What do Macbeth and Hamlet have in common?

Answer 1

He has two plans to kill Hamlet.

First, he sends Hamlet to England with sealed orders to the King of England to execute Hamlet. That plan fails.

Second, Claudius arranges a Fencing match of Hamlet against Laertes, where Laertes has a poisoned foil, and Claudius has also poisoned Hamlet's wine. That plan succeeds in killing Hamlet, but Queen Gertrude, Laertes, and Claudius also die, with Claudius killed by his own poison.

Answer 2

Alike: They both crave the throne. They're both smart men who are willing to pull some elaborate schemes to get what they want. They're both tormented and ambivalent about a murder: Claudius over the one he's already committed, Hamlet over the one he plans.

Unlike: Claudius embraces wine, women, and song, while Hamlet seems a bit scared of female sexuality and is embarrassed by the Danish reputation for drunken revelry. Claudius stresses maturity and speaks plainly, while Hamlet acts like an impish child and talks in riddles.

Answer 3

Not much. They are both royalty, since Hamlet is the son of a king and Macbeth is the cousin of one. But Hamlet would rather talk than act and Macbeth would rather act than talk. Hamlet is well-educated, Macbeth is not. Macbeth is prepared to take action to make himself king, Hamlet is not. Macbeth is dominated by his wife; Hamlet dominates all of the women in his life. Macbeth is a warrior, and Hamlet is not, although they are both pretty fearsome in a swordfight. Both of them set themselves up as targets for revenge by committing ill-considered murders.

Answer 4

They have similarities shared by all Shakespeare's plays: five acts, people sometimes speak in iambic pentameter and heightened language. They are both tragedies: the main character dies at the end. However, in terms of plot, Macbeth is really a lot more like the history play Richard III than any of the tragedies. Although both have revenge elements, the revenger in Hamlet is the protagonist Hamlet, whereas the revenger in Macbeth is the antagonist Macduff.

Answer 5

They both want to kill somebody. Claudius wants to kill Hamlet; Hamlet wants to kill Claudius.

Answer 6

Polonius was the counsler of the kind.