“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day.”
Shakespeare is known for nailing down human emotions, and this quote is a great example of such. Spoken by Macbeth in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” I think everyone can relate to the feeling of every day slowing going by, bleeding into the next.
Whenever I hear this line, I automatically think of the musical “Hamilton,” in which Alexander Hamilton compares himself to the ambitious title character. However, a musical about the founding fathers isn’t the only place that Shakespeare can be found in modern media.
Continuing with “Macbeth,” a much more vague reference is in the third Harry Potter film. The wizard choir sings these lyrics.
Double, double toil and trouble
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble
Double, double toil and trouble
Something wicked this way comes
These lines are also from “Macbeth,” in which the witches are warning Macbeth that he’s in danger. I always loved this scene in the movie, but it wasn’t until recently, with the Creston marching band performing their show “Something Wicked this Way Comes,” that I realized it was a “Macbeth” reference.
Some media, rather than generally referencing one of Shakespeare’s plays, directly follows them. 1999 hit romcom “10 Things I Hate About You” is loosely based on Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew.” Similarly, 2006 romcom “She’s the Man” is loosely based on Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.”
There are a large number of productions based on the play “Hamlet,” in which a prince deals with the death of his father, likely killed by the new king, his uncle. One notable example of this is Disney’s “The Lion King.”
There are a number of moments in “The Lion King” that are made to represent “Hamlet,” aside from the actual plot. The classic skull scene is enacted by Scar, though in a much more lighthearted manner. Like in “Hamlet,” we see the ghost of the main character’s father come to him and tell him to take back the kingdom.
My favorite Shakespeare allusion in “The Lion King” doesn’t actually reference Hamlet, but “Romeo and Juliet.” In the beloved song “Hakuna Matata,” Pumbaa says, “Thought of changin’ my name,” to which Timone responds “Oh, what’s in a name?” Timone’s line is an exact quote from Juliet’s speech about how the two families are not meant to be.
I’ll get back to Hamlet in a bit, but I wanted to mention that the later Lion King movies are all references to Shakespeare. “The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride” is based on “Romeo and Juliet,” though this might be more obvious than the first movie.
My favorite Lion King movie, “The Lion King 1½,” is based on the tragic comedy “Rosencrantz & Guilderstern Are Dead.” Timon and Pumbaa represent Rosencrantz and Guilderstern, side characters in the original. This movie follows the side characters during the same timeline as the originals.
But back to “Hamlet.” Another show based off of this is “Sons of Anarchy,” but instead of the kingdom of Denmark, it follows an outlaw motorcycle club. The show ran for seven seasons, as well as five seasons of its spin-off series, “Mayans M.C.”
My favorite reference to “Hamlet” is not a modern depiction, but a comedic historical musical. The show “Something Rotten” is set in London in 1595 and follows Nick and Nigel Bottom, writers who are struggling to compete against Shakespeare. A lot of shenanigans happen, with the brothers attempting to write what a soothsayer told them would be Shakespeare’s next big hit: Omelet. Unfortunately for them, the soothsayer isn’t very good, and we see them try to write the story of “Hamlet,” but about eggs.
There has been and will continue to be adaptation after adaptation of Shakespeare’s work. Some of the adaptations have become masterpieces of their own, such as “West Side Story,” based on “Romeo and Juliet.” I hope that as more adaptations come out, they continue to be unique and different, such as those mentioned above.