Shakespeare uses madness as a way to talk about the impact of mental health on people. While it may not be a large and very apparent theme, it is still there and it is still highlighted within the play. Shakespeare warns readers through Hamlet about impact of deception and the consequences it can have.Īnother theme present in both Hamlet and our lives is mental health. Many people in our society can relate to this story and they learn one way or another that lies and deception is only destructive and hurtful. In my own life, there was a time a couple years ago when I was caught lying about my whereabouts and all that did was lessen the amount of trust my parents had in me and it hurt them knowing that I had lied to them. For example, at some point in all of our lives, we have told a lie and whether it was a big lie or a small lie, it affected someone else around us. Lies are a form of deception as we see in Hamlet and it can have just as much impact on people as the play warns. For example, two characters’ lives are taken because of a lie and while it may be more dramatic than our normal lives, the principle remains the same. The play highlights the serious consequences that deception can have on relationships and other people.
Deception also plays a large part of Hamlet because every character is affected by deception in some way which also resembles modern society. Revenge is not the only theme that is present in our everyday lives, however. This parallels our current society when people seek their own forms of revenge in search for the sweet ending they think they will obtain but instead cause nothing but more pain and hurt. Consequently, everything around Hamlet becomes destroyed as well which shows that revenge is not sweet but in fact destructive and toxic. Shakespeare’s Hamlet depicts the hero as a representation of mankind, blinded by a lust for revenge that eventually leads him astray and towards evil. However, Hamlet disputes these common thoughts of revenge with a more realistic case when Hamlet’s case of revenge ends up being a bittersweet achievement that was obtained with a large cost. It makes the people think that revenge is fulfilling and is the only end goal.
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There are many instances when revenge is made a central theme within films, tv shows, and novels where a central and heroic character is on a quest for revenge and the concept of revenge is depicted as sweet. For example, the media depicts revenge as sweet revenge and this interpretation becomes very wide-scale within society. Hamlet is appalled by this information and when his father’s ghost tells him that it was his own brother who committed this act, Hamlet is filled with fury and swears revenge.įurthermore, our current society is fascinated with revenge and twists it into their own interpretation of it. The main character, Prince Hamlet, is driven heavily by his powerful desire of avenging his father’s death, which we learn in Act I, Scene V was in fact a murder when a ghost claiming to be his father’s spirit reveals that his death was a foul and most unnatural murder (I.v.25).
Throughout Shakespeare’s Hamlet, readers are able to understand that revenge plays a large part of what drives Hamlet along with the play. Themes such as revenge, deception, mental health, etc.įirstly, the theme of revenge appears to be the most notable theme that reflects heavily in both Hamlet and current society. For example, the many themes and motifs present in Shakespeare’s Hamlet parallel issues that are relevant in our current society.
When further examined, the intuition into our current society that Hamlet provides becomes abundantly clear. To say that Hamlet bears no resemblance nor relevance to everyday people’s lives would be an uninformed statement.