Themes and Images Of Hamlet

The play “Hamlet” is full of reoccurring images and themes. In the play, external forces bring Hamlet to fulfill his destiny. His destiny is to get revenge on his uncle for the murder of his father. Fulfilling his destiny causes a lot of unnecessary deaths. Hamlet feels very trapped by this. The themes of external forces, death and entrapment occur throughout the play. Alongside of these themes are reoccurring images. Throughout the play there are many images that refer to an unweeded garden as well as to poison. These images are very important to the play. Both the themes and images tie the play together very nicely.

In “Hamlet”, external forces are one of the main themes. Usually in stories ghosts come back to finish unsettled business or to get revenge on someone. This is true in Hamlet when the ghost of the late king comes back to talk to his son Hamlet. He asks him to get revenge on his brother Claudius for his murder when he says, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.” (1.5.31) When the ghost says this it sets up the theme of murder and revenge. The role of external forces is important because it establishes the first climax, revealing Claudius’ crime. External forces also reveal to Prince Hamlet

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This ultimately leads to his own death. This theme recurs throughout the play. The use of poison is used on several occasions to murder. Claudius’ mind also becomes like a poison by his greed. In the garden of Eden, once evil came into it nothing could ever be the same again. This murder sets up the other deaths that are to follow. 64-68)

Death is also brought up in the gravedigger scene when Hamlet sees skulls of people who have died. Claudius had planned to kill Hamlet by poisoning him with a drink but Gertrude drinks the poison instead and dies. Hamlet is contemplating suicide early on in the play when he says in the famous soliloquy,

“To be, or not to be- that is the question:

Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles

And, by opposing, end them. Poison is shown on various occasions throughout the play and becomes an important image.

Another main theme in “Hamlet” is death.

Another image that we see in this play is that of poison.

Approximate Word count = 1084
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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