The Themes as Portrayed by Shakespeare in, Hamlet and its Applicability

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's longest plays, and it tells the story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, and his tragic fate. The play focuses on Prince Hamlet's revenge mission against his uncle Claudius, especially through the use of his father Hamlet's spirit. In light of the author's literary abilities, the book plays a significant role in illustrating the immense potential of dramatic skills as used by Shakespeare and other artists in the recent past (Shakespeare 615). The book's review is a waterfall that reveals strange works of art as Hamlet's components. The analysis of the book is the fountain that unravels peculiar pieces of art as components used in Hamlet. In this regard, the essay is aimed at bringing out the key themes in Hamlet as one of the components used by the author to capture the attention of his audience.

Analysis of the Themes in Hamlet

William Shakespeare’s brings out myriad themes in his book. One of the fundament ideas expressed in the play is the impossibility of being certain. This theme is the center of controversy in the play since it focuses on the world of mystery and illusions. The actions of Hamlet depicts the uncertainty in most of his actions and nature in general. This leaves the audience in a point of confusion trying to figure out what might befall Claudius due to constant hatred and ill motives from Hamlet. Also, the ghost is used by Hamlet to pursue his uncle and revenge about his father’s murder is one aspect of uncertainty (Shakespeare 648). This is especially concerned with the existence and the ability of Hamlet to read the thoughts of his uncle through the use of the ghost. In this regard, the audience is left with several questions about whether the ghost knows its death or the death of King Hamlet. The theme of uncertainty finds meaning and application in the daily life of human beings since they cannot tell about the future and the hidden life. Therefore, the life of individual is built on some uncertainties and it’s always unclear why people act the way they do, though people take for granted.
Additionally, the complexity of actions is another theme that is portrayed by the author in the book. This challenges Hamlet as he was always in a state of conflicting loyalty especially being faced with indecisiveness after the death of his father. Hamlet suffers a number of factors that warrant his actions, for instance, rational considerations which were coupled with his quest for certainty, emotional, psychological, and ethical factors. Consequently, the actions of Hamlet were blind and without purpose (Shakespeare 658). This is evident from his loss of self-control in addressing his challenge with Claudius before when he took power from his father and after he passed on. The actions of Hamlet are miscarrying as he always thinks of how he can act effectively. On the contrary, other characters behave without much care for the consequences of their actions. Claudius, on the other hand, acts boldly because he feels he has the power to do so, however, his actions torment him and thus beset by his authority. This makes him die because of stress and result of his wicked actions that makes Laertes resolve to revenge against him. Laertes’s behavior changes with time as he is compelled to be on the side of Claudius instead of making revenge as he earlier planned, as the author says, ‘I will hit him now and revenge all he did to my father (says Laertes)’ (Shakespeare 691). The conciseness of Laertes haunts him and he melts down to the side of his adversary. This indicated an action of indecisiveness. The application of the theme is in line with the inability of people to make sound decisions and take control of their actions. In most cases, people are driven by emotions and indecisive attitude and thus they end up doing what they are not meant to do.
The mystery of death is vividly cutting across all sections of the play. The genesis of this theme was from the time Claudius killed King Hamlet in a bid to secure power. The death of the king sparked thoughts of death in all circles of Hamlet’s life; he developed different perspectives of death. The spiritual aftermath of death, the existence of ghosts, and the physical remnants of the dead kept Hamlet pondering. For instance, as the author says, ‘Yorick’s skull and the decaying corpses in the cemetery sparked feelings to Hamlet whenever he came across them’ (Shakespeare 628). He believed that death was the only method he would get answers to his deep questions about truth in the ambiguous world he lived. Also, death in this scenario was the cause and the consequence of revenge and hatred that kept Hamlet looking for truth and justice. The death of Claudius marked the end of the quest for revenge since he was the fountain of death in the land by killing King Hamlet. Furthermore, Hamlet is plagued by the question of his death. He wanted to end his life and thought of committing suicide which was the sure way of ending his life. Death is therefore considered to haunt him despite his fear of committing suicide, as a Christian he believed that he would suffer severe pain in hell if he risked committee a suicide. The theme of death goes hand in hand with that of the quest for revenge; this is one of the forces that drive the play and determine the traits of most characters. In this view, this finds meaning in the day to day life of individuals. Revenge has always begotten death (Shakespeare 622). This is attributed to by the greedy nature of man to possess all and including what does not belong to him. In the long run, revenge and death set in. Therefore, this is a lesson for people who cannot be contented with what they own.
Also, the health state of the nation as ‘diseased’ is a theme that manifests in the play. This is the unrest and anxiety that filled the nation from the earlier scenes due to the transfer of kingship from one ruler to the other (Shakespeare 680). The characters in the entire play draw the peace and the legitimacy of a ruler and the health of the nation. The reign of Claudius distorted the health of the nation as it was associated with terror and fear of insecurity due to his bloody hands. In this regard, Denmark was termed as a physical body whose sickness was the corrupt and greedy reign of Gertrude and Claudius who misused the resources and power for their own gain. This was in contrast to the times of the dead king Hamlet whose reign was peaceful, organized, corrupt-free, and forthright kingship. Furthermore, during his time, Denmark enjoyed its full potential since all the parts of the nation experienced full representation and even development. However, during the time of Claudius, large part of Denmark suffered uneven representation and development with resources diverted to the attention and pleasure of the corrupt King Claudius (Shakespeare 619). Towards the end of the play, king Fortinbras rose and it’s expected to the point of strength for Denmark once again. In the current generation, most countries are experiencing such a situation where the state of a nation is put at stake due to the inability of the leaders to serve people equally. Instead they fulfill their own desires and propagate mismanagement of funds and resources. Such leaders are greedy for power and their selfish gains are what drives them but not the will of people. Till the population of a country realizes that such leaders ruin the economy and the progress of such nations, then they will constantly be in turmoil.
The play, Hamlet, is a vivid scenario of what the world faces today. Most countries are battling with themes explained in by William Shakespeare in his literary piece of art. It takes great personalities with proper decisions and actions to ensure that the nations come to proper reign. The themes are therefore vital for bringing out the challenges and the perceptions Denmark and today’s nations face amid wrong leaders.

Work Cited

Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Hamlet, the. Boston: Ginn & Company, 1909.