Which one is your favorite? Hamlet or Macbeth? Opinions?

Answer 1

wow, that's a hard question! I really like Hamlet, but I also really enjoy Macbeth. I really enjoyed Hamlet because of the mystery of how his father died... but I guess I'll have to go with Macbeth, with the crazy Lady Macbeth, With Macbeth not being able to be killed by "man born of a woman" I loved it...

Answer 2

Hamlet hands down! Why? Because Hamlet deals with more human issues such as incest, murder, deceit and all the things that in Shakespeare's days were considered verboten! Plus, Hamlet has a much broader range of emotions and acting possibilities than Macbeth does. That's just my opinion though!

Answer 3

Macbeth is a Hollywood thriller, with lots of blood and thunder. And Lady Macbeth should be a shoo-in for an Academy Award.

Then Macbeth gets to speak one of the most memorable of all Shakespeare's speeches:

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day . . .

But for a thoughtful play with lots of things to talk about afterwards, by all means Hamlet. It's about twice as long as Macbeth and much more complicated. Many interestng supporting characters, each with their scene to steal. There are plot twists and then there are more plot twists. There are all those quotable lines that just keep ringing in your ears. And, for a tragedy, there is a lot of humor, from Hamlet's stinging wit throughout to the farce of the clowns in the graveyard and of the obsequeious Osric.

And, of all Shakespeare's characters, especially his tragic characters, Hamlet is the most complex, the most credible, the most articulate, probably the most intelligent, and ultimately the most admirable.

But the reason Hamlet is my favorite Shakespearean tragedy is its important themes: the nature of evil, corruption in government and the call for reform, hypocrisy and genuineness, the suffering of betrayal, the need for revenge, the balance of free will and determinism, princely responsibility, the nature and limitations of love, conscience and courage, the individual vs. the state, coming to terms with mortality, the inner self and one's outer image, friendship and respect . . . and the list goes on an on.

I think one of the most critical scenes in all of Shakespeare may be when Hamlet happens upon Claudius praying. He refuses to take vengeance then (the shrewd, vengeful Hamlet) because he would simply send him straight to heaven rather than to the suffering of purgatory which Hamlet's father is enduring. But the irony is that Claudius actually hasn't been able to pray because of his own sense of guilt and pride.

However, ultimately Hamlet (the thoughtful, gentlemanly, responsible Hamlet) does achieve a sense of nobility and responsibility in Act V.

After the grim humor of the clowns in the graveyard, it is Hamlet who realizes the fate of the humorist:

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rims at it.

He sees in Laertes' passion an image of his own, and comes to terms with himself as he determines to offer his apology to Laertes:

But I am very sorry, good Horatio,
That to Laertes I forgot myself;
For, by the image of my cause, I see
The portraiture of his: I'll court his favours.
But, sure, the bravery of his grief did put me
Into a towering passion.

Facing his final confrontation with the evil Claudius, the passionate Laertes, and also with his own sense of responsibility, he comes to a profound understanding of the nature of his universe:

Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well,
When our deep plots do pall: and that should teach us
There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will . . . .

Hence, he makes a commitment to play the role he is destined to play:

. . . there's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all . . . .

Dying, he makes his final request to his friend Horatio:

If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart
Absent thee from felicity awhile,
And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain,
To tell my story.

His final words are spoken to insure the future of his country:

But I do prophesy the election lights
On Fortinbras: he has my dying voice;
So tell him, with the occurrents, more and less,
Which have solicited. The rest is silence.

And Horatio, in a brief eulogy, captures Hamlet's
character:

Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince:
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!