Circle of Life, Circle of Death: Paternal Legacies in The Lion King and Hamlet
by Lexi Utech
Since its theatrical release in 1994, adult audiences, critics, and academics alike have considered Disney’s The Lion King to be a loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The very basics of the plot seem to align: brother wants throne, brother kills king, brother banishes prince, king’s ghost visits prince, prince returns, and brother dies. Yet in many ways, the animated film is the antithesis of the centuries-old play. One opens with imagery of a sunrise and new birth while the other begins at midnight with a visit from the dead. One is a tragedy where most of the characters die at the end, and the other is an upbeat children’s animation-turned-Broadway-musical. But the most striking opposition comes from the father-son relationships which are central to both works. Mufasa and Simba’s relationship is healthy, based on love and respect, with emphasis placed on the son and future generations; Hamlet and Hamlet Sr.’s relationship is unhealthy, based on revenge, with importance placed on the father and fixing the past. Ultimately, The Lion King is not about vengeance but moving on and letting go—a son accepting his fate and continuing the legacy of his father.
Since the play begins when Hamlet is already a fatherless young adult, the audience is not privy to the direct relationship between the king and the prince. Yet one can surmise, based on the typical royal practices of the time, that Hamlet Sr. spent very little personal effort in raising Hamlet. It was almost certainly royal staff members who cared for him, and then, when he reached the proper age, he was sent abroad to university. Nonetheless, Hamlet seems to have held genuine affection and respect for his father, based on his profession of grief:
“Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief,
That can denote me truly. These indeed “seem,”
For they are actions that a man might play.
But I have that within which passeth show,
These but the trappings and the suits of woe. (1.2.82-86)
In his soliloquy at the end of the scene, he goes on to say that his father was “So excellent a king…so loving to [his] mother” (1.2.140-141), yet these compliments are less an ode to his father’s actions than qualifiers of his tirade against his mother. Mufasa, on the other hand, takes great personal initiative in rearing Simba; their relationship is not based solely on respect and obligation, but on love and nurturing. In the elephant graveyard, when Simba says that Mufasa must not be scared of anything, his father admits that his greatest fear is losing his son. Shortly after, in the first star scene, Mufasa takes the opportunity to let Simba know that he will always support him: “The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars…So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you…And so will I.” He guides and teaches Simba with gentleness and patience, even when Simba directly disobeys him.
Hamlet Sr., in ghost form, seems anything but patient with his own son. He visits from the grave not to comfort his grieving son or give him fatherly advice but to insist that his death is avenged. There is no affection in his address; his first words are “Mark me” (1.5.2), and from there on he only speaks of himself and his own misfortunes. “I am thy father’s spirit” (1.5.9), he continues, which is slightly reminiscent of the commandment to honor thy father, and therefore connotes that he must be obeyed. He says “Pity me not” (1.5.5), but then goes on to describe the torments which await him in his “prison house” (1.5.14). Rather than expressing love for his son, the ghost calls upon his son to prove his love: “If thou didst ever thy dear father love…Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.24-25). Not once does he even address Hamlet by name or as his son, which further indicates that retaliating for past aggressions against the father is more important than supporting future generations.
Mufasa’s visitation from the clouds, on the other hand, makes Simba and his well-being the focus. Even before his death, Mufasa takes Simba aside on Pride Rock and lets him know that it is natural for fathers to die and for sons to take their place; one must look to the future: “A king's time as ruler rises and falls like the sun. One day, Simba, the sun will set on my time here, and will rise with you as the new king.” These words and the repeated imagery of a sunrise perpetuate the theme begun in the opening scene with the song “The Circle of Life:” “It’s the circle of life, and it moves us all, through despair and hope, through faith and love, ‘til we find our place on the path unwinding.” When he returns to Simba from the clouds, there is no mention of revenging his murder whatsoever—Mufasa is only there to ensure that Simba forgives himself and accepts his rightful place as king. He can no longer hide out with Timon and Pumbaa and run away from his destiny because he feels guilty for his father’s death. The best way to honor and remember his father is to realize his own full potential: “You have forgotten who you are, and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life.” These words are reminiscent of Polonius’ advice to his own son, Laertes: “to thine own self be true” (1.3.83). Hamlet Sr.’s ghost leaves with an admonition to “Remember me [emphasis added]” (1.5.98)—once again self-centered and focused solely on his son’s obligation to him—while Mufasa leaves Simba with the advice to “Remember who you are [emphasis added]. You are my son, and the one true king.”
The dichotomy between the two pieces is driven home in the concluding scene of each. Hamlet coolly reveals his intention to kill Claudius to Horatio:
“Does it not, think thee, stand me now upon--
He that hath killed my king and whored my mother,
Popped in between th' election and my hopes,
Thrown out his angle for my proper life
(And with such cozenage!)—is ’t not perfect conscience
To quit him with this arm? And is ’t not to be damned
To let this canker of our nature come
In further evil? (5.2.68-75)
While Hamlet mentions four reasons why it would be morally correct to kill the king, he puts the two offenses which were committed against his father above those which were against him personally. He is concerned primarily that Claudius killed his father and married his mother, while the facts that Claudius usurped his rightful place as king and ordered Hamlet’s execution seem afterthoughts. In true revenge tragedy fashion, the play resolves when the wronged is avenged, but the hero is sacrificed because of it. As he draws his last breath, he begs Horatio, “what a wounded name,/ Things standing thus unknown, shall I leave behind me!...draw thy breath in pain/To tell my story” (5.2.378-379,383-384). Even in his final words, he seems to be concerned with not failing his father—he worries about his name being sullied, but that name is shared with his father. What he failed to grasp was that perhaps the best way to honor his father would have been to takes his place as king and rule the kingdom well, so that the name which they share would have been remembered in Denmark as a name of greatness and not of unrealized potential. A solemn Fortinbras expresses this loss, commanding, “Let four captains/Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage,/For he was likely, had he been put on,/To have proved most royally” (5.2.397-400).
What Hamlet could not comprehend, that it was both his destiny and his responsibility to rule, Simba was able to understand. “This is my kingdom,” he tells Timon and Pumba. “If I don’t fight for it, who will?” Even after he discovers the truth about his father’s murder, he decides to show compassion as his father would have done. He tells Scar that he doesn’t deserve to live, yet he refuses to become to stoop to Scar’s level and become a murderer. “I’m not like you,” he tells Scar, ordering him to “Run. Run away, Scar, and never return.” Even after Scar makes one final attempt on Simba’s life, it is not actually Simba who finishes him off but the hyenas, a nuance which shows that defeating the bad guy—while a required facet of children’s movies—was not as important as Simba taking his place in the Circle of Life. The wise Rafiki declares that “it is time,” indicating that all is as it should be. And while Hamlet begins and ends with death, The Lion King comes full circle when first he and then his child returns triumphantly to the top of Pride Rock. A twinkling star and Mufasa’s voice gently saying “Remember” give the audience and Simba closure that he has lived up to the expectations of his father.
Unlike Hamlet, Simba is under the illusion that he—not his uncle—is responsible for his father’s death, and it is only at the end that he discovers Scar’s murderous ways. Thus, The Lion King is driven not by revenge but Simba’s own personal battle with fulfilling his destiny, accepting his fate and following his father’s legacy. Did the filmmakers simply want to water-down the story and give it a happier ending for a younger audience? Or were they deliberately responding to the outdated, stereotypical father-son relationship depicted in Hamlet to provide a more supportive paternal figure which reflected the changing norms of fatherhood emerging at the end of the twentieth century? Whether intentional or not, the bond between Mufasa and Simba gives a refreshing new take on what being a parent—and being a son or daughter—is all about.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William, Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. Hamlet (Folger Shakespeare
Library). New York: Simon and Schuster, 2003. Print.
The Lion King. Dir. Rob Minkoff, Roger Allers. Perf. James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Jonathan
Taylor Thomas. Walt Disney Pictures, 1994. DVD.
by Lexi Utech
Since its theatrical release in 1994, adult audiences, critics, and academics alike have considered Disney’s The Lion King to be a loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The very basics of the plot seem to align: brother wants throne, brother kills king, brother banishes prince, king’s ghost visits prince, prince returns, and brother dies. Yet in many ways, the animated film is the antithesis of the centuries-old play. One opens with imagery of a sunrise and new birth while the other begins at midnight with a visit from the dead. One is a tragedy where most of the characters die at the end, and the other is an upbeat children’s animation-turned-Broadway-musical. But the most striking opposition comes from the father-son relationships which are central to both works. Mufasa and Simba’s relationship is healthy, based on love and respect, with emphasis placed on the son and future generations; Hamlet and Hamlet Sr.’s relationship is unhealthy, based on revenge, with importance placed on the father and fixing the past. Ultimately, The Lion King is not about vengeance but moving on and letting go—a son accepting his fate and continuing the legacy of his father.
Since the play begins when Hamlet is already a fatherless young adult, the audience is not privy to the direct relationship between the king and the prince. Yet one can surmise, based on the typical royal practices of the time, that Hamlet Sr. spent very little personal effort in raising Hamlet. It was almost certainly royal staff members who cared for him, and then, when he reached the proper age, he was sent abroad to university. Nonetheless, Hamlet seems to have held genuine affection and respect for his father, based on his profession of grief:
“Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief,
That can denote me truly. These indeed “seem,”
For they are actions that a man might play.
But I have that within which passeth show,
These but the trappings and the suits of woe. (1.2.82-86)
In his soliloquy at the end of the scene, he goes on to say that his father was “So excellent a king…so loving to [his] mother” (1.2.140-141), yet these compliments are less an ode to his father’s actions than qualifiers of his tirade against his mother. Mufasa, on the other hand, takes great personal initiative in rearing Simba; their relationship is not based solely on respect and obligation, but on love and nurturing. In the elephant graveyard, when Simba says that Mufasa must not be scared of anything, his father admits that his greatest fear is losing his son. Shortly after, in the first star scene, Mufasa takes the opportunity to let Simba know that he will always support him: “The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars…So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you…And so will I.” He guides and teaches Simba with gentleness and patience, even when Simba directly disobeys him.
Hamlet Sr., in ghost form, seems anything but patient with his own son. He visits from the grave not to comfort his grieving son or give him fatherly advice but to insist that his death is avenged. There is no affection in his address; his first words are “Mark me” (1.5.2), and from there on he only speaks of himself and his own misfortunes. “I am thy father’s spirit” (1.5.9), he continues, which is slightly reminiscent of the commandment to honor thy father, and therefore connotes that he must be obeyed. He says “Pity me not” (1.5.5), but then goes on to describe the torments which await him in his “prison house” (1.5.14). Rather than expressing love for his son, the ghost calls upon his son to prove his love: “If thou didst ever thy dear father love…Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.24-25). Not once does he even address Hamlet by name or as his son, which further indicates that retaliating for past aggressions against the father is more important than supporting future generations.
Mufasa’s visitation from the clouds, on the other hand, makes Simba and his well-being the focus. Even before his death, Mufasa takes Simba aside on Pride Rock and lets him know that it is natural for fathers to die and for sons to take their place; one must look to the future: “A king's time as ruler rises and falls like the sun. One day, Simba, the sun will set on my time here, and will rise with you as the new king.” These words and the repeated imagery of a sunrise perpetuate the theme begun in the opening scene with the song “The Circle of Life:” “It’s the circle of life, and it moves us all, through despair and hope, through faith and love, ‘til we find our place on the path unwinding.” When he returns to Simba from the clouds, there is no mention of revenging his murder whatsoever—Mufasa is only there to ensure that Simba forgives himself and accepts his rightful place as king. He can no longer hide out with Timon and Pumbaa and run away from his destiny because he feels guilty for his father’s death. The best way to honor and remember his father is to realize his own full potential: “You have forgotten who you are, and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life.” These words are reminiscent of Polonius’ advice to his own son, Laertes: “to thine own self be true” (1.3.83). Hamlet Sr.’s ghost leaves with an admonition to “Remember me [emphasis added]” (1.5.98)—once again self-centered and focused solely on his son’s obligation to him—while Mufasa leaves Simba with the advice to “Remember who you are [emphasis added]. You are my son, and the one true king.”
The dichotomy between the two pieces is driven home in the concluding scene of each. Hamlet coolly reveals his intention to kill Claudius to Horatio:
“Does it not, think thee, stand me now upon--
He that hath killed my king and whored my mother,
Popped in between th' election and my hopes,
Thrown out his angle for my proper life
(And with such cozenage!)—is ’t not perfect conscience
To quit him with this arm? And is ’t not to be damned
To let this canker of our nature come
In further evil? (5.2.68-75)
While Hamlet mentions four reasons why it would be morally correct to kill the king, he puts the two offenses which were committed against his father above those which were against him personally. He is concerned primarily that Claudius killed his father and married his mother, while the facts that Claudius usurped his rightful place as king and ordered Hamlet’s execution seem afterthoughts. In true revenge tragedy fashion, the play resolves when the wronged is avenged, but the hero is sacrificed because of it. As he draws his last breath, he begs Horatio, “what a wounded name,/ Things standing thus unknown, shall I leave behind me!...draw thy breath in pain/To tell my story” (5.2.378-379,383-384). Even in his final words, he seems to be concerned with not failing his father—he worries about his name being sullied, but that name is shared with his father. What he failed to grasp was that perhaps the best way to honor his father would have been to takes his place as king and rule the kingdom well, so that the name which they share would have been remembered in Denmark as a name of greatness and not of unrealized potential. A solemn Fortinbras expresses this loss, commanding, “Let four captains/Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage,/For he was likely, had he been put on,/To have proved most royally” (5.2.397-400).
What Hamlet could not comprehend, that it was both his destiny and his responsibility to rule, Simba was able to understand. “This is my kingdom,” he tells Timon and Pumba. “If I don’t fight for it, who will?” Even after he discovers the truth about his father’s murder, he decides to show compassion as his father would have done. He tells Scar that he doesn’t deserve to live, yet he refuses to become to stoop to Scar’s level and become a murderer. “I’m not like you,” he tells Scar, ordering him to “Run. Run away, Scar, and never return.” Even after Scar makes one final attempt on Simba’s life, it is not actually Simba who finishes him off but the hyenas, a nuance which shows that defeating the bad guy—while a required facet of children’s movies—was not as important as Simba taking his place in the Circle of Life. The wise Rafiki declares that “it is time,” indicating that all is as it should be. And while Hamlet begins and ends with death, The Lion King comes full circle when first he and then his child returns triumphantly to the top of Pride Rock. A twinkling star and Mufasa’s voice gently saying “Remember” give the audience and Simba closure that he has lived up to the expectations of his father.
Unlike Hamlet, Simba is under the illusion that he—not his uncle—is responsible for his father’s death, and it is only at the end that he discovers Scar’s murderous ways. Thus, The Lion King is driven not by revenge but Simba’s own personal battle with fulfilling his destiny, accepting his fate and following his father’s legacy. Did the filmmakers simply want to water-down the story and give it a happier ending for a younger audience? Or were they deliberately responding to the outdated, stereotypical father-son relationship depicted in Hamlet to provide a more supportive paternal figure which reflected the changing norms of fatherhood emerging at the end of the twentieth century? Whether intentional or not, the bond between Mufasa and Simba gives a refreshing new take on what being a parent—and being a son or daughter—is all about.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William, Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. Hamlet (Folger Shakespeare
Library). New York: Simon and Schuster, 2003. Print.
The Lion King. Dir. Rob Minkoff, Roger Allers. Perf. James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Jonathan
Taylor Thomas. Walt Disney Pictures, 1994. DVD.
Timon and Pumbaa are Dead
A Tragic Reimagining of Characters from The Lion King
by Ava Koziak
The story of Disney’s The Lion King is adapted from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Although there are many differences in the interpretation, one of the main deviations is that the general tone of The Lion King is much more elated than that of Hamlet. Not including the musical aspect of it, there are two main reasons to consider for this: Timon and Pumbaa. They are Simba, the Hamlet character’s, allies and best friends throughout the entire adaptation. However, if their characters are changed in order to take a darker turn back to their origination as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the Lion King would be very different, and, to some, more interesting. Without the characters of Timon and Pumbaa as written by Disney, The Lion King loses the main theme of friendship which takes away much of the upbeat tone that allows the viewer to believe in the happy ending; Timon and Pumbaa’s reimagination sets a much darker tone, foreshadowing an ultimately tragic ending.
The basic premise of The Lion King is an almost exact adaptation of Hamlet: Simba’s father, Mufasa, was killed by his brother, Scar. Hamlet’s father, Hamlet Sr., was killed by his brother, Claudius. Both Scar and Claudius then marry the protagonists’ mother in order to seek power of the kingdom or lion pride. Both Hamlet and The Lion King are revenge stories in which the main protagonist seeks revenge against his uncle; however, it is the theme of friendship that plays a larger role when comparing the original and this illustrated adaptation. Much of Simba’s normality in growing up is attributed to the parent-like relationship he has with his two loyal friends, Timon and Pumbaa. Imagine if their characters were much more like that of Shakespeare’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, especially in that their loyalty lies not to that of Simba, but secretly to Scar. The purpose of the film is to be a children’s movie, created by Disney; if it is supposed to have a happy ending, then why base it off of Hamlet? The characters of Timon and Pumbaa are essential to Simba overcoming the tragedy of his father’s death in order to take back the kingdom from Scar’s rule and, in doing so, exact his revenge. If the characters were to change, the entire plot would alter as well.
Simba is first introduced to Timon and Pumbaa after running away from his pride following the murder of his father. It is important to note that although the reveal is different, similar to Hamlet, Simba is the only one who knows that Scar is his father’s killer. It is also important to note that in The Lion King, Simba is a lion cub, but for purposes of this reimagination, he will be just slightly older, in an adolescent stage. Prior to this scene, in an aside revealed to the audience but not to Simba, Scar employed Timon and Pumbaa as his spies. He knew that sending hyenas would be a giveaway, so instead he found the least likely of friends, a meerkat and a warthog, two creatures that were not often found together in the wild. Unlike Hamlet’s relationship with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Hamlet, Simba does not know Timon and Pumbaa prior to their initial meeting. They make their introduction to Simba outside of a watering hole. “You okay, kid” greets Timon, “you nearly died,” exclaimed Pumba. Timon then goes on to say how he saved Simba’s life, an act that would plant a small seed of trust in Simba’s brain, the first step to ensuring that they would gain his confidence.
After making the first step in their master plan, Timon and Pumbaa report back to Scar that everything is on track, for every maneuver that they have employed to win Simba over has worked. Simba is exhausted from running and is still scarred by his father’s death. He is unsure of Timon and Pumba as he does not know them, but they come to his aid with food and water. He is doubtful of their good will and eagerness to help him, as he is unsure of how genuine their relationship with each other is. When he was younger, Simba’s father would tell him about the kingdom their pride ruled and all the wild animals that were in their domain. With this prior education, Simba is aware that a meerkat and a warthog would almost never be spotted near one another, never the less appear to have an affinity for one another. In nature, although the meerkat and the warthog may not be natural enemies, the meerkat would be afraid of the warthog and most often, would not go near it. Even with this knowledge and this doubt, Simba has decided that his chances are better with them than on his own. Simba does not know where they plan on taking him. He does not know that Timon and Pumbaa have a plan to hand him off to an enemy pack of cheetahs that have been at odds with the pride.
Along their journey, Timon and Pumbaa regularly send messages of their progress back to Scar through hyena couriers. As they make their way from within the lion’s territory to the outskirts of the cheetahs’ domain, hyenas come in to check on the progress of the trip. Scar does not fully trust Timon and Pumbaa, and want to make sure they are still following the plan. One night, about halfway through their journey, Simba manages to catch Pumbaa whispering through the wild bush to a pair of hyenas. He then realizes that he was right to be doubtful, for Timon and Pumba are exactly who he had feared they would be: spies for Scar. Simba continues to listen in on the conversation, hearing details of their plan to hand him off to the cheetahs. The hyenas and Pumbaa are not aware of Simba’s impending doom once in the clutches of the cheetahs. Instead of fleeing, Simba has decides to string them along, not wanting to shatter the illusion that he believes they are there to befriend him. Simba follows them along, knowing that they are reporting every move of his back to Scar and secretly begins to plot his own escape. The next night, while Timon is fetching water from a nearby watering hole, Simba catches a glimpse at a piece of bark with some scratch marks on it, an item entrusted to Timon and Pumbaa. Simba sees the bark and is able to decipher it, translating the message as instruction for the Cheetahs to kill him. In quick thinking, Simba discards the bark, finds a new piece, and scratches a new message onto it, leaving an ill fate for Timon and Pumba.
A few days later while at the edges of the pride’s territory, Timon, Pumbaa, and Simba have taken a break in their journey in order to wait for the cheetahs to come collect Simba. While waiting, a large head of elephant happens to cross their path. Simba recognizes some of these elephants as friends of his father’s and just as the Cheetahs are reading the bark, escapes with them, leaving Timon and Pumbaa to die at the hands of the Cheetah pack. Simba stays will the elephants until he is near pride rock, where he bids the elephants adieu and thanks them for their assistance. Here he stays and begins to create his final plan so that he can finally exact his revenge on his father’s killer, his uncle, Scar.
The characters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are not essential to the plot of Hamlet as Timon and Pumbaa are to The Lion King. Timon and Pumbaa are indispensable characters and are the key to the strong underlying theme of friendship that is prevalent throughout the whole film. Without their characters rethought from their original parts in Hamlet, the entire movie of The Lion King would be radically different. From this reimagination, it becomes clear that it is the characters of Timon and Pumbaa that give Simba his strength in wanting to avenge his father’s death. He doesn’t initially seek out revenge and Scar only dies in the process of Simba saving the ailing kingdom from Scar’s rule. He is a noble hero and does not exact revenge in the same sense that Hamlet does. Simba cares about his kingdom and upon his return sees that it has become dark and barren after Scar turned it over to the hyenas. The Lions have been living in fear and upon Simba’s return, they battle Scar and the Hyenas for power. Simba does not kill Scar, but Scar dies at the hands of the hyenas, which turn on him after he blames them for the barrenness of the land. Unlike Hamlet, exacting revenge for his father’s death isn’t his motive. This contrasts to the tragic hero of Hamlet who spends the entire plot of the play seeking revenge against his father’s death. It seems to be that much of his darkness may be because he lacks the strong parent-like friendship that Simba has. Timon and Pumbaa reimagined as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern turns The Lion King into a dark tragedy in which we are not sure who would survive. Their characters and the relationship they have with Simba are fundamental aspects to the entire plot and are pivotal for the film to have a happy ending.
The theme of friendship within Hamlet almost seems to be a lack thereof. Hamlet’s only true friend is Horatio, and even this friendship plays such a minute role in the entire plot that it is seemingly unnecessary. Hamlet’s friendships all involve friends that are more like acquaintances; they are never true friends and almost always betray him. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, although mere comrades from school, are convinced to spy on Hamlet by Claudius and then escort him to what could have been his death. The reader is unaware of Hamlet’s relationship with his father, but is aware that he doesn’t have the closest relationship with his mother. A friend with a more dominant role in his life could have swayed much of the plot. Perhaps with a friend, Hamlet wouldn’t be quite so tragic.
Disney’s The Lion King is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet with a few deviations. The both share common ground with the theme of friendship. The Lion King’s plot is based around the integral friendship of Simba with Timon and Pumbaa whereas Hamlet’s theme of friendship seems to be a lack thereof. Hamlet has few friends who actually seem to care about him at all, with the exception of Horatio. However, he plays such a minor role that he is almost unnecessary to the play entirely. The relationship that Simba has with Timon and Pumbaa is necessary for Simba to overcome Scar, take back the kingdome, create peace, and achieve a happy ending. If this relationship were to be much more like the one Hamlet has with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern then The Lion King would meet a much more tragic fate. In order for Hamlet to be such a somber tragedy, then Hamlet cannot have any friends or allies that play major roles in the play. As friends are needed for a happy ending, a lack of friends is needed for a tragic one.
