Hamlet v. Oedipus vs. Hamlet

Hamlet v. Oedipus Oedipus vs. Hamlet as Tragic Characters, Trapped in Events the Cannot Control Both Oedipus and Hamlet are brilliant yet troubled men in positions of high leadership, brought low by events they cannot control. Oedipus cannot choose the fate he is dealt by the gods, although he tries to. Hamlet is caught in the grasp of a corrupt court, and forced to revenge his father, despite his inclinations to the contrary -- he tries to fulfill his fate as avenger, and barely succeeds.

The major theme of "Oedipus Rex" thus is that one cannot avoid one's fate, while "Hamlet's" theme as a tragedy is unclear, that fate cannot be avoided, but one must be mentally ready to realize one's destiny in the best manner possible.

The only wise man in the play of "Oedipus" is the minor character of greatest symbolic significant, the blind prophet who accepts his blindness and accepts the life that has, over the course of Tieresias' existence, taken place according to classical mythic tradition in two bodies, both male and female forms. And ironically, only after Oedipus is blinded himself does he see clearly the nature of his incestuous relationship with his mother, and the foolishness of his attempts to outthink and out act the gods.

Hamlet's reasoning that he must avenge his father is less clear than Oedipus' attempts to avoid his fate. Hamlet decides to play at being mad in ways that seem calculated. This is evidenced in his verbal dueling with Polonius, the courtier of the play who in contrast to the blind prophet of the Greek tragedy is truly a foolish old man, rather than merely seeming so.

But even Polonius admits that Hamlet's madness seems to have a verbal sense to it -- although the reason for Hamlet pretending to be mad vacillates. At first Hamlet accepts the ghost's words, then tests those words, and then uses purgatory as an excuse not to kill Claudius while the king is praying after the staged play "The Mousetrap." Hamlet's brilliance lies mainly in his acceptance of his fate.