Hamlet Vs as You like It

As You Like It and Hamlet were both written by the famous English playwright William Shakespeare. Written between 1599 and 1601 Hamlet explores a young intellectual who is caught in the middle of a dysfunctional family. Hamlet's father who was the King of Denmark was murdered by Claudius, his uncle, who soon after the murder married Hamlet's mother, Gertrude. To make matters worse the "ghost of Hamlet's father" has asked him to "...Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder..." However in As You Like It, a girl runs away from her wicked uncle and winds up in the Forest of Arden, where she disguises herself as a boy. When she bumps into her crush in the middle of the forest, she convinces him to participate in an imaginary courtship that ends in marriage. When examining these two plays it is possible to do so by looking at characters and themes. This essay will seek to compare and contrast the two aforementioned areas of these two plays.

In Hamlet and As You Like It we find that the two protagonists are similar but differ in several ways. Orlando and Hamlet are both young men whose fathers have died and they have been thwarted their rightful inheritance. Both of these characters are popular with the masses. According to his brother, Oliver, Orlando is of noble character, unschooled yet somehow learned, full of noble purposes, and loved by people of all ranks as if he had enchanted them as shown by this quote "... Yet he's gentle never schooled and yet learned, full of noble device, of all sorts enchantingly beloved..." Orlando has a brave and generous spirit, though he does not possess Hamlet's nurtured insight. Orlando is however capable of standing on his own yet next to Hamlet, Orlando's lack of intelligence is highlighted.

Nonetheless it must be asked if Orlando's lack intellect disadvantages him when examining him in light of Hamlet. This question is important as Hamlet's education makes him hesitant and can be viewed for the reason for his downfall i.e. if he had killed Claudius when he was praying he would not have died. While from the beginning of As You Like It we see that Orlando acts swift which results in him and his brother coming to blows by the end of the first scene. So Orlando is not hesitant however unlike Hamlet he does not act spontaneously and often rashly. While both proud, Hamlet's pride drives him to the brink of insanity and maybe even over it; by the end of the play it is hard to tell whether Hamlet's madness was merely a trick. One notable difference is that Hamlet becomes bent on revenge this creates a vengeful character while Orlando does not become vengeful but saves Oliver even after he has banished him.

Is it that while Hamlet is more highly educated that Orlando has a stronger character? Orlando is open to love even in his misfortune. Or is it that Hamlet is driven by emotion and anger and a need to live up to his father's expectations while Orlando has no choice but to accept his fate? Hamlet declares that he will "wipe away all trivial fond records,/ All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past/... and they commandments alone shall live/Within the book and volume of my brain,/ Unmix'd with baser matter." It can be said that Hamlet's claim to feigning madness is a hint as to his in ability to cope with the quest of avenging his father's murder. This is seen as he continuously puts off the event and then begins to contemplate his situation in a soliloquy. Everything that happens serves only to remind Hamlet of what he has yet to do, revenge his father's murder by killing the king. His discontent with his failure to act causes him to question the nature of man must have been created by God for some higher purpose than eating and sleeping like mere beasts. Hamlet confesses to himself that he does not know why he has not taken action. "How all occasions do inform against me, and spur my dull revenge! What is a man, if his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more. Sure, He that made us with such large discourse, looking before and after, gave us not that capability and god-like reason to fust in us unused. Now, whether it be Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple Of thinking too precisely on the event, A thought which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom And ever three parts coward, I do not know Why yet I live to say "This thing's to do," This play changes Hamlet and he becomes mush like the beast that he is to slay.

As much as Orlando and Hamlet are sympathized with Claudius and Oliver are despised by readers. Claudius is seen as shrewd and conniving. Not only has he killed King Hamlet and taken young Hamlet's throne but he has also married Gertrude Hamlet's mother. Claudius is not focused on justice or revenge but rather concerned with remaining king of Denmark. This is how we meet him "Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother's death/ The memory be green and that it us befitted/ To bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom/ To be contracted in one brow of woe/ Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature/ That we with wisest sorrow think on him, Together with remembrance of ourselves." The king acknowledges that he is aware that the memory of the death of his brother, King Hamlet, is still fresh, and that it's appropriate for the entire kingdom to be in a state of deep grief, but then goes on to say that he is taking the wisest course in getting on with business of taking care of his people and his country. At this point Claudius appears to be caring however this along with many other things proves Claudius to be quite the corrupt politician with the skill of manipulation. One major question to be asked is if Claudius really loved Gertrude or if she was simply a toy in his quest for the throne. However, for Claudius self-preservation becomes a must as when Gertrude tells him that Hamlet has killed Polonius, Claudius spares no thought for but concentrates on that if he had been in the room he would have been in it "... It had been so with us, had we been there..." Claudius's use of others to do what he wanted to do in order to preserve himself is shown when he uses Laertes's love for his father as a way to kill Hamlet.

Love in Hamlet can be viewed as a tool of control, as we find that Polonius's love is actually a cloak and what he really wishes to do is control Laertes. This is shown when Laertes is leaving and Polonius sends a spy after him. "...By indirections find directions out: So by my former lecture and advice, shall you my son. You have me, have you not?..." In this quote Polonius is advising Reynaldo in devious conversational strategies to find out what Laertes is up to while he is out of the country. Polonius concludes his directions