Macbeth was influenced by other Shakespearean tragedies. Hamlet is one of these. Hamlet is the main character in Hamlet. He is a prince and heir to the throne in Denmark. His father recently died and his mother, Gertrude, married his uncle, Claudius. The ghost of his father appears to him and uncovers that his death was not an accident. In fact, Claudius murdered him. Hamlet is urged to seek vengeance for his father. Hamlet is not convinced that Claudius is guilty, so he will not act until there is evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. He decides that a play will reenact the murder of his father and if Claudius turns pale, he is guilty. Hamlet begins acting strange, but his family thinks it is because of Ophelia, his love interest. During the
…show more content…
One obvious similarity is that all three have characters that practically go insane out of guilt and paranoia. Hamlet feels guilty for not taking vengeance for his father sooner and is paranoid once Claudius realizes that Hamlet knows his secret. Othello is paranoid about Desdemona having an affair with Cassio and suffers from the guilt of killing her based on lies and kills himself soon after. Macbeth suffers from the guilt of murdering people and is paranoid that everyone knows his secret and is out to get him. Also, Macbeth and Iago are bitter from being overlooked for a promotion. This angers them and starts the plot of the story. Macbeth and Hamlet both contain characters killed by directly related family members. Macbeth kills his cousin, Duncan, and Hamlet kills his uncle after his uncle killed his father. In Macbeth and Hamlet, supernatural interference convinces brings something to their attention that they otherwise would not have given a second thought. Along with these similarities, there is a pattern that underlies the plot. First, there is an original problem which may not require action at all, but the character feels like it does. Then follows the symptomatic solution in which the problem is subdued for a while and appears to be solved. However, the problem only increases and causes the character to turn paranoid, mad or unable to act (Domínguez-Rué and Mrotzek 675). There always has been a fundamental solution, but by the time the character realizes it, the time has passed. Although all of Shakespeare’s tragedies are unique, recognizing the patterns of the tragedies can assist in understanding the
One obvious similarity is that all three have characters that practically go insane out of guilt and paranoia. Hamlet feels guilty for not taking vengeance for his father sooner and is paranoid once Claudius realizes that Hamlet knows his secret. Othello is paranoid about Desdemona having an affair with Cassio and suffers from the guilt of killing her based on lies and kills himself soon after. Macbeth suffers from the guilt of murdering people and is paranoid that everyone knows his secret and is out to get him. Also, Macbeth and Iago are bitter from being overlooked for a promotion. This angers them and starts the plot of the story. Macbeth and Hamlet both contain characters killed by directly related family members. Macbeth kills his cousin, Duncan, and Hamlet kills his uncle after his uncle killed his father. In Macbeth and Hamlet, supernatural interference convinces brings something to their attention that they otherwise would not have given a second thought. Along with these similarities, there is a pattern that underlies the plot. First, there is an original problem which may not require action at all, but the character feels like it does. Then follows the symptomatic solution in which the problem is subdued for a while and appears to be solved. However, the problem only increases and causes the character to turn paranoid, mad or unable to act (Domínguez-Rué and Mrotzek 675). There always has been a fundamental solution, but by the time the character realizes it, the time has passed. Although all of Shakespeare’s tragedies are unique, recognizing the patterns of the tragedies can assist in understanding the