Similarities Between Hamlet And Oedipus

The main protagonists in Hamlet and Oedipus The King had their own approach on the supernatural interference. Hamlet viewed the supernatural interference differently with Oedipus. The ghost appeared to Hamlet at the beginning of the play and told him about the murder of his father. It was the beginning of Hamlet’s quest – to avenge his father’s death. However, it’s up to Hamlet whether to believe the ghost or not. Hamlet was a Christian follower, he believed in Christ. And in Christian rules, they should only obey the Lord and no one else. All other entities must not be entertained and was considered evil. Nonetheless, Hamlet chose to follow the ghost. Hamlet defied the religious teachings of their church while some characters in the play,

Though they were under a Christian teachings, he did not consider it and continued with his plans. The ghost was proven to be true, but there were also things that he needed to consider. Hamlet could choose to reveal Claudius treacherous acts in public. When he was doing the play and Claudius rose up his seats and stopped the play, Hamlet could question Claudius at the exact moment and expose his wrongdoings to the public. Claudius could have his alibi however, it would leave the people wondering about it which will make Claudius in a bad position. In this way, the people would know what happened and would know what to do. Gertrude could also confess at the moment if people with arose with some questions. But Hamlet did not do it. Hamlet also had his chance when Claudius was praying but he believed that Claudius would be sent to heaven and not to hell. By the time of Hamlet’s duel with Laertes, Hamlet claimed that it was his own doings and “let my disclaiming from a purposed evil/ free me so far in [Laertes] most generous thoughts” (Shakespeare

Oedipus travelled from Corinth to Thebes to avoid the prophecy he had. He fled due to his fear of killing his father. That was the first time when Oedipus tried to go against the Gods. When Tiresias told Oedipus that he was the source of the plague in Thebes, he declined to believe. He replied to Tiresias to “Say what [Tiresias] like. It will all be meaningless” (Sophocles 25). Oedipus threw the idea of him being the murderer of the king for he did not want to banish himself from Thebes. Soon enough, Oedipus found out that it was him who killed the king and he became aware again of his prophecy. When a messenger came and told Oedipus that his father, Polybus, died of old age and Oedipus was relieved. Though the prophecy about his father was proven false, Oedipus still feared that he was going to marry his mother. However, Jocasta still convinced him that it was all a blasphemy and nothing is going to happen to him. When the truth was revealed, Oedipus realized that he had been wrong all the time and the prophecy came true. In the end, it explains that Oedipus did all of the things he can to avoid the prophecy however, he still carried out his