"Lelouch the Rebel" was born out of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" (also known as "The Prince's Revenge"). They are also avenging the death of their relatives in a palace conspiracy and trying to challenge the highest authority of the country - the monarch. They are king killers and father killers. Hamlet killed his stepfather, the new king of Denmark, Claudius. And Lelouch's sword pointed to his biological father, Charles, Emperor of Brittany.
Hamlet is the prince of the ancient Danish kingdom, and Lelouch is the prince of the Brittany Empire. As two humanists, they hated the rotten royal family and pursued democracy, freedom, and equality. They sympathized with the people, Hamlet was loved by the people, Lelouch led the underground organization "Black Knights" against the Britannia Empire, and directly led the action to liberate colonial Japan. But the forces they are fighting against are too powerful, too well-organized, and they take a stance of individual elitism and do not believe in the power of the people. Therefore, destruction is inevitable.
Hamlet gave up more things than Lelouch voluntarily, but the sacrifice was not necessarily greater than Lelouch. In theory, Hamlet can inherit the throne, and he has a beautiful lover, Ophelia, and a good living environment. These were the things that unknown danger forced him to give up. And Lelouch was an exile of the royal family, and his fetters were artificially cut off. His hatred for the emperor and his brothers and sisters was on the table. Lelouch's sacrifice lies in accepting GEASS, the power of kings, such a destructive force that makes people order the world but abandons relatives and friends, and brings deeper questions and pursuits from a purely philosophical perspective. Lelouch is not just Hamlet, he is also Faust who signed a contract with the devil, the mad scholar in Goethe's pen.
Two tragic stories, started by Hamlet's mother and Lelouch's mother. Hamlet's mother, the Queen of Denmark, had an affair with Claudius, and in order to stay together, they conspired to murder her husband. Hence Hamlet's revenge. Lelouch's mother, Princess Marianne of the Empire of Brittany, conspired with her husband Emperor Charles to create the illusion of an accidental death in order to gain eternal life and dominion over the world. Therefore, the abandoned boy Lu Luxiu hated the indifference of his father and the royal family and embarked on the road of revenge.
They are both incompetent mothers, dragging Hamlet and Lelouch into a maelstrom of conspiracy and abandoning them vulnerable. The Queen and Claudius had hinted that when they were a hundred years later, they could be located in Hamlet. Princess Marianne and Emperor Charles also intended to let Lelouch inherit the throne. Also, they both tried to keep their sons out of court intrigues. They thought they were doing kindness, but what their sons felt was real malice. Hamlet's mother drank the poisoned wine that belonged to Hamlet, and Marianne and Charlie were killed by Lelouch. Lelouch kills his father and mother more thoroughly than Hamlet. His rejection of his parents' "goodwill" and his denial of their "yesterday" world has become the ultimate and most thorough rebellion.
Hamlet's lover, the beautiful and unfortunate Ophelia. Hamlet killed her father Polonius by mistake, and falsely abandoned her, causing her to fall into the water and die of insanity. She can correspond to two characters in "Lelouch of the Rebellion" - Euphemia and Charlie.
Euphemia, the pronunciation and spelling of this word is very similar to Ophelia. Because of her black prince, and because of his negligence, Euphemia was manipulated by Lelouch's out-of-control GRASS, plunged into madness, and died as a result.
Euphemia and Ophelia are two pure and kind girls. They were the unfortunate victims of the Black Princes' revenge and rebellion. Euphemia's idealized humanitarian politics also contrasts sharply with Lelouch. Just as Mahatma Gandhi was hated by Hindus, Euphemia's pursuit of life can be evaluated in one sentence, "Kneeling and kneeling cannot lead to democracy". She wanted to make the Brittanian colonists compromise with the Japanese, but the interests could not be adjusted, so the ideal of "Japan Special Zone" could only be disillusioned.
The same is true of Charlie, she is the other side of Ophelia - her father, an ordinary academy, a small person, was killed by Lelouch when Lelouch led the Black Knights to fight against the army of the Brittany Empire. Killed by mistake, just as Hamlet tried to assassinate the new king Claudius, but accidentally killed the minister Porenees. Therefore, Xiali, whose memory was tampered with twice, was also mentally damaged, and was in a trance all day. Charlie's death, as in "Bolivia Hell", Tania (Ophelia)'s lines:
"A malicious branch grew out of my chest, and I saw the sky full of stars competing to bloom"
For thousands of years, Ophelias have floated on the dark river Styx like a white lotus blooming on the water.
Lelouch's friend, Suzaku, corresponds to Ophelia's brother, Leotis. In "Hamlet", Leotis led a riot of dissatisfied people, rushed into the palace to capture Hamlet, and was surrendered by the emperor. In "Lelouch of the Rebellion", Suzaku is an out-and-out guardian of order. He served the Brittanian Empire, but finally betrayed the old emperor Charles. Also out of hatred, they were used by the emperor against Lelouch and Hamlet, eventually killing them with swords. In "Hamlet", Ophelia and Hamlet are lovers, and Leotis are brothers and sisters, but in "Lelouch of the Rebellion", they become Euphemia and Lelouch are brothers and sisters, and Suzaku are brothers and sisters lovers. The upside-down beginnings and the similar endings are ingenious echoes.
Historically, the prototype of Hamlet is the ninth-century Dane Amleith. His father and uncle were sent by the King of Denmark to guard Gatland, and his father married the daughter of the King of Denmark. Out of jealousy, the uncle killed his father, married his mother, and sent him to England, instructing the king of England to kill him. Amlathes tactfully escaped danger, not only married the daughter of the King of England, but also returned home and killed his uncle to avenge his father. However, this is not a happy story: he becomes the heir of England and defends the important island of Gatland, and his strength gradually grows, causing the suspicion of the new king of Denmark. In the end, he was suppressed by the Danish army and fought to his death.
Finland made "The Prince's Revenge" in 1987, which was an extremely dark film. It takes the story of ninth century Denmark and moves it to modern Finland. In a large company, the deputy general manager Claus (a modernization of Claudius' name) had an affair with the general manager's wife, poisoned the general manager, and took over the company. The general manager's son Hamlet embarks on a series of carefully planned revenge, shooting and killing Claus's accomplice - his lover Ophelia's father, who in turn tries to poison Claus, but accidentally poisons his mother , Lover Ophelia also took sleeping pills and sank into the bathtub to commit suicide. In the end, Hamlet smashes Ophelia's brother to death with the radio, shoots Klaus, and sets up the scene as if they were killing each other. In the end, Hamlet, who killed all his enemies, sat in the general manager's office and told his good friend Horatio all about it. Unexpectedly, after the mantis catching the cicada oriole, Horatio secretly added poison into the wine and poisoned him to death. So, the company is owned by Horatio...
Those who use violence are responsible for the consequences of violence. Just like these two primitive stories that belong to the feudal era and the capital era. The reason why art is art, and the reason why it surpasses life itself, lies in its sublimation. Lelouch and Hamlet, on the road of revenge, were covered in blood. However, the blood of innocents shakes their conscience, deepens their understanding of people and society, and sublimates their pursuits. What started out as a simple revenge story later became a plea for the people, overthrowing tyrants, and rebuilding a brighter world. Lelouch and Hamlet, transformed from an avenger into a benevolent.
Just like Lelouch's famous saying, "Only those who have the consciousness to be killed are qualified to shoot." Soberly taking responsibility, avoiding the sacrifice of more people, and having a firm will while taking revenge are the best footnotes to the prince's revenge story.
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