For those of you who have never seen it, it is the story of a rich playboy millionaire named Oliver Queen that survived a shipwreck that killed his father and his girlfriend's sister and got marooned on an island. While he was on the island, he learned some awesome bow and arrow skills. He was rescued and now he's back in Starlight City and ridding it of corruption spurred on by the memory of his father. Super cool superhero story. It's pretty interesting actually. Anyway, as I've been watching, I've noticed a lot of similarities to Shakespeare stories especially that of Hamlet. For example, Oliver plays a Hamlet character who is trying to get justice and redemption for his dead father. He even had hallucinations on the island of his father asking him to rid the city of corruption, which is very similar to Hamlet's chats with his ghostly father.
Another example is that while Oliver was shipwrecked, his mother marries the CEO of his father's company. This is all very Claudius and Gertrude esque. Also, one of them may have had something to do with Oliver's father's death but I'm not far enough into the series to know which one yet.
Another similarity is that Oliver has a friend named Digs who knows that he is the vigilante and helps him stay true to himself much like the character of Horatio in Hamlet.
There is even an Ophelia character. Luckily, she's not crazy but she does exhibit many Ophelia like characteristics. The Ophelia is Oliver's old girlfriend Laurel. When Laurel's sister is killed in the shipwreck, she goes crazy in the way that she throws herself into finding justice through becoming a lawyer who is unafraid to attack the corrupt rich in her city, much like that of Ophelia upon hearing of her father's death. In addition, she has a father who counsels her not spend any time with Oliver like Polonius tells Ophelia of Hamlet.
I found all these similarities fascinating and I hope to discover a lot more as the show continues!
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