Hamlet Themes

Hamlet Theme of Madness

Obfuscating insanity —uh, faking madness to throw people off—is one of the oldest tricks in the book. In Hamlet, Shakespeare takes it up a notch: does Hamlet truly go "mad," or is the cuckoo-talk, like the play itself, all an act? And if madness is a form of theatricality (maybe with some "method" in it, as Polonius says) —does that mean that all actors are crazy?


Hamlet Theme of Revenge

Ghosts, perverse family drama, and a vow of revenge: Hamlet is all geared up to be a traditional bloody revenge play… and then it grinds abruptly to a halt. The play isn't about Hamlet's ultimately successful vengeance for his father's murder at all—that's taken care of in about two seconds during Act 5. Instead, most of the play is concerned with Hamlet's inner struggle to take action. Our point? The play is a lot more interested in calling into question the validity and usefulness of revenge than in satisfying the audience's bloodlust—although, sure, it does that too. Shakespeare had a theater to fill, after all


Hamlet Theme of Mortality

Hamlet may talk—and talk, and talk—about suicide, but what he's really concerned with is mortality, and the fact that the living world is made of death and decay. (Yeah, we know that life looks pretty grim when you put it that way. Sorry.). From Hamlet's initial confrontation with a dead man's ghost to the final bloodbath, the play is trying to come to grips with just this problem: if we all die eventually, then does it really matter who kills us?


Hamlet Theme of Religion

For a play about incest and murder, Hamlet registers many of the 16th century's religious anxieties, like the effects of the Protestant Reformation on Christian ideas about mortality and the afterlife. And it also seems to be in basic conflict with itself: how can a play about murder, suicide, and revenge square with Christian notions of acceptance, Providence, and forgiveness? Well, maybe they can't—and maybe that's why Hamlet drags his feet for so long.


Hamlet Theme of Art and Culture

You know how all of Stephen King's books are about writers? Or how an unlikely number of movies have writer characters? Sometimes people take the advice to write what you know pretty literally—like Shakespeare, who filled Hamlet with self-conscious references to the workings of the theater. But it's not just for lack of other material. Hamlet is self-reflexive: it constantly draws attention to the fact that it's a play. By taking on various theatrical roles, like "antic" or "revenge hero," Hamlet is pushing us to ask just how much of our identity is based on performance. Have you ever used a line from a movie as a Facebook status? Or quoted a song when a conversation gets a little too real? Then you know what we're talking about.


Hamlet Theme of Lies and Deceit

For someone who hates deception, Hamlet sure finds himself coming up with a lot of lies. Hamlet depicts a seamy political world, where deception is a necessary part of life and political "spin" rules the day. In other words, it's a lot like our world—and like pretty much every political court or congress in history. No wonder directors seem to think it's infinitely adaptable: lies and deceit aren't limited to one time or place.


Hamlet Theme of Sex

Hamlet is a perv. Really. Oh, not the kind of perv who goes around doing gross stuff—as far as we can tell, Hamlet isn't actually interested in girls at all—but the kind who just can't stop thinking about other people's sex lives. Including (especially) his mom's. The young prince is disgusted by his aging mother's sexual appetite, which eventually becomes the way he feels about all women in general. According to Hamlet, female sexuality makes the entire world seem like an "unweeded garden: in other words, it's associated with deception, sin, and a fallen world. No wonder he can't lay off the dirty jokes.


Hamlet Theme of Gender

"Frailty, thy name is woman" (1.2.6)—but Hamlet's men are pillars of stability and constancy, right? Right?? Well, maybe not. But Hamlet's attitude toward women is definitely sexist, and it stems from his disgust at his mother's sexuality and seeming unfaithfulness to his dead father. But the play doesn't seem to agree. Hamlet's mother's final guilt is left ambiguous, and we just end up feeling really bad about Ophelia. Hamlet's attitude toward women reveals more about him (and maybe men in general) than it does about women's true nature.


Hamlet Theme of Family

Blood is thicker than water, which is easy to see when it's spilled all over the floor at the end of the play. Hamlet dwells on issues of incest and revenge, both of which just might be taking the familial bond a little too far. You shouldn't have sex with your family—pretty much everyone can get behind that—but maybe, Hamlet says, you shouldn't be murdering for them, either. So, what's left? Normal families? Nah. This is Shakespearean tragedy; keep looking.