Category: Hamlet Theme

Hamlet includes many references to performances of all kinds – both theatrical performances and the way people perform in daily life. In his first appearance, Hamlet draws a distinction between outward behavior— “actions that a man might play”— and real feelings: “that within which passeth show” (I.ii.). However, the more time we spend with Hamlet the harder it becomes to tell what he is really feeling and what he is performing. He announces in Act One scene five that he is going to pretend to be mad (“put an antic disposition on”.) In Act Two scene one, Ophelia describes Hamlet’s mad behavior as a comical performance. However, when Hamlet tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that “I have lost all my mirth,” he seems genuinely depressed. Generations of readers have argued about whether Hamlet is really mad or just performing madness. It’s impossible to know for sure – by the end of the play, even Hamlet himself doesn’t seem to know the difference between performance and reality.

Hamlet further explores the idea of performance by regularly reminding the audience that we are watching a play. When Polonius says that at university he “did enact Julius Caesar” (III.ii), contemporary audiences would have thought of Shakespeare’s own Julius Caesar, which was written around the same time as Hamlet. The actor who played Polonius may have played Julius Caesar as well. The device of the play within the play gives Hamlet further opportunities to comment on the nature of theater. By constantly reminding the audience that what we’re watching is a performance, Hamlet invites us to think about the fact that something fake can feel real, and vice versa. Hamlet himself points out that acting is powerful because it’s indistinguishable from reality: “The purpose of playing […] is to hold as ’twere the mirror up to Nature” (III.ii.). That’s why he believes that the Players can “catch the conscience of the King” (II.ii.). By repeatedly showing us that performance can feel real, Hamlet makes us question what “reality” actually is.

Madness

One of the central questions of Hamlet is whether the main character has lost his mind or is only pretending to be mad. Hamlet’s erratic behavior and nonsensical speech can be interpreted as a ruse to get the other characters to believe he’s gone mad. On the other hand, his behavior may be a logical response to the “mad” situation he finds himself in – his father has been murdered by his uncle, who is now his stepfather. Initially, Hamlet himself seems to believe he’s sane – he describes his plans to “put an antic disposition on” and tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern he is only mad when the wind blows “north-north-west” – in other words, his madness is something he can turn on and off at will. By the end of the play, however, Hamlet seems to doubt his own sanity. Referring to himself in the third person, he says “And when he’s not himself does harm Laertes,” suggesting Hamlet has become estranged from his former, sane self. Referring to his murder of Polonius he says “Who does it then? His madness.” At the same time, Hamlet’s excuse of madness absolves him of murder, so can also be read as the workings of a sane and cunning mind.

Doubt

In Hamlet, the main character’s doubt creates a world where very little is known for sure. Hamlet thinks but isn’t entirely sure, his uncle killed his father. He believes he sees his father’s Ghost but isn’t certain he should believe in the Ghost or listen to what the Ghost tells him: “I’ll have grounds More relative than this.” In his “to be or not to be” soliloquy Hamlet suspects he should probably just kill himself, but doubt about what lies beyond the grave prevents him from acting. Hamlet is so wracked with doubt he even works to infect other characters with his lack of certainty, as when he tells Ophelia “you should not have believed me” when he told her he loved her. As a result, the audience doubts Hamlet’s reliability as a protagonist. We are left with many doubts about the action – whether Gertrude was having an affair with Claudius before he killed Hamlet’s father; whether Hamlet is sane or mad; what Hamlet’s true feelings are for Ophelia.

“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside while still alive” (Shakur par. 1). Life is extremely unpredictable; one minute, everything is transcendent; the next, everything goes down in flames. These events are what ultimately shape an individual’s character. This matter is very eloquently portrayed in Shakespeare’s quintessential tragedy, Hamlet. The theme of loss is unquestionably prevalent throughout Hamlet but is often overlooked. In the play “Hamlet,” William Shakespeare astutely uses tragedies, literary devices, and monologues to establish a centralized theme revolving around loss consequently. The three most essential losses introduced by Shakespeare are; The loss of life, the loss of sanity, and undoubtedly the loss of trust.

While it is sad, the loss of family and loved ones is an aspect of life to which everyone can or will relate to at some point in their lives. Shakespeare makes use of this fact to develop the theme of loss further. The confrontation between Hamlet and his father’s ghost is the crucial scene by which Shakespeare introduces this theme. King Hamlet’s death sets the onset of how ephemeral life is in the play. In an effort to escape purgatory and rest in peace, King Hamlet reappears as a ghost and informs Hamlet about his heinous murder, “Murder most foul, as in the better it is. But this foulest, strange and unnatural. Haste me to know ‘t, that I, with wings as swift As meditation or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge.” (William Shakespeare, I.V). This situation gave rise to Hamlet’s most famous soliloquy, “to be or not to be” (III.I), in which Hamlet voices his internal struggles and contemplates committing suicide. This soliloquy asks the audience to what extent is life better than death and whether or not death is a better alternative to life. By directly comparing death to life in this “pro/con” mentality, Shakespeare relieves some of the terror stigma attached to death and reinforces the extent to which death is a part of life – and even suggests that it may be better than it.

Upon meeting the ghost of his, father Hamlet says, “It will not speak; then I will follow it.” (Act I, Scene III). This scene reveals how, regardless of his safety, Hamlet is eager and anxious to meet the ghost of his deceased father. His anxiousness shows to the audience how desperate a person can get if offered the chance to have one more interaction with a loved one before losing them forever, to the point where a person would go into the unknown without regarding their safety. This also reflects the numbness and emptiness Hamlet feels after the loss of his father. He very clearly has no care in the world about his own life, willing to endanger it to meet his father again. Finally, Hamlet’s lack of fear of the otherworldly ghost also reinforces the universality of death. It develops the idea that fearing death is as silly as fearing a sunset since both are equally guaranteed. Shakespeare also makes use of dramatic irony to reinforce the inevitability of death. The dramatic irony surrounding Hamlet is that the audience knows that Hamlet is going to die at the end of the play – there is no suspense there. This is the tragedy surrounding Hamlet. When the ghost of King Hamlet reveals the heinous act committed by Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius, and then asks him to avenge him by saying, “O, horrible! Oh, horrible! Most horrible! If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not; Let not the royal bed of Denmark be, A couch for luxury and damned incest.” At this point, the audience knows that a chain of events will occur that will lead to the eventual demise of Hamlet – But Hamlet does not know this. The dramatic irony plays a vital role in the play, watching Hamlet, or anyone, slowly approach and cause his or her death begs the audience to question their own lives. It forces the viewer to become more aware of their impending demise and compels them to realize the inescapability of death. Nevertheless, the character of Hamlet drives the theme of loss in Shakespeare’s eponymous play.

Another aspect of the theme of loss is the loss of trust. Shakespeare shrewdly portrays this theme through the interplays and the relationships between the protagonist Hamlet and other characters, namely his mother, Gertrude. In the play, Hamlet talks about his mother and exclaims, “She married. O, most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!” (I.II.156-157), here Hamlet expresses resentment about his mother’s haste marriage to king Claudius, which occurred only one month after the death of King Hamlet, claiming that she has not had enough time to mourn the passing of her late husband. Notwithstanding, Hamlet did not act on his emotions as he was instructed not to by his father’s ghost when he said, “Against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge, To prick and sting her.” (Act 1, Scene III). Gertrude’s actions caused Hamlet to lose trust in his mother and to question her loyalty. This scene causes the audience to empathize with Hamlet and helps give a reason to his later madness. Conversely, Hamlet’s trust in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern falters when he realizes why they have been sent to spy on him. Hamlet exclaims, “I know the good king and queen have sent for you.” (II.II.274-275) to reveal that Hamlet is aware that both of them are only there to scope out what is wrong with him. Hamlet’s trust shifts because he realizes they are not there to talk to him on their own accord, but sent by the King and Queen to prod for information about his mental state. Both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were Hamlet’s childhood friends, and so, therefore, finding out that they betrayed his trust took a toll on Hamlet’s mental wellness, causing him to be void of any emotion and deviate from his usual calm self. This is evident when Hamlet acts accordingly and leaves both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to die without feeling an ounce of guilt. Moreover, it is proven when he says: “Their defeat does, by their own insinuation, grow. (5.26.60-65) “. This speech shows Hamlet’s emotions towards his two childhood friends and how he felt no regret over what he did. Hamlet’s actions exemplify how the loss of friends, family, and trust can negatively reshape an individual. Shakespeare uses these reforms as a tool to develop the overall theme of loss.

Taking everything into account, in the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare conveys the depressive feelings that inundate Hamlet as a result of losing loved ones. Through the use of characterization, soliloquies, and dialogue, Shakespeare was able to develop an overall theme of loss with the loss of life, the loss of trust, and the loss of sanity being the most significant of these losses. Shakespeare was able to successfully encapsulate Hamlet’s sentiments over losing his family, friends, and finally himself, proving that the loss of a prominent figure in an individual’s life can lead to a chain reaction that will lead to one’s demise.