Hamlet And Macbeth Analysis

“To be, or not to be,” and “To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,” two lines from two of Shakespeare 's most famous characters: Hamlet and Macbeth. Both are the stars of their own tragedies. In many ways these noble men are similar, each with blood on their hands. Shakespeare tends to blur the lines between what makes a character good or bad. Hamlet and Macbeth both have some character traits and tendencies that are ethically questionable. At many points we might support Hamlet and Macbeth and in the next moment completely loathe them. Hamlet and Macbeth both have their reasons for committing multiple accounts of murder, but one character deserves more sympathy than another.
One trait that Hamlet and Macbeth definitely share that often …show more content…
This makes Hamlet seem very narcissistic and egotistical, especially after Ophelia’s death. It is bad enough that he neglects to comfort his supposed lover with he was the one who killed her father, Polonius. Granted, it was technically an accident since Polonius was hiding behind a curtain and Hamlet mistook him for his uncle, King Claudius, but Hamlet did not even offer a condolence to Ophelia. She was an emotional wreck and some compassion from Hamlet might have kept her from killing herself. Then, to make things worse, Hamlet shows up at Ophelia’s funeral and tries to argue with Laertes, Ophelia’s brother, saying that he loved Ophelia more than him. It is not just with Ophelia. Hamlet is a coward that values his life over everyone else 's. He traded his best friend’s, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s, life for his own on his way back …show more content…
Hamlet does all his contemplation before he intentionally murders someone. He contemplates so much, in fact that the audience often feels like shouting “Just kill your uncle already!” They encourage Hamlet to kill his uncle, because they have fully taken his side and agreed that King Claudius needs to die for what he has done. While Hamlet contemplates to kill or not to kill, Macbeth is already in the process of murdering his victim. This is when Macbeth contemplates his actions, while he is killing his victim and after. Macbeth proves to be more impulsive than Hamlet. So while the audience urges Hamlet to murder his uncle they often feel Macbeth should think before he acts. Despite the different timings of contemplation, they both have an interesting parallel of