William Shakespeare's Hamlet and Disney’s Lion King might seem to be two different stories. However, Hamlet and Simba have a lot in common. They both go through the hardships of their father’s death and a new king taking his place. They also have to face betrayal from many people that they are close to. The death of a parent would be enough tragedy for someone, but both Simba and Hamlet go through much more. The first acts of betrayal in Shakespeare's Hamlet was the murdering of Hamlet’s father, the King of Denmark. Hamlet found out about this wrongdoing by the ghost that happens to be the deceased king. The ghost states “Take revenge for his horrible murder, that crime against nature”(Shakespeare 63). The King continues, “Now listen, Hamlet. …show more content…
You should know, my noble son, the real snake that stung your father is now wearing his crown” (Shakespeare 63). Hamlet then goes off to say that he knew that his uncle Claudius was the killer. With the knowledge of the murder, Hamlet’s mind decides on revenge. He plans on enacting his retribution on his uncle so his father can rest in peace knowing that his killer had gotten his just dessert. This is very similar to the Lion King. Simba had thought that he was the one who killed his father throughout the whole movie until the end. In the Confrontation Scene, Simba finds out that Scar had killed Mufasa all along. Scar say “And here’s my little secret: I killed Mufasa”(Disney, The Lion King). Simba gets angry and leaps on Scar and pins him down. Simba wants Scar to tell the others that it wasn’t Simba that killed his father but …show more content…
Hamlet’s friend are sent to Denmark to keep watch on him by Claudius. Claudius asks “See if you can get Hamlet to have some fun, and find out if there’s anything in particular that’s bothering him, so we can set about trying to fix it”(Shakespeare 87). Claudius asked them to watch over Hamlet and to tell Claudius if Hamlet is doing anything out of character. This is their first act of betrayal. Later in the play we learn that they are sent with Hamlet to England to kill him. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are talking again with Claudius. Claudius says “I don’t like the way he’s acting, and it’s not safe for me to let his insanity get out of control. So get prepared. I’m sending you to England on diplomatic business, and Hamlet will go with you. As king, I cannot risk the danger he represents as he grows crazier by the hour”(Shakespeare 187). Then in the beginning of Act 5 Scene 2 Hamlet tells Horatio about how he figured out that Claudius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern were planning to get Hamlet killed. He found a note and Hamlets explains “a precisely worded order, sugared with lots of talk about Denmark’s well-being and England’s too, to cut off my head, without even waiting to sharpen the axe.”(Shakespeare 301). So Hamlet changes the note to say to kill Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and he returns back to Denmark safe. This is similar to the Lion King