The Death of A King

Hamlet and the Lion King have very similar story lines. In fact, it is rumoured that the Lion King was actually inspired by Hamlet. There are a few differences between the two, however, there are quite more similarities. The main characters, Simba and Hamlet are both considered princes. Hamlet is the son of the dead King Hamlet, while Simba is the son of Mufasa, the king of the lions. In Hamlet, Claudius becomes jealous of his brothers place in the throne, so he decides to murder his brother to take his place and become king. While in the Lion King, Scar is jealous of his brother and also decides to murder him to become king as well. As shown, the two story lines resemble each other efficiently.

Regarding the love interests, Simba has been friends with Nala since they were cubs, but as they got older they began to develop feelings and they became romantically involved. The love interest Hamlet has with Ophelia is complicated because we are unsure if Hamlet ever truly loved Ophelia. Despite that, we know it is Hamlet’s only official love interest as she was the only girl in his life. So that is another major correlation between the two.

In Hamlet, we know that Hamlet’s father appears to him as a ghost and explains to him exactly what happened. Old Hamlet encourages Hamlet to murder his uncle and attain revenge for what he has done. In the Lion King, Mufasa appears to Simba in the stars and informs him to take the place in the throne and become King instead of Scar.

At the end of the book, both endings connect with one another. Hamlet fights Laertes and the result of this is many deaths. But most importantly, Hamlet finally attains revenge by stabbing Claudius with a sword and forcing him to drink poisoned wine. This ending correlates with the Lion King because Simba also fights Scar, and the result is Scar getting killed by the hyenas.

In conclusion, both protagonists learn multiple lessons. Simba learns to take over the throne his father left, and Hamlet learns to get over his indecision. We see his indecision side through the “to be or not to be” soliloquy in which he is debating on whether to take his own life or not.