1.
Jaime
Varela
Coca
Taller
de
creación
integrada
Triple
grado
M21
HAMLET’S ANARCHY
Before we talk about the similarities between Sons of anarchy and Hamlet, it
should provide a description of both works.
SONS OF ANARCHY
What is the definition of anarchy from sons of anarchy tv show?
"Anarchism stands for the liberation of the human mind from the dominion of
religion and liberation of the human body from the coercion of property;
liberation from the shackles and restraint of government. It stands for a social
order based on the free grouping of individuals" Emma Goldman
The Sons of Anarchy is an outlaw motorcycle club with many charters in the
United States and overseas. The show focuses on the original and founding
charter, Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original, referred to by the
acronym SAMCRO or Sam Crow. The Redwood charter is headquartered in
Charming, California, in a clubhouse adjacent to the Teller-Morrow auto
mechanic shop. Led by former President Clay Morrow, the club protects and
controls Charming through close community relationships, bribery and violent
intimidation.
John Teller and Piermont "Piney" Winston co-founded SAMCRO in 1967
following their return from the Vietnam War, where both men served in the
paratroops. The first charter was called "Redwood" because they weren't
settled in any one city but just cruised the Northern California coast from Eureka
to Big Sur, which is Redwood country. It wasn't until after Gemma, John's wife,
became pregnant with her first son, Jackson, that they decided to settle in
Charming, the town where Gemma grew up. At that point, John Teller thought
Charming was a little too cute for a charter name, so he called the charter the
Redwood Originals. That's when the SAMCRO handle was born. Six of the
"Redwood Original 9" members were veterans; Clay Morrow was the youngest
of the original members. John died in 1993, Gemma remarried to Clay. John
and Gemma's son, Jackson (Jax), grows up around the club and becomes Vice
President of SAMCRO. Jax is also connected to Tara, a doctor at St. Thomas
Hospital.
Club members wear vests known as cuts or kuttes (jacket with the sleeves cut
off). The SOA patch on the back is a Grim Reaper holding a crystal ball with the
anarchy "A", and wielding the Reaper's traditional scythe, the handle of which

2. has been replaced by the M16 rifle that the club's founders wielded in Vietnam.
Only full members can wear the "patch". Other smaller patches on the vest
stand for different things, examples being "Men of Mayhem", which is worn by
club members who have spilled blood on the club's behalf, and "First 9", worn
by the original nine members of SOA. Jax also commonly wears a cap with the
words "Reaper Crew", and at least four female characters affiliated with the club
(Gemma, Tara, Wendy, and Lyla) have crow tattoos. The Sons ride customized
motorcycles of various types. Club members have "day jobs" in local industries,
most of them working at the Teller-Morrow garage as mechanics, but they
primarily make money by illegally importing weapons, modifying and selling
them to various gangs, along with protection runs for local businesses by
protecting valuable truck shipments from hijacking.
The club operates out of a clubhouse on the same lot as the Teller-Morrow auto
shop. The clubhouse includes a living area with multiple rooms (where
members sometimes crash for the night), a fully operational bar, a pool table, a
kitchen, a workout room, and the "chapel", a room with an elaborate conference
table made of redwood that has a reaper logo carved into the top, where the
patched members meet to discuss club business and vote on major decisions.
The club also owns a secluded cabin in the woods and formerly had a
warehouse outside of town where they assembled the illegal weapons.
SAMCRO keeps meth traffickers and drug dealers out of Charming, which puts
them at odds with the meth-distributing white supremacist Nords, headed by
Ernest Darby; this earns them respect and admiration from the townspeople,
who believe the Sons do more to protect their town than its own police.
SAMCRO also has to deal with a rival Oakland-based motorcycle club (MC), the
Mayans led by Marcus Alvarez. Other groups in SAMCRO's orbit include the
San Francisco–based Chinese mafia Lin Triad, led by Henry Lin; the Italian
American Cacuzza crime family; the Real IRA of Ireland, which supplies them
with illegal Russian-made guns; the "One-Niners", an African American street
gang to whom SAMCRO sell weapons; and various affiliates in the state prison
system, where many members of the club have been incarcerated at one time
or another.
HAMLET
On a dark winter night, a ghost walks the ramparts of Elsinore Castle in
Denmark. Discovered first by a pair of watchmen, then by the scholar Horatio,
the ghost resembles the recently deceased King Hamlet, whose brother
Claudius has inherited the throne and married the king’s widow, Queen
Gertrude. When Horatio and the watchmen bring Prince Hamlet, the son of
Gertrude and the dead king, to see the ghost, it speaks to him, declaring
ominously that it is indeed his father’s spirit, and that he was murdered by none
other than Claudius. Ordering Hamlet to seek revenge on the man who usurped
his throne and married his wife, the ghost disappears with the dawn.
Prince Hamlet devotes himself to avenging his father’s death, but, because he
is contemplative and thoughtful by nature, he delays, entering into a deep

3. melancholy and even apparent madness. Claudius and Gertrude worry about
the prince’s erratic behavior and attempt to discover its cause. They employ a
pair of Hamlet’s friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to watch him. When
Polonius, the pompous Lord Chamberlain, suggests that Hamlet may be mad
with love for his daughter, Ophelia, Claudius agrees to spy on Hamlet in
conversation with the girl. But though Hamlet certainly seems mad, he does not
seem to love Ophelia: he orders her to enter a nunnery and declares that he
wishes to ban marriages.
A group of traveling actors comes to Elsinore, and Hamlet seizes upon an idea
to test his uncle’s guilt. He will have the players perform a scene closely
resembling the sequence by which Hamlet imagines his uncle to have
murdered his father, so that if Claudius is guilty, he will surely react. When the
moment of the murder arrives in the theater, Claudius leaps up and leaves the
room. Hamlet and Horatio agree that this proves his guilt. Hamlet goes to kill
Claudius but finds him praying. Since he believes that killing Claudius while in
prayer would send Claudius’s soul to heaven, Hamlet considers that it would be
an inadequate revenge and decides to wait. Claudius, now frightened of
Hamlet’s madness and fearing for his own safety, orders that Hamlet be sent to
England at once.
Hamlet goes to confront his mother, in whose bedchamber Polonius has hidden
behind a tapestry. Hearing a noise from behind the tapestry, Hamlet believes
the king is hiding there. He draws his sword and stabs through the fabric, killing
Polonius. For this crime, he is immediately dispatched to England with
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. However, Claudius’s plan for Hamlet includes
more than banishment, as he has given Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sealed
orders for the King of England demanding that Hamlet be put to death.
In the aftermath of her father’s death, Ophelia goes mad with grief and drowns
in the river. Polonius’s son, Laertes, who has been staying in France, returns to
Denmark in a rage. Claudius convinces him that Hamlet is to blame for his
father’s and sister’s deaths. When Horatio and the king receive letters from
Hamlet indicating that the prince has returned to Denmark after pirates attacked
his ship en route to England, Claudius concocts a plan to use Laertes’ desire for
revenge to secure Hamlet’s death. Laertes will fence with Hamlet in innocent
sport, but Claudius will poison Laertes’ blade so that if he draws blood, Hamlet
will die. As a backup plan, the king decides to poison a goblet, which he will
give Hamlet to drink should Hamlet score the first or second hits of the match.
Hamlet returns to the vicinity of Elsinore just as Ophelia’s funeral is taking
place. Stricken with grief, he attacks Laertes and declares that he had in fact
always loved Ophelia. Back at the castle, he tells Horatio that he believes one
must be prepared to die, since death can come at any moment. A foolish
courtier named Osric arrives on Claudius’s orders to arrange the fencing match
between Hamlet and Laertes.
The sword-fighting begins. Hamlet scores the first hit, but declines to drink from
the king’s proffered goblet. Instead, Gertrude takes a drink from it and is swiftly
killed by the poison. Laertes succeeds in wounding Hamlet, though Hamlet
does not die of the poison immediately. First, Laertes is cut by his own sword’s

4. blade, and, after revealing to Hamlet that Claudius is responsible for the
queen’s death, he dies from the blade’s poison. Hamlet then stabs Claudius
through with the poisoned sword and forces him to drink down the rest of the
poisoned wine. Claudius dies, and Hamlet dies immediately after achieving his
revenge.
At this moment, a Norwegian prince named Fortinbras, who has led an army to
Denmark and attacked Poland earlier in the play, enters with ambassadors from
England, who report that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. Fortinbras is
stunned by the gruesome sight of the entire royal family lying sprawled on the
floor dead. He moves to take power of the kingdom. Horatio, fulfilling Hamlet’s
last request, tells him Hamlet’s tragic story. Fortinbras orders that Hamlet be
carried away in a manner befitting a fallen soldier.
HAMLET ON A HARLEY
There are numerous references to William Shakespeare’s Hamlet in popular
culture such as film, literature, and art. One television show that is almost a
spitting image of Hamlet is the television drama series created by Kurt Sutter
called Sons of Anarchy. Sons of Anarchy draws many character parallels to
Hamlet, as well as the storyline. It is, in fact, the story of Hamlet, and instead of
taking place in Denmark it takes place in a small town in northern California
called Charming, and all of the characters are members of a motorcycle club.
Jax Teller who is the protagonist of the show resembles Prince Hamlet; Gemma
Teller who is Jax’s mother resembles Gertrude and Clay Morrow the current
president of the charter is another version of Claudius. Other core characters in
the show are Tara Knowles who is Jax's love interest who represents Ophelia
and Opie Winston who is Jax’s closest friend is based on Horatio. Other
similarities with Hamlet are Jax’s questioning of Clay’s intentions, the presence
of John Teller’s “Ghost”, John’s mysterious death, and the trouble the club
faces. By looking closely at the influence Hamlet has on the Sons of Anarchy,
the comparison of the characters becomes clearer and deeper each time you
look at their actions and motives.
“For, though I am not splenitive and rash,- Yet have I something in me
dangerous.”. This quote describes not only how Hamlet and Jax are alike, but
how their personalities seem to have a murderous rage in them that is waiting
to explode. This is what makes Jax and Hamlet such appealing characters to
the reader and audience which makes them wonder what their next course of
action is going to be. While Hamlet and Jax are both threats to their “father’s”
empire the thing that truly separates them is their ability to act on certain things.
When it comes to this Jax has more in common with Leartes because they both
have the ability to act unlike Hamlet. While Jax and Hamlet are both very
contemplative and impulsive, Jax is the only one to fully carry out his carefully
laid plans. (Murtagh) But like Hamlet, Jax is known to wait long periods of time
until he finally does what he says. This however, may give some people the
interpretation that Jax has the inability to act, but that’s not the case. While Jax
hasn’t faced the task of avenging his father’s death like Hamlet, he has however
been tested. An example of this is when Jax confronts the man who raped his

5. mother; Jax murders the man without hesitation in a tattoo polar bathroom, an
act Hamlet would’ve backed out of. But like Hamlet, Jax waits weeks before he
does this because he wants to “play it smart” before getting his revenge. It is
understandable why Hamlet has the inability to act because after all he was the
prince of Denmark who had a sheltered and privileged life, who had never faced
a murderous situation before in his life like Jax. It’s as if Jax and Hamlet were
born into the same lives but only one of them was born into an environment that
praises violence.
Another characteristic that Jax and Hamlet share is their self-loathing when
something happens to a loved one. While Hamlet becomes depressed after his
father’s death, Jax become’s equally depressed when his son is kidnapped and
taken to Belfast, Ireland. Now, Jax doesn't share Hamlet's melancholy attitude
on life but his self-loathing over things is very similar to Hamlet. Hamlet’s self-
loathing ultimately stays with Hamlet after his father’s death and later on
Ophelia’s suicide; while Jax’s is the club unraveling before him causing him to
feel increasingly powerless to stop the downward spiral and somewhat at fault
for it. (Felipe) It’s because of this that Jax and Hamlet seem to damage most of
their relationships.
Like Hamlet, Jax has a tendency to make the ones he loves run away,
specifically Tara who represents Ophelia. Like Hamlet and Ophelia, Jax and
Tara’s relationship is a mystery in the beginning of the series, and is unknown
how serious their relationship was. Like Hamlet, Jax rarely shows Tara that he
has strong feelings for her until it is needed, “When you came home, it was like
some kind of time. Like my past coming around to give me another shot to do
this different; better. ” (McDonough) Unlike Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship,
Jax and Tara’s isn’t forbidden or a secret. However, while Polonius forbids
Hamlet from having a relationship with Ophelia, Gemma tries her best in the
beginning to prevent Tara from being with Jax because she “hurt him bad last
time”. Eventually Tara goes against Gemma’s advice and begins a relationship
with Jax unlike what Ophelia does. While Hamlet’s love for Ophelia drives him
insane, Jax’s love for Tara gives him a purpose and something worth fighting
for. (Murtagh) Nevertheless, Jax still hurts Tara by shutting her out of the club
business and unfortunately becomes unfaithful with her. While with Hamlet, he
simply drives Ophelia away from him until she commits suicide. Only time will
tell if Tara and Jax’s relationship will end just as sadly as Ophelia and Hamlet’s
forbidden love. Another person who Jax seems to affect greatly is his one and
only confident Opie. Opie like Horatio is the only character that Jax can reveal
his plans for the club to since everyone else is dedicated to Clay. While their
relationship has been shown to be rocky one, Opie has been known to take
sides between Jax and Clay. Like Horatio, Opie is well respected by Clay but is
also like Leartes because Clay sees him as a threat to his posistion of power.
Opie, however, is affected by Jax because he keeps Opie in the dark about
critical things which damages their relationship for a little bit. While Jax and
Hamlet affect the ones they care about, they tend to do it in different ways.
Although, Sons of Anarchy hasn’t reached its conclusion yet, one can see how
Jax is slowly becoming more like Hamlet as the years go by. In season one (or
Act I) Jax begins to question the Sons of Anarchy culture, brought on by the
birth of his son. This in a way is very similar to how Hamlet questions Claudius’s
actions after King Hamlet’s death. These questions from Jax leads to friction
between the two as it did with Hamlet with Claudius, causing Jax being a threat

6. to Clay’s authority and “kingdom”. One moment that damages their relationship
is when Jax finds out that Clay planned on killing Opie which resulted in Opie’s
wife’s death. This is similar to how Hamlet discovers about his father’s death
from the “Ghost”. Jax’s relationship with Clay can be described as a roller
coaster because the two either hate or respect each other; after all Clay has
been his step-father since Jax was fifteen. Clay often calls Jax “Son” just as
Claudius tried to do after King Hamlet’s death with Jax accepting it.
Nevertheless, this aspect of their relationship is never shown between Hamlet
and Claudius’s because they were always suspicious of each other’s intentions.
However, the main thing that separates Jax and Clay is how they choose to use
their power. Jax believes that power isn’t necessarily important but what you do
with it when it’s acquired. This most of the time leads to arguments with Clay
and at one time almost resulted with Jax leaving the club. Their relationship in
the end will only lead in death when Jax discovers Clay’s involvement in his
father’s death. While Clay and Claudius impact Jax and Hamlet’s life, it is in fact
their father’s ghost that motivates them to do certain things.
“When we take action to avenge the ones we love personal justice collides with
social and divine justice. We become judge, jury, and God.” (Murtagh) This
quote comes from John Teller’s personal journal called The Rise and Fall of
Sam Crow. How the Sons of Anarchy lost their way. While John
"communicates" with Jax through this unpublished journal; Hamlet, of course,
literally communicates with the ghost of his father. It’s their father’s ghost that
influences their decisions which unfortunately leads to death. While Hamlet is
the only one able talk to the “Ghost” in Hamlet, everyone can read and learn
from John Teller’s journal in Sons of Anarchy. It’s easy to say that this journal’s
ideas and secrets are driving Jax away with the clubs actions, but John’s ghost
has a more positive effect on Jax's life then King Hamlet’s ghost. This is
because John urges Jax to become a peaceful person while King Hamlet
wishes revenge for his death. It is known by Gemma that Jax has read this
journal and worries that she’ll lose Jax the same way she lost John. When
talking to Clay about this Gemma states that, “Jax is being haunted by the
ghost of his goddamn father”. (Carpenter) This unsettles Gemma and Clay
enormously and causes uneasiness with Jax because he is now threat to Clay's
“empire”. If it’s one thing that Hamlet and Sons of Anarchy show it’s that buried
secrets won’t stay buried forever; even spirits.
Gertrude and Gemma are obviously one of the most suspicious and
questionable characters from Hamlet and Sons of Anarchy. When comparing
these two women you can clearly see how similar they are by their actions. The
first thing specifically is them marrying their husband’s “brothers” right after their
deaths. It is unknown whether Gertrude was involved in King Hamlet’s murder,
but with Gemma it is very clear that she conspired with Clay with John’s death.
Gemma calls John “a fool” and is concerned that Jax is going to follow “the
wrong father’s path” when it comes to the future of Samcrow. Gertrude,
however, is never heard of saying anything regarding King Hamlet’s death and
it appears to the audience that she is oblivious of what’s going on around her.
But it is obvious that these two women’s true goal and purpose lies with their
sons: Hamlet and Jax.
Gertrude and Gemma’s true goal with their sons is to place doubt in their minds
with everything regarding the truth. One event that truly shows this is when
Gertrude attempts to persuade Hamlet to not believe that Claudius killed King

7. Hamlet by saying, “This very coinage of your brain.-This bodiless creation
ecstasy-Is very cunning in.” However, this quotes true message is that Hamlet’s
suspicions regarding Claudius are false and that Hamlet should let go of his
father. While Jax hasn’t confronted Gemma with this accusation yet, he has
confronted her by asking her what John wanted for the club. This leads to
Gemma avoiding the question and telling Jax that his father was a strong man,
“Your father was hit by a goddamn semi, dragged 178 yards. And that bastard
lived for two more days. Teller's do not die easy.” (Bingenheimer) Gemma also
tells Jax that she loved John “more than any other man” and that even she has
begun to read his journal. It’s unknown if this is an act for Jax, but when seen
with Clay, Gemma seems to despise John immensely. It is her true goal
however to turn Jax against his father after she discovers him reading John’s
journal. Gemma, however, succeeds in doing this by telling him about his past.
Jax tells Gemma specifically, “I'd never turn on my club, or my family. I'm not
my father.” It is unknown if Gemma’s intentions of turning Jax against his father
are because of Clay or because she doesn’t want her son to face the same
outcome of John. She specifically states to Clay, “It's a different time. We can't
look at Jax in the same light as John.” (Carpenter) But this is where things get
interesting and confusing at the same time. While it’s obvious that Gemma
loves Clay, it is possible that she’s using Clay to make sure that Jax is the
president of the club when Clay steps down, “One day he’s gonna have to take
over, baby.” It is possible that Gertrude had the same intentions with Hamlet
because after all she protects Hamlet even when he does radical things, just as
him killing Polonius.
Nevertheless, these two women love their sons immensely and want them to be
happy as long as they’re willing to do as they ask. In other words, Gemma is a
very two-faced person when it comes to Jax because she secretly has her own
agenda for him very much like Gertrude does with Hamlet. Like Gertrude,
Gemma truly enjoys her role as “Queen” and doesn't take kindly to anyone she
sees as a threat. One of the critical things that Hamlet doesn’t show that Sons
of Anarchy does is how conniving and scheming Gertrude truly is; like Gemma.
Because we don’t see Gertrude’s true colors like Gemma, you can only
speculate whether Gertrude was involved in King Hamlet’s murder. It’s easy to
say that she apart of his murder because she marries Claudius immediately
after King Hamlet's death and doesn't really appear to mourn for his loss. But in
Sons of Anarchy it is never fully explained how long it took for Gemma to marry
Clay, but it is known that she involved with Clay because of John’s changing
ways. John unlike King Hamlet is aware of Gemma’s actions with Clay and
states that he knows the end is coming, “They barely try to hide it from me.
Gemma hates my apathy. She hates all of me. Her chill is terrifying. I know my
days are numbered, and when these letters stop, you can be certain my death
will come at the hands of my wife and best friend.” But when will the similarities
between Gemma and Gertrude end? Will Gemma send spies like Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern after Jax? Will she witness Jax murder someone similar to
Polonius? Will she sacrifice her own life accidentally or not to save Jax?
(Bingenheimer) Only time will tell whether Gemma will suffer the same cruel
fate Gertrude endured.
“My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: Words without thoughts never to
heaven go. ” sums up how Clay and Claudius have no true feelings of remorse
for their actions. They can also be described as two power hungry beings who

8. seek to control everything around them. Clay like Claudius believes that he’s
untouchable and loves his role as “King” even more than Gemma and Gertrude
love being “Queen”. That however is one of Clay’s biggest flaws as the leader
of the Sons. Clay unlike Jax doesn’t see the “big picture” when it comes to
protecting Charming and the club because he believes that power is the
ultimate goal. Now this doesn’t mean that Clay is terrible leader like Claudius,
but he’s far from perfect when it comes to making decisions for the club. Clay
most of the time makes deals behind the backs of other members of the club
which causes his rivalry with Jax to intensify. As stated earlier, Clay in a
peculiar way loves and respects Jax as long as he’s not willing to question his
authority and leadership. Clay like Claudius has to be in control for him to get
his way, which may have lead to him overthrowing John from his position as
President of the club. It is Clay’s powerful ambition that leads him to possibly kill
his own “brother” because of John’s changing ways. It is known that Gemma
and Clay were having an affair with each other from John’s perspective, and is
possible that he marries Gemma to make sure his ideas from the club are
passed down to Jax. It is known that Clay has a strong dislike for John by
specifically stating that John was, “John was weak and a coward” Clay like
Claudius is a very calculative man who can fall to any level to hold his power to
himself. (McDonough) He thinks only of himself and has the ability to
manipulate people the way he wants to. However, Clay has a human nature as
well. Just as Claudius feels guilty for killing his brother, Clay feels guilty for
accidently killing Opie’s innocent wife. But like Gemma it is unknown if Clay
married Gemma for power because after all she is a well respected “Old lady” in
the club. But it is quite evident that Clay truly loves Gemma just as Claudius
loves Gertrude. Ultimately like Claudius, Clay is known to make stupid
“business deals” that brings unnecessary legal attention to the club just as
Claudius allows his country open to attack by letting Fortinbras’s army march
through Denmark. This course of action from Clay may not only destroy the
Sons of Anarchy but might also bring a tragic death from his “son” Jax.
By comparing the similarities of characters from Hamlet and Sons of Anarchy
you can obviously see how not only the characters and plot are very similar.
Like Hamlet, Jax is a very contemplative and impulsive individual who threatens
to unravel the kingdom that his father created. It is however their self-loathing
and brash actions that drives away the people they truly care about. It is also
their father’s “ghost” that causes them to do what they do regarding their most
common enemy. Gemma unlike Gertrude is shown to be a conniving individual
who is just as much as an antagonist then she is a protagonist. This leads to
many questions about her and makes one wonder if Gertrude was just like this
behind the scenes. Finally there is Clay who like Claudius is a very power
hungry and calculative individual who’s only true goal is to control everything
around them. This flaw ultimately leads to the death of not only innocent people
but the ones they love as well. Kurt Sutter the creator of the series has stated
that his main goal with Sons of Anarchy in its similarity with Hamlet is to make
people wonder what would’ve happened if John like King Hamlet wasn’t killed,
“You wonder what he would have made of the way it turned out. It's not a
version of Hamlet but it's definitely influenced by it.” (Felipe) By looking at
theses similarities it makes one wonder if Sons of Anarchy is truly Sons of
Hamlet.