Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Hamlet/Macbeth Comparison/Contrast Essay-Pre-Writing Blog

Think about Hamlet and Macbeth in a broad sense looking for themes, motifs, plot devices, and archetypes. List three of them a give examples from each play of how you could compare and contrast them in an essay. Be thorough with your explanations since these could serve as springboards to your own and others' essays

Example

1. Stolen Kingship

Hamlet- Claudius kills his brother in order to gain power to the throne. It seems like he has no legitimate claim to the thrown and is shown to be inept through Hamlet's description and the mob's dissatisfaction. Claudius realized that there is a ton of pressure put on him with his power. He seems to abuse it with all of his partying. He wants to repent of his sins; however, he's willing to give up power. Eventually, Claudius is punished for his crime through Hamlet's revenge

Macbeth- Macbeth kills his cousin in order to gain power. It seems as though Macbeth has more natural potential to be king compared to Hamlet as he is praised highly. Initially, he doesn't even want the role, but Lady Macbeth pressures him onward. Macbeth's guilt is immediately shown in the play as opposed to Claudius's delayed repentence. Just like Claudius, Macbeth soon is overcome with the pressures of being king psychologically as he seems not to be able to sleep. Macbeth's desire for blood increases via a reign of terror. Macduff steps in to right the wrongs and restore Malcolm to the throne

1.

Hamlet-


Macbeth-


2.

Hamlet-


Macbeth-


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Hamlet-


Macbeth-

6 comments:

Drew said...

1. Power
Hamlet- Claudius kills to gain power. He first kills his brother and marries his brother's wife to gain power and be king. Hamlet is betrayed and is on a mission to get revenge for his father's death. In the end Hamlet kills Claudius and Fortinbras becomes king.

Macbeth- Macbeth kills Duncan the king, and receives power thereafter. He keeps killing to keep his power. People such as Banquo escape and raises an army against Macbeth. Banquo kills Macbeth and Malcolm is appointed king.

2. Military Tactics
Hamlet- Fortinbras has such ambition to capture a piece of land that is basically worthless that he leads his army to war. He uses that motivation to such extent that he is later appointed king because of his devotion.

Macbeth- Banquo orders is troops to carry small trees in front of them to hid their numbers. This is very smart because the trees provide the missing part of the prophesy in order for Macbeth to die. As the messenger says, he see a grove moving and not an army.

3. Love
Hamlet- Hamlet so loved his father that he sought revenge after his father death. We can conclude the the apparition of his father's ghost was inspiration to take matters into his own hands, but it was still personally to him.

Macbeth- In Macbeth, his wife dies, and after much despair he is glad she died so she wouldn't be in this uncomfortable condition. So is it love? Or maybe its that she was a weakness to him. After all he was a power-hungry king, and as such, he would want the strongest of things. One being his wife.

brock reynoldson said...

1. Distrust

Hamlet- didnt trust anyone because he thought they were all out to get him since his mother betrayed him and so did his best friends.

Macbeth- he didnt trust anyone because of what the witches told him so he started killing anyone who he thought would harm him.

2. Killing

Hamlet- is convinced by the ghost of his father that he was murdered so he vows to kill claudius in doing so he revenges his fathers murder.

Macbeth- is convinced by lady macbeth to kill Duncan so he can become king even though duncan never did anything to hurt Macbeth.

3. Love life

Hamlet- is in love with Ophellia but after he kills her father (plonius) she goes crazy and she dies by drowning.

Macbeth- is married to lady macbeth and she goes crazy because she starts hating everything and she starts singing to herself and she dies.

Joshua said...

1. Power
Hamlet- Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, kills Hamlet's father, who is the King of Denmark, and marries his late brother's wife to gain power and become king. Hamlet is upset is begins to plot up a way to revenge his father's death. Claudius despises Hamlet and wantes to get rid of him. In the end, Claudius is killed by Hamlet.

Macbeth- Macbeth kills Duncan the king, with the aid of his evil wife Lady Macbeth, and becomes king after Malcolm and Donaldain flee for England. Macbeth continues to keep killing the people who he thinks will be a hindrance to his path to power. Macduff escapes and with Malcolm, raises up an army against Macbeth. Macduff kills Macbeth and Malcolm is crowned King of Scotland.

2. Love
Hamlet- Hamlet was in love with Ophelia. When Ophelia broke up with Hamlet, which was the plan Polonius thought up, Hamlet basically insulted her. To add more salt to the wound, Hamlet kills Polonius, Ophelia's father, and Ophelia starts to become mad. She eventually drowns in a willow while collecting flowers.

Macbeth- Lady Macbeth is Macbeth's wife and is the one that forced Macbeth to pursue the kingship from Duncan and his sons. She wants Macbeth to get more power, but when he does become King, it actually breaks apart the relationship between the two. Macbeth eventually becomes mad because of her wicked ways and jumps off the castle to her death.

3. Trust
Hamlet- Hamlet does not trust anyone and he has some good reasons not to. His uncle killed his beloved father, King Hamlet, and married his mother for power. He is betrayed by the mom because he can not imagine his mother doing such a dishonorable thing. Also, his "friends", Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, betray him too and are just being used by King Clauidius, and they don't tell Hamlet that he is going to be killed once he arrives in England. True friends wouldn't do that. Only Horatio was loyal to Hamlet, and Hamlet appreciated his friendship dearly.

Macbeth- After hearing the witches predictions, Macbeth begins to be suspicious of Banquo and starts to plan to get rid of the people who will be a hindrance on his path to power. With the aid of his evil and wicked wife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth kills Duncan, forcing Malcolm and Donaldain to flee to England. Macbeth is crowned King of Scotland, but is still suspicious of other people. He kills Banquo next, but Fleance, Banquo's son, escapes. He next kills Macduff's family and servants. At the end, the killing overtakes and he is killed by Macduff

McKenna Moyes said...

1. Trust

Hamlet- Hamlet lost trust in his family and friends. After his father died, his mother married his brother and later finds out that his uncle was the one who killed his father. Also, his friends betrayed him so he thought everyone was out to get him.

Macbeth- Macbeth didn't trust anyone from the very beginning because what the witches told him about how some of them would become kings.

2- Sanity of the Women

Hamlet- In Hamlet, Ophelia starts out sane because she has the love of Hamlet. But when he tells her that he never loved her and he kills her father accidentally, she starts going crazy and singing to herself and eventually dies from drowning.

Macbeth- Lady Macbeth ends up killing someone and then starts to feel guilty which starts to make her go insane.

3- Murdering

Hamlet- Hamlet's father was murdered by his brother, and when hamlet finds this out, he seems to go mad and ends up killing Polonius, eventually leading to him killing more people.

Macbeth- He is talked into killing Duncan by his wife to gain power. He then eventually starts killing more people because he is afraid that they will become kings and have more power than he will.

Unknown said...

Drew....

Nice comments, but Banquo does not escape. Macbeth has him killed by hitmen that he hires. Macduff is the one to kill Macbeth and restore Malcom to the throne.

Unknown said...

Y'all the real lifesavers out here