Hamlet Vs. The Bacchae Essays - Characters In Hamlet, Free Essays

Hamlet Vs. The Bacchae Essays - Characters In Hamlet, Free Essays Hamlet Vs. The Bacchae Hamlet and The Bacchae have many similarities and differences, in this paper, I will discuss some of them, as well as the questions posed in class. Both of these plays are tragedies, ending with a great number of the featured characters dying, or meeting another terrible fate. First of all, I dont think that Hamlet took place in a godless universe. Of course, the god in Hamlet, vs. the gods in The Bacchae are very different gods. In Hamlet, God affects the decisions the characters make (e.g., Hamlet decides not to kill Claudius while hes praying, because he believes God will forgive Claudius for his sins, and not send him to hell), however he doesnt have a direct role. You have no proof of a god in Hamlet, while in The Bacchae, the gods are the main characters in the play, performing a good percentage of the action. Also, the presence of the ghost means that in the world of Hamlet, there is an afterlife, but since there are not more ghosts in the world, there must be some divine presence, affecting why the ghost is there. Continuing with the issue of the ghost, the presence of the ghost in the play has many implications. First of all, the presence of the ghost may be an attempt to satisfy the religious beliefs of both the Protestants and the Catholics, which both would have been watching the plays during Shakespeares time. The Protestants do not believe in purgatory, so the ghost may be a way to explain the afterlife, without offending either religion. The ghost also creates some confusion with heaven and hell, because if the soul is in a ghost, then it means that it went neither to heaven, nor hell. Yet, throughout the play, the characters often talk of both heaven and hell, and the presence of the ghost doesnt change their belief in any way. Another significant difference between the two plays, is the role of revenge, and how it varies between gods revenge (in the Bacchae) and mans revenge (in Hamlet). Hamlets revenge tended to have logic, and was fairer to those that werent the point of his revenge. However, in The Bacchae, Dionysus shows very little logic, simply punishing on his own whim. In some cases, Dionysus took out his revenge on people that he had no dispute with. He was simply in a bad mood, so his revenge was also taken out on them. Hamlets revenge showed a lot more reason and organization to it, as opposed to Dionysuss, who had no reasons for quite a few of his actions. Another difference between the two plays is the characters reasons for killing. Dionysus obviously kills out of passion, sometimes simply because hes bored, or in a bad mood. Hamlet does have reasons, although there are cases in which Hamlet kills out of passion. When Hamlet kills Polonius, its out of passion. Hes in a hurry to kill Claudius, and in his rage, kills Polonius instead. However, when he actually does kill Claudius at the end, its not really out of pure passion. Its much more a planned, logical murder. In summary, Hamlet and The Bacchae have various similarities and differences, which I hope Ive shown in this paper. Neither Hamlet, nor The Bacchae ends in a pleasant way, which is characteristic of a tragedy. However, the end of Hamlet basically kills off all the main characters, except one, who carries the story on. The Bacchae ends with those whom Dionysus thinks should be punished, are punished. Those who have done him no wrong, are not affected. Both plays end with the idea that the story should be told, either to keep Hamlets memory alive, or to prevent others from going against Dionysus. In Hamlet, when someone dies, theres usually a reason for it, while in The Bacchae, its simply because Dionysus wishes it so.