Comparing Shakespeares Hamlet and Marlowe of Conrads Heart of Darknes

Comparing Shakespe ares Hamlet and Marlowe of Conrads Heart of Darkness Prince Hamlet, of Shakespeares famed tragedy, and Marlowe of Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness, are withal situated characters. Despite superficially different settings and plots, there is a remarkably similar thematic ele handst shared mingled with both works. Prince Hamlet and Marlowe are brought to the very brink of insanity by their immersion in worlds gone mad, yet still succeed. At their roots, the similarities of the environments they are immersed in are remarkable. Whether their environment is a too too sullied (1057) Royal Danish court, or the dark monomania of a murderous Congolese jungle, the relationship between a sane compositions mind, and a mans insane world is openly explored. In Hamlet Prince of Denmark and in Heart of Darkness many similarities exist between the madness that both stories are surrounded in. Despite the obvious differences of the Congo and Copenhagen, both worlds are places where evil abounds and territory where man has brought on that evil. The destructive avarice and lust for power that drove Hamlets uncle, Cladius, to murder his own brother, have tainted and steeped the Danish court in corruption. In Heart of Darkness, the madness stems from the desire for power in the form of valuable ivory. The power of ivory in Heart of Darkness is not only apparent because it drives civilized men like, Mr. Kurtz to commit his savage acts, but also because how quickly Marlowe becomes aware of its power. Upon Marlowes arrival to the Central Station he observes, The word ivory rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it. (1639). In Hamlet and Heart of Darkness, the ultimate... ...s when he avenges his fathers murder and restores the upright and dignified nature of the Danish throne (to Fortinbras), and Marlowe succeeds when he retrieves the brutal Kurtz from the heart of swarthiness. More importantly howe ver, Hamlet and Marlowe within themselves struggle against insanity, the evil that tries to pour into them from their madness-drenched worlds, and both men succeed. BibliographyAngus, Mitchell. New Light on the Heart of Darkness http//www.britannica.com/ mag/article?content_id=145991. January 9, 2007Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. Lecture XII. Hamlet. Ed. Edward Hubler. New York Signet Classics, 1987.Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. An Introduction to Literature. Ed. Barnet, et al. New York Longman, 2000.Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. An Introduction to Literature. Ed. Barnet, et al. New York Longman, 2000.