Hamlet vs The Bacchae

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

First of all, I don’t 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 he’s praying, because he believes God will forgive Claudius for

his sins, and not send him to hell), however he doesn’t 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

. . .
Neither Hamlet, nor The

Bacchae ends in a pleasant way, which is characteristic of a tragedy. However,

when he actually does kill Claudius at the end, it’s not really out of pure passion. He was simply in a bad mood,

so his revenge was also taken out on them. Hamlet’s revenge tended to have logic, and was fairer to those that

weren’t the point of his revenge. Hamlet does have reasons, although there are cases in

which Hamlet kills out of passion.

It’s much more a planned, logical murder.

Continuing with the issue of the ghost, the presence of the ghost in the play

has many implications. In some cases, Dionysus took out

his revenge on people that he had no dispute with. 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 Shakespeare’s time. However, the

end of Hamlet basically kills off all the main characters, except one, who carries the

story on.

In summary, Hamlet and The Bacchae have various similarities and

differences, which I hope I’ve shown in this paper. When Hamlet kills Polonius, it’s out of passion. In Hamlet, when someone

dies, there’s usually a reason for it, while in The Bacchae, it’s simply because

Dionysus wishes it so. Both plays

end with the idea that the story should be told, either to keep Hamlet’s memory

alive, or to prevent others from going against Dionysus.

Another difference between the two plays is the character’s reasons for

killing.

Common topics in this essay:
Bacchae Dionysus, Hamlet Bacchae, Shakespeares Protestants, Hamlet God, Neither Hamlet, Dionysus Hamlet, Hamlet Hamlets, presence ghost, Protestants Catholics, kill claudius, hamlet bacchae, hamlet kills, heaven hell, ghost means, main characters, revenge bacchae, hamlets revenge, bacchae gods,

Approximate Word count = 639
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Already a member? Click here