Titus Andronicus vs Hamlet

Titus Andronicus and Prince Hamlet: how are they similar, how different? Consider each man's opinion of moral duty and honor. What are the main forces driving each man's decisions and actions?

Titus and Hamlet are more different than similar. They both die for the same reason, but they differ in their character. Titus is a renowned Roman general who seeks revenge for his daughter and his sons’ deaths, by fighting the power- the king Saturninus, and the Queen Tamora, and finally dies at the end of the play after taking his revenge. Hamlet is a thinker, and his actions are driven by his thoughts and other people's opinions. He has a similar fate, as he fights the power for the unjust death of his father and dies at the end of the play after taking his revenge. This paper tries to prove how Titus and Hamlet are different in their ways.

Hamlet is indecisive and, doesn't trust himself. For instance, when Hamlet finds Claudius all alone in his deep prayers and has a chance of taking him out, he decides against killing him because he doesn’t want Claudius to go to heaven. The argument can be made that he could have just waited till Claudius was finished with his prayer. Hamlet delays his action until the end of the play because of his confusion and, as a result of this, nearly all the characters in the play pay the price with their lives. Hamlet also lacks honor. His opinion of honor is the exact opposite of him which he sees in Laertes who teams up with Claudius to avenge his father’s death and Fortinbras who fights for his land that is worth less than “an eggshell” (4.4.56). His moral duty comes in when he ignores Ophelia even though he loves her. But, he only does that for her own good as he is on a path of destruction.

On the other hand, Titus is more decisive, and he is wiser than Hamlet. He knows what he wants and how he can achieve it. For instance when Titus finds out through Aaron that he could save his sons by taking off of his hands, he readily takes...