Compare And Contrast The Literary Analysis Of The Two Plays Hamlet And Oedipus (Essay Sample)

Name:
Class:
Instructor:
Date
Hamlet and Oedipus
Introduction
The two plays Oedipus and Hamlet are stories of two princes with similar lives and fates. William Faulkner authored Hamlet while Oedipus is a mythical king of the Greek Thebe. Both Oedipus and Hamlet are the main characters in the two plays. Besides, the two characters have almost similar characteristics with similar upbringing together with similar motives of revenge. Furthermore, both Hamlet and Oedipus have royal blood. However, Oedipus is unaware of it while Hamlet knows his royal linkage. Therefore, the paper will perform a literary analysis of the two plays. The paper will show comparison and contrast of different literary elements and techniques in regards to the two plays. The literary techniques and features that the paper will compare and contrast include characterization, themes, plots, setting, among the rest.
Comparison
Regarding characterization, the two plays are similar in very many ways. First, the two texts have males as their main characters. The men in question Oedipus and Hamlet. The authors of the two plays made the two characters to possess the trait of being vengeful. They have an endless thirst for killing. Hamlet intended to kill his uncle because of the incestuous relationship that the uncle had with his mother. He also learned that his uncle was responsible for the death of his father (Shakespeare 4). On the side of Oedipus, he wanted to kill his father with the intention of becoming the king (Sophocles 26). Another similar aspect of the two characters is that they are victims of deceitful parents. Oedipus is a victim of his father’s neglect while Hamlet is a victim of the unfaithful mother. Arguably, the two characters are tragic figures. These two characters have helped the author to come up with various themes, settings, techniques, and elements (Hammond 24).
Other minor characters such as the kings and the mothers of the two main characters also play an essential role in developing themes, traits of other characters, and setting. For example, these other characters have helped the authors of the two plays to come up with the same themes of betrayal and revenge (Sophocles 22). Moreover, the other minor characters such as the mothers, Hamlet’s uncle, and Oedipus’s father the king are also crucial in bringing out the character traits of other characters. From them, the readers can know that both Oedipus and Hamlet are vengeful. Moreover, through characterization of both play, there is the development of both setting and plot (Hammond 24).
The two plays share similar themes. The two themes that are pronounced in the two plays are the theme of betrayal, hatred, and the theme of revenge. Both Hamlet and Oedipus are victims of deception. First, Hamlet feels betrayed by his mother by involving in a sexual relationship with his uncle the king. Because of this, he plans all his life to kill the uncle. However, it did not happen because of the procrastination tendencies associated with him (Shakespeare 7). On the part of Oedipus, he was also a victim of revenge. Just like the case of Hamlet, his parent too betrayed him. In this case, the father. At his infancy stage, the father pierced his legs and abandoned him to die in the wilderness. It was after a prophecy that claimed that the son was to dethrone the father from power (Sophocles 22).
Apart from the theme of betrayal, the two plays also share the theme of revenge. Moreover, both plays developed the theme of revenge from the theme of betrayal. It is because Hamlet and Oedipus exhibit vengeful characters because of the betrayal that they received from their parents. They felt let down by the parents, and they want to stop at nothing in ensuring that they achieve their revenge. Besides, the two plays also have the theme of hatred. Both Hamlet and Oedipus hated their uncle and father respectively. Through their hatred, they had a motive for killing them. Moreover, the two main characters also hated their mothers.
The two plays also share similar setting. The development of the two plays took place in ancient empire setting when the universe was subdivided into kingdoms ruled by the kings. Moreover, at that time, violence was the only option of settling disputes. Furthermore, father and son killing one another for the sake of power was a common occurrence. The author used the ancient setting to enable him to cover his themes and characterizations more efficiently and more elaborately. It is because the readers will come to terms and understand the themes and characterization more easily.
Contrast
Despite the fact that the two plays are similar in several ways, there are also some noticeable differences. First, through their characterization, both are portrayed as vengeful, but they achieve this differently. Moreover the experience various tragic flaws in the fulfillment of their vengeance. Oedipus succeeded in killing his father and inheriting his kingdom. However, Hamlet received his revenge but did not kill his uncle. Furthermore, they faced different tragic flaws with Oedipus chased outside the city while Hamlet at a point lost his sanity (Shakespeare 14). Therefore, the authors of the two plays wanted to communicate to the readers that vengeance is not the only option for solving the problems. It is because the person seeking revenge will get hurt in the end even if he or she succeeds in the vengeance mission.
The two authors used different literary techniques in their plays. Double entendres, metaphors, and allusion. Double entendres is like a word game that people use for either fun or ridicule. It manifests itself in Hamlet where Claudius is demanding the whereabouts of the body of Polonius. In h...