Some people are two-faced and hide their vicious motives behind a mask of kindness. The deceitfulness of appearances is reflected in Shakespeare’s Hamlet and an animated movie, The Lion King. These two works have many parallels in their depiction of deceiving appearances. In particular, Claudius and Scar represent villains under the guise of well-wishers, while Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from Hamlet and hyenas from The Lion King appear worse than they seem.
Claudius and Scar seem caring and virtuous, but in reality, they wish to usurp power. In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet shifts from being to seeming to make Claudius reveal his true essence (Wilson 5). When Hamlet learns from the ghost that Claudius killed his father, he exclaims: “O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!” (Shakespeare 1.5.106). This quote exposes Claudius’s nature as a person who smiles while contriving murders. In The Lion King, Scar is depicted as an antagonist of Mufasa and Simba since his ill-looking appearance conveys his malicious nature (Dores 4). When Scar tells Simba about the lands beyond the border, he asserts that he cares about Simba’s well-being (The Lion King). This scene reveals his two facades because, in fact, his words are aimed at inciting Simba’s interest in visiting the dangerous land.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and hyenas also have deceiving appearances and seem better than they really are. In the play, Hamlet chastises Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: “Sblood, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me” (Shakespeare 3.2.399-402). Hamlet considered these two men to be his friends, but they spied on him for Claudius, thus revealing that their friendship was fake. In The Lion King, hyenas grin and laugh when faced with Simba in order to scare him, but when they stand in front of Scar, they quiver, disclosing their weak and cowardly nature. Therefore, hyenas’ appearance is also deceptive because they attempt to look stronger and more fearsome than they really are.
In conclusion, both Hamlet and The Lion King represent the idea of the deceitfulness of appearances. At least some characters in these creative works are two-faced and hide their true motives, thus creating conflicts and putting others in danger. It seems that the authors of these works tried to show the consequences of adopting dishonest behaviors to the audience and warn people against being excessively credulous.
References
Dores, Henrique. “Ego, Discourse and Power: The Lion King Through the Eyes of Metz, Foucault and Bettelheim.” Rhetoric and Communications, no. 39, 2019, pp. 1-5.
The Lion King. Directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 1994.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Edited by Philip Edwards, Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Wilson, Jeffrey R. “‘To Be, or not to Be’: Shakespeare Against Philosophy.” Shakespeare, vol. 14, no. 4, 2018, pp. 1-19.