Intertextuality The Lion King

When I think of intertextuality I instantly think of the relationship between Disney's, The Lion King and Shakespeare's, Hamlet.  The two texts share similar characters and moments. Intertextuality is the interaction between two different texts, a text being anything that can be read or interpreted. So, intertextuality would be a new text that has been influenced by an older text. What is the purpose of intertextuality? Why would an author want to incorporate someone else's ideas in his/her own work? Bringing successful elements of one text into another has the potential to enhance the reader's interest and connection with the work since it is familiar and even ironic.
So, in The Lion King Simba born to Sarabi and Mufasa is the prince of the Pride Lands, just like prince Hamlet is the prince of Denmark. The moment where I personally saw the closest connection between the two stories, is when Scar murders his brother Mufasa hoping to one day be in power of the Pride Lands just like when Claudius murders his brother King Hamlet succeeding to the throne of Denmark. Throughout both stories the princes take revenge on their uncle.
Since I saw the movie The Lion King before reading Hamlet, it made reading Hamlet more enjoyable and thrilling since I could relate it to a childhood movie. It also made me value The Lion King more since it is based off of such an important piece of literature.

What Do a Bunch of Lions Have to Do With the Prince of Denmark?

            It is said that there are only seven types of stories in the world.  If this is really true, every story uses intertextuality.  One just has to figure out which story comes from which whether it is from a myth, a fairy tale or the Bible. 

            Intertextuality is when “writers find themselves engaged in a relationship with  writers from the past; that relationship plays itself out through the texts, the new one emerging in part through earlier texts that exert influence on the writer in one way or another.”  Writers cannot help but to base their stories off of previous ones but newer writers put their own spin on their new literature. 

An example of this is Disney’s The Lion King and Shakespeare’s Hamlet.  It is plain to see that they follow the same story line. What does a bunch of lions have to do with the Prince of Denmark? First of all, Simba is Hamlet; a young prince whose father is murdered. Both of them wish to avenge their fathers’ deaths but are delayed in their action of retribution. Both of them avoid taking the responsibility of steping up to the throne right away due to their fathers’ absences.  Even the late Kings in both stories have many similarities.  Each of them were murdered by their jealous brothers who want to take the throne and both Kings come back as a “ghost” to provide knowledge for their sons, especially about avenging their deaths. 

Even the secondary characters show a great deal of resemblance. Timon and Pumbaa matches with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.  Both pairs of characters, that are good friends of the princes in each of the works are there to lighten the mood. They lead the princes away from their responsabilities and hauntings of their pasts.

Another secondary character is the queens of the murdered kings, Sarabi and Gertrude. They have many close similarities including, having an equal amount of power over their kingdoms, the same spot in the social hierarchy, and emotional ties to the Princes of both stories.

Baby Simba

In conclusion, every modern day story is based off another story from the past due to intertextuality.  Writers cannot help but be inspired by the works that came before theirs.  Some stories are just worth re-telling in as many ways as possible.