Trish Stuber
Miramar College
1 November 2007
“Comparison/Contrast Outline: Antigone & Hamlet”
Antigone and Hamlet were two extremely passionate individuals. Both were grieving as a result of death in the family and angry for the crimes committed against their kin. Each decided to honor or avenge their family member’s death from the start, but their thought processes and actions from that point on varied considerably. Even though the nature of their individual characters led them to act in different ways, the end result of numerous deaths on each side is quite comparable.
I.The tales of Antigone and Hamlet reveal a significant amount of similarities.
	A. Antigone was grieving the death of both of her brothers, while Hamlet was grieving the death of his father.
	B. Antigone and Hamlet both had uncles that had committed crimes against them and their families.
		i. Antigone’s uncle, King Creon, declared her brother should not be mourned or have an honorable burial; rather he should be left for scavenging animals (pg.1094, 15-22).
		ii. The ghost of Hamlet’s father revealed that King Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, murdered him in the garden (pg.198, 40-45).
	C. Each character had decided to either honor or avenge their family member’s death without thought.
		i. After Ismene unsuccessfully tried to talk Antigone out of burying Polyneices, Antigone declares, “I will bury him; and if I must die, I say that this crime is holy” (pg.1095, 57-58)
		ii. After the ghost of Hamlet’s father discloses his murder, but before he even tells who the murderer was, Hamlet urges the ghost on so that he “may sweep to my revenge” (pg.198, 35).
	D. Antigone and Hamlet alike were disappointed and angered yet again by additional members of their family.
		i. Antigone tried to get her sister, Ismene, to help in burying their brother, Polyneices. Ismene refused because she didn’t want to break Creon’s law for fear of being stoned to death. Antigone was furious, calling Ismene a traitor to the family and telling her, “I shall be hating you soon,” (pg. 1096, 85).
		ii. Hamlet was incredibly upset with his mother, Queen Gertrude, for marrying his uncle so soon after his father’s death. In a rant he yells of her, “Frailty, thy name is woman!” (pg.187, 148).
	E. Both characters pay attention to the laws of their Gods.
		i. Antigone buries Polyneices to offer him a proper burial according to the Gods. She declares Gods laws to be the “immortal unrecorded laws of God” and “beyond man utterly” (pg.1103, 70-72).
		ii. Hamlet wants to ensure he times his revenge right so that Claudius doesn’t die while in a state of grace, such as while praying. This would send Claudius to paradise while Hamlet would end up in purgatory, quite the opposite of his intentions.
	F. Antigone and Hamlet are more than willing to break the civil laws in order to accomplish their goals.
II. There are a number of similarities between these two characters, but the nature of Antigone is somewhat different from that of Hamlet in how she approaches her situation.
	A. At no point does Antigone question her decision to bury Polyneices and does not hesitate to do so.
	B. Antigone is angry with Creon for his decree and is unafraid of his threats, declaring “Creon is not strong enough to stand in my way” (pg.1095, 36).
	C. She fully intends to honor her brother, believing this to be an obligation, and is courageous and fearless in doing so. She feels that “it will not be the worst of deaths-death without honor” (pg.1096, 88-89).
	D. Antigone admits point-blank what she did and why. She blatantly disregards Creon’s decree, telling him, “It was public. Could I help hearing it?” (pg.1102, 63).
III. Hamlet’s distinct personality led him to promise retribution, but to take action in a manner unlike that of Antigone.
	A. Hamlet is angry with his mother at the start of the play, but becomes enraged after learning of his father’s murder. “O most pernicious woman! O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!” (pg.199, 111-112).
	B. The ghost of Hamlet’s father says to him, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.” Hamlet doesn’t think twice of this and immediately vows to kill his Uncle. “Adieu, adieu! Remember me. I have swonrn’t” (pg.200, 117-118).
	C. Hamlet hesitates throughout the play, and is indecisive at times. He will question himself as well as his existence, saying the famous line, “To be, or not to be-that is the question,” (pg.221, 63).
IV. Although Antigone and Hamlet varied in their approach and decisiveness, it is their similarities that lead to their comparable fates.
	A. Antigone and Hamlet were both passionate creatures, quite the opposite of a stoic.
		i. Hamlet speaks of his desire to be more like his level-headed friend, Horatio, when he says, “Give me that man that is not passion’s slave” (pg.225, 56-57).
	B. Neither Antigone nor Hamlet could look beyond their emotions to continue life as is; rather they committed wholly to the deeds they had initially decided upon. They were completely committed to their plans of action, no matter what the cost.
		i. Antigone was fully prepared for her death as a consequence of honoring her brother’s death. “This death of mine is of no importance; but if I had left my brother lying in death unburied, I should have suffered” (pg.1103, 78-80).
	C. Both characters’ actions led to the deaths of several people that were not directly involved in their plans.
		i. Antigone killed herself when sentenced to perish in a cave, but when she did Creon’s son (Haimon) and then wife (Eurydice) killed themselves out of grief
		ii. Hamlet mistakenly killed Polonius, Ophelia drowned after losing her mind, and Laertes and Gertrude were both unintentionally poisoned.
The bloodshed that ended both Antigone and Hamlet were results of the intense passion that drove both characters. Antigone did not hesitate to bury her brother or to commit suicide in the end. Hamlet took much longer, hesitated at times, and was theatrical as he carried out his plan. Nonetheless, both had very similar tragic endings, which was what each of them anticipated.
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