Theme

One theme that is very present in Act IV is madness. Hamlet's constant sense of feigned madness is  still present in this Act, particularly when Hamlet is describing what he has done with Polonius' body. His twisted words and confusing directions make it appear if he is both insane and dangerous, prompting Claudius to quickly begin the process of sending him to England. Another, more genuine sense of madness is portrayed through Ophelia, after learning of the death of her father. This also pulls in the theme of appearance versus reality because some of Hamlet's madness is an act put on for his own purposes, while Ophelia's genuine madness is so deep and forceful that it leads her to an untimely death.  

                                                                -Sam Slug

Themes Act III

Religion and Eternity

The eternal fate of the human soul is an obvious theme in Act III, especially since Hamlet's whole soliloquy is about the pros and cons of death. Then, to add to Hamlet's musings on eternity and the state of the human soul, Claudius has a large soliloquy of his own where he attempts to come to terms with the unethical murder of his brother. Hamlet's entire speech focuses on what is better, death or the misery of life. He also speaks about how uncertain death is and how frightening it is for the living because none of them honestly know what is beyond. I think that Hamlet not killing Claudius because he thinks he is praying is an enormous ironic symbol for religion itself. Claudius, though inadvertently, protects himself from harm by putting up what turns out to be a facade of piousness. Hamlet doesn't kill Claudius and actually never even gets close to him because he truly believes that Claudius is being devout. I think Shakespeare was trying to say something through this; Christians often appear to be holy and pure and because of this they avoid harm and are blessed with good fortune, while in reality they are never better than anyone else.

xoxo, Cantore Slug

Themes Act II
Lee Sims

One of the very prevalent themes throughout this play is that of betrayal, but it is particularly evident in Act II because of Ophelia's betraying Hamlet, by telling her father, and Hamlet's friends telling him what their purpose was, to spy on him. Shakespeare uses this betrayal to convey to the audience that betraying by means of deception never turns out the ideal way. In addition to betrayal, a theme that pervades throughout the story and is apparent in II.ii is deception. In Act II, deception is present everywhere, between the King and Queen, between Ophelia and Hamlet, between Hamlet and his friends, and between Hamlet and Polonious. Shakespeare uses this web of lies to portray to the audience what a truly awful mess deception creates; even if it is some simple lie, things get misconstrued and eventually explode, which I believe will come soon enough.

Act 1 Theme DeAnna

                        One of the present themes in Act 1 is Duty and responsibility. In I ii, Hamlet is basically told that it is his duty  to portray his happiness for his mother and the new king, his uncle even though he is grief stricken. Hamlet is also easily persuaded by his father's ghost to avenge his murderous death. It was his "duty" so to say. As humans, we are expected to obey others of higher authority we may or may not respect. This is how we keep order, but I feel Shakespeare is trying to point out that this is a faulty system. Sometimes obeying others hinders one's own opinion, even if it is thought to be the better one. This causes self destruction.