Themes In Hamlet

In the course of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, one is faced with a variety of themes. You can have a research paper custom written any or all of the themes within Hamlet. Some of the more popular themes that have been perviously studied are as follows:

• Mortality
• Death
• Climate of Denmark

The idea of mortality is presented at various points, with the title character routinely questioning what it means to live and die. Even as one reads the play, the idea of life and death is constantly at the forefront of one's mind, whether it is in the fate of Hamlet's father, the king, or in questioning what really happened to Ophelia, Hamlet's love.

Another theme one encounters routinely is madness. Many characters, including the king and queen, think Hamlet to be suffering from madness after the loss of his father. Part of this is because Hamlet wants them to think he is crazy; he hopes to keep them preoccupied from noticing the investigations the prince is doing into his mother's new husband. However, as the play moves on, Hamlet's madness seems to become less and less manufactured and more realistic, allowing the reader to question his mental state.

A theme often overlooked in the play is that of the political climate of Denmark. An often quoted line from the play - "something is rotten in the state of Denmark" - suggests that there is something wrong in the nation. This also serves as foreshadowing, because by the end of the play, the entire country will be brought to its knees with the death of the king, queen, and prince, and the arrival of Fortinbras and his army to assume control.