Free Essays: Comparing Characters and Themes in Hamlet and Macbeth :: comparison compare contrast essays

Parallel Characters and Themes in Hamlet and MacBeth Throughout William Shakespe bes plays Hamlet and Macbeth there are some(prenominal) similarities, along with many differences. These plays are both Shakespearean tragedies, which often use supernatural incidents to capture the readers interest, and consists of a hero that has a tragic flaw. There are many comparative and contrasting aspects in these plays. The opening of Hamlet involves a supernatural, as does the opening of Macbeth. In the first scene the ghost of his father, queen Hamlet, approaches Hamlet. Similarly, the opening of Macbeth involves the iii witches. Although the witches can be seen by anyone they approach, the ghost of King Hamlet is only seen by Hamlet himself, and in one scene by Marcellus and Bernardo, Hamlets servants. Similarly in both plays, the main characters are slightly suspicious of the actual powers these supernatural figures have. As the witches use their apparent powers to tell Ma cbeth the future, the ghost of King Hamlet tells Hamlet what has happened already. Hamlet states in one of his soliloquies The spirit that I have seen / may be the devil (2.2.598-599). Macbeth also has his doubts because when the witches tell him that he leave be named Thane of Cawder, Macbeth himself had non known, but many people had. It is possible the witches could have known. In the same matter in both plays, the presentation of the supernatural began to ladder to the final downfall of each of the characters. In Macbeth, the three witches cause him to think and do evil deeds. In Hamlet, if he had not seen the ghost of his father, he would not have known that Claudius has killed his father to claim the throne. In both instances the characters gave into the nagging supernatural beliefs. And hence they lost their lives. Other characters in these plays show parallels in their plots. both(prenominal) plays have a main character that portrays the king of that coun try. In Hamlet, the King of Denmark, Claudius is directly related to Hamlet. He is his uncle, and also his mothers new husband. However, in Macbeth the King of Scotland, King Duncan, is not directly related to the main character.