A Comparison of Hamlet by shakespears and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Essay

A Comparison of Hamlet by shakespears and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Essay Example Hamlet’s world changes when his father dies and his mother almost immediately marries his Uncle Claudius, the murderer of the old king. R.P. McMurphy is committed to the psychiatric hospital instead of a prison sentence and enters a world completely dominated by a masochistic nurse who sits â€Å"in the center of this web of wires like a watchful robot, tend[s] her network with mechanical insect skill, know[s] every second which wire runs where and just what current to send up to get the results she wants† (30). The common theme in each plot is a rise against tyranny in defense of honor in order to defeat the evil repressor.   Both Hamlet and McMurphy are presented as anti-heroes as neither one really possesses an abundance of traditional heroic characteristics, but each end up dying to defend justice. Each character is brought into their situation through their use of insanity to discover the truth. This is shown as Hamlet only acts insane around certain people, namely Polonius and Claudius, while he seeks the truth. He finds it by convincing the traveling players to perform the â€Å"Murder of Gonzago† that closely parodies the murder of the king by Claudius. â€Å"I prithee, when thou seest that act a foot, / Even with the very comment of thy soul / Observe my uncle. If his occulted guilt / Do not itself unkennel in one speech, / It is a damned ghost that we have seen† (III, ii). This is similar to McMurphy’s role as he feigns insanity to escape the hard work at the Pendleton Work Farm, â€Å"Don’t overlook the possibility that this man might be feigning psychosis to escape the drudgery of the work farm† (46), but discovers the truth of the ward and Nurse Ratchett’s controlling influence over it when he tries to follow her rules. Like Hamlet, McMurphy only displays himself as insane around certain people, but displays humane