Modern Shakespeare By Joel Jackel Picture a campfire with people sitting around it huddled together, clothed only by furs of the animals that were slain to feed the people. These people are without modern luxuries, without technology, without a written language. They all listen intently to one person telling a tale he or she has spun together in their mind. Those children listening to the story will remember it and one day, they will tell it to their children. The cycle continues as the story told by one person achieves immortality by continually being passed down from generation to generation. Of course, some things will change. As time goes on and technology increases, the medium through which the story is told will alter to fit the modern time but the essence of the original story will remain present. Today this phenomenon can be seen by a trip to the video store or the local movie theater. Remakes of classic movies are constantly being released to tell a story again. This is also true of the works of the legendary playwright, William Shakespeare. Shakespeare's works continue to be performed on stage. Recently though, two of his most famous works, Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet have appeared in Disney movies under the titles of The Lion King and The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. Disney released The Lion King into theaters in the Summer of 1996. It became an instant hit with children and adults alike. After seeing it, people who knew of Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, noticed that the plots of the play and the movie were very similar. The story of The Lion King is similar to the story of Hamlet except for the setting. It is set in the savannahs of Africa and intead of humans, the characters are lions. It is about the jealousy of an uncle named Scar towards his nephew, Simba, who is the future king of the Pride Lands. This jealousy drives him to take drastic action to secure himself the throne. The only way he can do this is to kill both his brother, King Mufasa and Simba. After the plan that Scar puts into action is completeted, Scar finds his plan was only half sucessful; Simba survives. However, the clever, smooth talking uncle tricks the young and impressionable Simba into thinking that he is responsible for his father's death. Hamlet, set in Denmark, is also based upon the jealousy of a king's brother, Claudius. However, instead of the envious feelings being directed to his nephew, Claudius's feelings are centered around his brother, King Hamlet. To seize the crown, he murders the king by poison. The result of the poison makes the king look like he died in his sleep naturally. Claudius gets coronated before the rightful heir, Prince Hamlet, is able to return from his studies elsewhere. Like the young Simba, who is weak because of his young age, Prince Hamlet in Shakespeare's play is powerless to take the throne because of his absence. Another plot similarity presents itself between the movie and the play. When Simba is convinced that he caused his father's death, his uncle tells him to "run away and never return". In doing this, he allows his uncle to rule as king without interruption. Hamlet, as well, lets his uncle hold the throne without interruption. He does this by not doing anything to take what is rightfully his. However, he remains as an observer of the goings on in the castle. He is not bothered in his observations because he takes on the mask of insanity. No one pays him much mind because of his acting. Yet another place of common ground between the two stories is the usage of images of the supernatural. In both of these stories, spirits play an important role. Simba and Hamlet both reach a point of inactivity where they seem to unecessarily stall further any action to right the wrongdoings of their uncles. After seeing their sons lose their assertiveness and strength, they take personal insult in their sons' apparant inactivity. Mufasa says to his son in a vision, "You have forgotten yourself and so you have forgotten me. Remember..." This is essentially the same speech that King Hamlet gives his son, "This visitation is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose" (III,iv, 126-127). Both of the princes seem to forget their purposes in life as they distance themselves away from the pain of their fathers' death. Just as thier actions, the fate of the uncles in both the play and the movie are identical. Both meeth their deaths at the hands of thier nephews. In The Lion King, Simba, upon returning from his exile, confronts Scar who is defeated. Hamlet, on the other hand, is more passive at first. He poisons his uncle but before the poison takes effect, Hamlet stabs Claudius, finishing the job. These two plays have several plot points in common. These points have inferred the similarity of characters such as Mufasa and King Hamlet, Scar and Claudius and Simba and Prince Hamlet. Less prominent characters have their counterparts as well. In one such example, the hyenas in The Lion King mirror the role of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of Hamlet. Scar constantly requires the aid of the hyenas to help him murder Simba while Claudius employs Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to take Hamlet to his death. The hyenas and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are both unreliable. In Hamlet, Hamlet is too smart to be entrapped to his demise and in turn, causes the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. In The Lion King, the hyenas aren't smart enough to kill Simba. Though these two stories have many similarities, they do have one striking difference. As in many of Shakespeare's tragedies, the hero dies. The case for Hamlet is no different. While Hamlet dies however, Simba takes his place as king and lives on to appear in a sequel, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. Two prides, one exiled from the Pride Lands into the outlands. In fair Africa, where we lay our scene. From recent division break new conflict. This adaptation from Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet sets the stage for The Lion King sequel, The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride. Upon taking the throne from his uncle, Simba banished those lions who followed Scar. From this point, a feud was born between those who were exiled and those who were not. The presence of a feud involving two rival parties is also the driving force behind the plot of Romeo and Juliet. This is the first of many smilarities between between Romeo and Juliet and The Lion King 2. These similarities include both those concerning characters and those concerning the plots. Of all the character in the movie and the play none are more similar to each other or more important than Romeo and Juliet and Kovu and Kiara. Romeo and Juliet are the children of two rival houses, the Montagues and the Capulets. By chance the pair meet at a party. The rendezvous of the pair is a case of love at first sight. Even after they realize who each other is, the love continues. There is a similar turn of events concerning Kiara and Kovu of The Lion King 2. Kiara is the daughter of the King of the Pride Lands, Simba, while Kovu, is the son of the Leader of the Outlands, Zira. One day when young Kiara was out playing, she stumbled into the Outlands. She met a young cub named Kovu. Unlike Romeo and Juliet, the cubs were not friendly toward each other. This was especially true for Kovu. Only after their teamwork got them out of a tight jam, did thier friendship blossom. This friendship was instantly halted when Simba and Zira, each looking for their respective child, comfronted one another. The cubs were separated and each one told to keep away from the other. Another correlation in characters between the two stories is present between Rafiki and Friar Laurence. Both characters are religous leaders in their respective societies. Not only is their niche in life the same but so is their attitudes on the relationships between Romeo and Juliet and Kiara and Kovu. His character is the first and in the case of the Friar, the only one accepting of the relationship. For example, when Simba is about to send Kovu back to the Outlands, Rafiki convinces Simba to reconsider and be more tolerant. Friar Laurence actually goes as far as to marry Romeo and Juliet. A third important character match that appears is not as apparant as the previous ones mentioned is the relationship between Tybalt, Juliet's cousin and Simba. Both are concerned about thier relatives welfare, perhaps even overly concerned. This is apparant by their actions. At the party where Romeo and Juliet meet, Tybalt sees Romeo. In concern for his family, he warns Lord Capulet that a Montague is present. Simba is also very concerned for his daughter's welfare. He shows his concern by sending his friends to follow Kiara every time she goes off to play. Probably the most important aspect of the stories, is the effect that the relationships have on the conflicting parties. In each case, the end result is that the relationships end the feuds. They do this by showing the pettyness of their differences. Though the relationships both meet the same ends, the means that were employed to reach the ends are different. In the case of Romeo and Juliet, their families were brought together as a result of their children's suicide. Disney couldn't have the same ending because their movies are geared toward a young audience. Kiara and Kovu get into the middle of a confrontation between Simba and Zira and tell them that if they want to get at each other, they will have to go through thier children. This action gives the lions time to reflect that they are really one and there is no reason to fight. The only lion who doesn't accept this is Zira. She attacks Simba but Kiara jumps to his defense. Kiara and Zira tumble down a slope. Zira isn't fortunate enough to stop herself before she falls off a cliff and dies. After this, the Outlanders and the Pride Landers become one as they were before Scar. The stories of Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet have been retold again and again in different forms. It will continue to be retold just as those first stories were so long ago. If these two stories in particular have been passed down, who is to say that they were the creation of Shakespeare. In all likelihood, these two stories were around well before Shakespeare's time.