of
embarrassment, the queen committed suicide.
Oedipus chose to blind himself over killing himself because he said that
his blindness was responsible for the suffering.
In Hamlet,
Prince of Denmark, Hamlet was faced with a similar situation of avenging his
father's death after being informed by the ghost of his father that his uncle Claudius had
murdered him. At this point, he was very
hostile and angry at anyone who befriended Claudius. His mother was also in an incestuous
relation because she married Claudius.
Hamlet was not only angry at her but also very rude to her because he
did not think that she grieved his father's death long enough and she knowingly
married incestuous relationship. He
concluded that it was lust and not love that brought them together. Hamlet was presented with many opportunities
to kill Claudius. However, he would
always find a reason not to. When he was
finally presented with the opportune moment to kill Claudius, he again
procrastinates. Hamlet angry towards
others was not merit of his treatment towards them because the knew nothing of
Claudius sin. He also thought that
every one was plotting against him and trying to hurt him. He was furious and
bitter to the end. As a result of his
blindness and anger, all the people including himself died. Claudius, his intended victim lived on.
Oedipus was very
blind to the fact that he killed his father.
His internal tragic flaws such as excessive pride, suspicion, and lack
of trust for others caused many people to suffer because of this crime. However, there is a moment of recognition by
Oedipus when he realizes that it is he that killed his father. There is also reversal because is very
remorseful for king his father, the adulterous relationship with his mother and
the suffering that he has inflicted upon all of the innocent citizens of
Thebes.
Unlike Oedipus,
there is no reversal by Hamlet. His internal tragic flaws such as excessive
angry, procrastination in killing Claudius and blindness prevented him from s
resulted in the tragic death of the people he cared about including his mother and Oephelia who he truly
loved. He could have prevented these
additional tragedies if he would have killed Cladius.
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