Hamlet themes

Appearances VS reality 1

• - Polonius tells Ophelia that Hamlet is only pretending to love her
• - Hamlet connects the indulgence of desires exemplified by Claudius' drunken revelry, to corruption. What looks like merrymaking only hides internal corruption. Claudius, who poses as a king and gentleman, is really a usurper and a murderer
• - The ghost reveals the reality of it's death to Hamlet. Poison is also a metaphor for lying, using language to hide reality. As soon as the reality is revealed, Hamlet hides behind a mask of madness and calls Claudius "Smiling villain". While Hamlets madness is fake, Ophelia's is not
• - Hamlet uses the appearance of the play to simulate a reality to prove that the ghost's "reality" is really real. Hamlet also puts on a play of his own in pretending to be mad
• - R and G are fools, fooled by appearance they cannot see reality, they pose as friends but are only spies
• - Hamlet is duped by the praying Claudius, in reality, Claudius is unable to pray
• - Claudius is only ever thinking about appearance; Hamlet's madness, Ophelia's death, Polonius' death
• - Fortinbras is the only character that chooses reality over appearance
• - On the surface, the Danish court is noble and graceful, however, inside it is rotten and corrupt
• - Gertrude is also not how she appears "my most seeming virtuous queen"

Appearance VS reality 2

• - on the surface Polonius seems like a good man and father, however, in reality he is a false and untrustworthy character who spends his time lying and fishing for information
• - Laertes is also infected by the corruption of the Danish court, he is unsrupulous in his pursute of revenge
• - The trip to England appears to be a business journey, but is really an attempt to have Hamlet killed. the seemingly innocent duel between Laertes and Hamlet is really an attempt by Claudius to have Hamlet killed. Hamlet's meetings with Ophelia seem innocent, but are really orchestrated by Polonius to gain further information
• - The contrast between appearances vs reality is brought forth through patterns of imagery; "the apparel oft proclaims the man" "these are but the trappings and suits of woe" "I have heard of your paintings too, well enough. God hath given you one face and you make yourself another"
• - Hamlet knows he lives in a world of false appearances "to be honest as this world goes is to be one man picked out of ten thousand". and in this world he adopts "an antic disposition" to confuse his adversary
• - While almost all of the other characters accept the world as they find it, Hamlet rejects and battles against it, eventually succeeding, revealing and removing Elsinore's rotten core

Poison, Corruption, and Death

• - After Hamlet's revelation about the ghost, his feelings of unease are mirrored by the spiritual unease of the Danish court
• - R and G embody the underlying corruption of the Danish court; they seem to by loyal, noble, men of the crown when they are really just corrupt payed spies
• - Death only troubles Claudius in relation to himself
• - By calling R and G sponges, Hamlet implies that through their foolishness they have been corrupt by Claudius
• - Much of Hamlet's philosophy and thinking throughout the play are centred around death and other such morbid things

Action VS Inaction

• - In the beginning, Hamlet takes decisive action to follow the ghost
• - Hamlet's inaction is portrayed in the key moment of the prayer scene, when he is ready to kill Claudius, yet shies away from the task at the last minuet on the pretence of not wanting to send Claudius to heaven
• - Hamlet's rash killing of Polonius shows that it wasn't a fear of killing that kept him from killing Claudius
• - Claudius is a man of decisive action, he is efficient and promptly deals with anything that he think might pose a threat to him and/or his crown. e.g. Hamlet and his madness
• - Fortinbras and Laertes act as foil character to Hamlet, taking decisive action where they see it to be necessary without delay. While Hamlet procrastinates about his revenge, laertes would easily act when given he chance "to cut his throat i'th' church"
• - Hamlet knows that he overthinks things "thus conscience does make cowards of us all"
• - Horatio Identifies Hamlet's hamartia when he say that Hamlet is considering "too curiously"
• - Fortinbras achieves vengeance by not persuing it, leaving the corrupt Danish court to destroy itself

Women

• - The women in this play represent typical shakespearian women, weak, shallow, submissive, and obedient. Therefore, they are cast in a negative light throughout the play. Although Gertrude is more dominant than Ophelia, she still needs a man to run her life. Ophelia is far weaker and is more easily abused and manipulated by the men in her life.
• - Although Gertrude loves Hamlet, she comes across as apathetic and unobservant "why seems it so particular with thee?"
• - Hamlet condemns women throughput the play "frailty thy name is women"
• - while the male response to tragedy is revenge, Ophelia, being a woman, has to opt for suicide
• - Gertrude is shallow, dependant, fickle, insensitive, and morally blind, yet she remains loyal to her son, even through his suposed madness "I have no life to breath what thou hast said to me"
• - Gertrude recognises her "sick soul" in the play, refering to the "such black and grained spots as will not leave their tinct"