Hamlet vs Othello - 1907 Words

How the protagonists deal with their difficulties: Hamlet vs Othello In William Shakespeare Hamlet and Othello, the author creates two similar yet vastly different protagonists. The major source of contrast lies within each characters approach to decision making and premeditated action. As David Nichol Smith puts it, Hamlet â€Å"is not a character marked by strength of will or even passion, but by refinement of thought and sentiment.†(Smith 288) This very refinement of thought is what characterizes both Hamlet’s indecision and forces him to act when he renounces indecision. In contrast Everything about Othello’s mind, on the contrary, is direct, healthy, objective; with an openness and docility of childhood he loses himself in†¦show more content†¦Both protagonists have friends whose loyalties are questioned in the plays. For Hamlet, his friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, return from university upon the request of King Claudius. While for Othello, h is second in command, and best friend Cassio is accused of infidelity with Desdemona. For both plays, the friends are originally perceived by the protagonist as trustworthy and loyal but the events of the play reveal otherwise. This deception causes the protagonists to question their allegiances. Hamlet maintains his application of trust and thought and reason by keeping his friends in a state of ignorance to his true motives. While Othello, instead, acts rashly, inflamed with the fury of his passion and committed to the death of his once loyal friend. Othello stays true to his character while we see Hamlet’s progressing willingness to violence over rational thought while sentencing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their death. In both cases we see the protagonists unwillingness to commit these acts of violence themselves and feel contempt to delegate these extremely actions to others. Love is a fickle thing. William Shakespeare holds true to this statement in both plays as b oth protagonists struggle to maintain their relationship with their lovers. Both Hamlet and Othello are considered to be tragicShow MoreRelatedKing Lear : A Shakespearean Shakespearian Tragedy1540 Words   |  7 Pagesof the best Shakespeare tragedies, but it generally comes down to opinion. In order to determine the best Shakespeare tragedy, it has to be stacked up against other well-known Shakespearian tragedies like Macbeth, Othello, Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, and Hamlet in multiple ways, both objectively and subjectively. 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