Theme of Loyalty

Theme of Loyalty

1. Loyalties change

   • Personal gain
     • R&G forgoe their loyalty to Hamlet to the King for bennefits
   • Circumstances
     • Polonius tells Ophelia to break up with Hamlet (influence)
     • People who now love Claudius when they used to not like him
       • Buying little stamps with his face on it

2. Positive Outcomes

   • Horatio chooses to live to tell Hamlet's tale

3. Negative outcomes

   • Laertes' loyalty to his father causes him to want to kill Hamlet resulting in all their deaths; Laertes feels betrayed by Hamlet
   • Gertrude's marriage to the king ruins her relationship with Hamlet
   • Hamlet's loyalty to his father leads him to lose his mind