Hamlet is a suicidal, yet quite religious and non-violent character that is somewhat angry and disgusted at his mother for marrying his father’s brother, Claudius. As a result, he hates his uncle and now father Claudius. He is somewhat very occupied with his mother’s sexuality and believes that women are far more emotionally and morally weaker. We know that Hamlet is a religious person because he chooses not to kill himself even when he is at his worst because he believes that it is sinful. Yet, Hamlet is still a very dark and quite secretive character. We know this because he wishes to exact revenge on the murderer of his father.
George and Lennie are quite different characters than Hamlet is. Lennie is perhaps the simplest and most innocent character of the two. He looks up to George greatly and believes greatly in the vision of the farm that George and him will own one day. Although, he is the simplest character in Of Mice and Men, he is perhaps the most significant, as he symbolizes innocence, which is the opposite of what Hamlet symbolizes.
George is a quite significant character in Of Mice and Men since he is the character that has progressed the most since the beginning of the novel He obviously care deeply for Lennie and we can tell this by looking at his first line of dialogue in the novel: “Lennie, for God’ sakes don’t drink too much. You gonna be sick like you was last night.” As a result, George symbolizes caring and friendship.
One of the first comparisons that you may notice upon reading Hamlet and Of Mice and Men is how different George and Lennie’s social status is compared to that of Hamlet’s. You will notice that while Hamlet’s role in the play Hamlet is that of the Prince of Denmark, George and Lennie are stuck playing the roles of newly employed, low-paid farm workers. You will also notice the level of literacy of each of the protagonists. Since Hamlet was born and raised as a prince, he received a high quality education whilst in his youth. He is unlike George and Lennie, who are quite the opposite in every way.
Perhaps the only similarity that Hamlet, George and Lennie share is the fact that they all have dreams that they wish to achieve. Although the dreams are not similar, they are the foundation of both works. In Hamlet, Hamlet wishes to avenge his father’s death, and the whole play is based on that issue. In Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie dream of owning a farm someday, which is the reason why they go to work for “The Boss” so that they could produce enough earnings to sustain them when they go to live alone.
Hamlet, George and Lennie are very different characters that lack many similarities. They hardly share any similarities and think very differently. The fact that Hamlet was written in a completely different time period than Of Mice and Men gives provides us with a valid reason to why Hamlet is so much more different than both George and Lennie. His qualities are extremely different than those of George and Lennie and therefore it makes it quite difficult to find reasonable comparisons that all the protagonists share.