Question

What are the themes in hamlet?

Answer 1

Themes in Hamlet:

Imposibility of certainty.

  What separates Hamlet from every other play about revenge is how he postponed the action in order to obtain more knowledge about what he is trying to do. He continuously doubt about some things that in other plays are take it for granted like, Is the ghost what it appears to be or is a misleading fiend?; How can we know for certain facts about a crime that has no witnesses?; Can we know wether our actions will have the consequence we want to have?.

   The play shows us how life is full of uncertainties and how we take for granted things that we really don´t know where they come from.

The complexity of action.

  How is it possible to take reasonable, purposeful, efective actions? During the play Hamlet face not only rational considerations like the ones I explained in the previous point. He also had emotional, ethical and psychological troubles. Such troubles don´t bother other characters in the story by the time they had to act but, like the case of Claudius, haunted them after doing it. Claudius´s conscience is tormented by the assasination of the king and the marriage with the queen.

Death.

    After the murder of Hamlet´s father he got obsessed with the idea of death and consider it from many perspectives. The spiritual perspective is embodied in the ghost of the king visiting him to told the story about his passing. While the physical one is represented on the 5th act when Hamlet returns from the exile and in the graveyard he talks with the skull of Yorick.

  I hope this answer help you. Regards