This visual essay compares Hamlet from Shakespeare's play to Batman. Both experience the murder of their parents at a young age which sends them into a state of melancholy and vengeance. They cut themselves off from social ties and only trust one lifelong friend who supports their mission. While seeking to punish those responsible, unintended harm may come to others. Both are perceived as insane by others who do not understand their perspectives and motivations driven by tragedy. Their arch-enemies are seen as inextricably linked, where one cannot exist without fueling the other in an endless battle until both meet their end.

1. The Man Behind the Mask A visual essay on the views of Hamlet from Shakespeare's Hamlet

2. Hamlet The Dark Knight

3. His parents murdered at a young age. Orphan Bruce Wayne swears to take revenge on those responsible for his parents’ deaths. Killed for petty cash and his mother’s pearl necklace; Bruce is left with a now-skewed and stained view of the world. Seeking only justification of the wrongs done to him. “ Ay, sir. To be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand.” - Hamlet “ My dear Hamlet, stop wearing these black clothes, and be friendly to the king. You can’t spend your whole life with your eyes to the ground remembering your noble father. It happens all the time, what lives must die eventually, passing to eternity.” - Gertrude

4. Having what mattered most in his world taken away from him, the young boy enters a permanent state melancholy; cutting off all social ties and worldly pleasures. He abstains from women and friends as he believes they will only get in the way of his life of vigilantism. On the seldom occasion of inter-personal relations; Bruce is usually trying to use someone to help him in his latest vindictive mission “ Frailty, thigh name is woman!” - Hamlet “ I have of late—but wherefore I know not—lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises, and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory” - Hamlet

5. Batman – like most superheroes – has an arch-nemesis. He tries repeatedly to capture, but not kill, this 'Joker'. Batman believes that if he were to kill the joker, then the Joker would not receive the proper punishment for his crimes. He believes that the wicked must be punished in full. “ I could do it easily now. He’s praying now. And now I’ll do it. (he draws out his sword) And there he goes, off to heaven. And that’s my revenge. I’d better think about this more carefully. A villain kills my father, and I, my father’s only son, send this same villain to heaven. Seems like I just did him a favour..” - Hamlet

6. The only person Bruce ever trusts is his lifelong friend and mentor Alfred – his butler. Alfred is the only person who believes in the Batman and helps him in every way possible. He is always there to support his overwhelmed friend and often acts as his conscience when Bruce is at his worst. “ If something is telling you not to play, listen to it. I’ll say you’re not feeling well.” - Horatio “ Not my servant, but my friend. I’ll change that name for you. But what are you doing so far from Wittenberg, Horatio?”-Hamlet

7. The Batman is so consumed with his mission to rid the world of the unjust that sometimes people he does not intentionally want to harm are in fact, harmed; either by his own actions or by extensions of those actions. Batman's side-kick and sympathizer to his cause – Robin, is killed in an attempt to capture the Joker. All Robin wanted to do was help Batman and make the world a better place. For that he is killed, not intentionally, but as a result of Batman's unquenchable vengeance. “ I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers Could not with all their quantity of love Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?” - Hamlet “ I’m sorry about what happened to this gentleman (pointing to POLONIUS), but God wanted to punish me with this murder, and this man with me, so I’m both Heaven’s executioner and its minister of justice.” - Hamlet

8. The Batman is often perceived as insane, being called so by the media and his arch-rival the Joker. He is, after all, a man who dresses up like flying mammal and beats criminals to a pulp with his bare hands. His methods are unorthodox and the world, instead of choosing to view things from his perspective, label him a psychopath. “ And he, repelled—a short tale to make— Fell into a sadness, then into a fast, Thence to a watch, thence into a weakness, Thence to a lightness, and, by this declension, Into the madness wherein now he raves And all we mourn for.” - Claudius “ (aside) Though this be madness, yet there is method in ’t.—.” - Polonius PS. The next slide takes a little while to load, it’s a movie.

9. The Joker is often quoted as saying that he and Batman are “family”; stating that they are two of a kind. They are an unstoppable force meeting an immoveable object. The crazed Joker explains that one cannot live without the other. Without the Joker, Batman would perish, and vice-versa. The two are stuck in a never-ending battle until both of them are dead - they are doomed to battle until their ends. Hamlet and Claudius attempt to kill each other at a couple different points in the play; Claudius sends a letter to have Hamlet killed once he reaches England, and Hamlet almost kills Claudius while he is praying. After finally killing Claudius, against all odds, Hamlet knows he has finished his quest – Claudius now lies dead – and Hamlet may die peacefully.