Essay On Corruption In Hamlet 'And 1984'

Corruption in Hamlet and 1984

Comparing William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet to George Orwell’s novel 1984 may seem like a difficult task on the surface, however, through further analysis, the theme of corruption links these two texts together. Corruption: dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power. In both Hamlet and 1984, the protagonists desire to overcome corruption inevitably leads to their downfall. In society today, people are entitled to their own thoughts. However, in the novel 1984, this is not the case. Orwell writes,
The thing he was about to do was to open a diary. This was not illegal (nothing was illegal, since there were no longer any laws), but if detected it was reasonably certain that it would be punished by death,

This ultimately leads Winston to be caught and subjected to a fate worse than death. Although having both the diary and the relationship with Julia was Winston’s way of resisting conformity to the party, they were both contributing factors to his downfall. Perhaps this is worse than death for Winston, as he became the person he never wanted to be.
Similar to Winston, the protagonist in Hamlet, Prince Hamlet, sees the corruption of power in his life and, in his attempts to overcome it, he dies. Hamlet realizes that his step-father, Claudius, has murdered his father and married his mother shortly after the murder, all to become King. After learning this, Hamlet’s sole motivation is to avenge his father’s death by revealing Claudius’ deception. Hamlet’s initial plan to expose Claudius is to have performers put on a play imitating the events of his father’s death. Hamlet says,
I’ll have these players play something like the murder to my father before mine uncle. I’ll observe his looks; I’ll tent him to the quick. If ‘a do blench, I know my course…The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King (Shakespeare