There are numerous themes put forth by Shakespeare in 'Hamlet ', one of his greatest tragedies. Many of these themes are relevant to life today. When man's social, political and ethical worlds are out of balance, bad things happen (at least in Shakespearean tragedies). In other words, natural illnesses or occurrences are symbolic of the illness in his thinking. This happens today and is also illustrated in Shakespeare's Hamlet.
             Similarly, man often sees supposedly abnormal occurrences in nature as symbols or warning about the breakdown of political, social or ethical systems. In Hamlet Act I, Scene I, Horatio says the moon "Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse". He compares the forthcoming downfall of Rome with the pending destruction of Denmark. He takes natures happenings to be a sign of future misfortunes for the state of Denmark. Today, people still do the same thing. For instance, many religious groups take nature's destructive forces; (earthquakes, volcanic activity, etc.) to be signs of the planet's coming Armageddon.
             Hamlet's timelessness can be seen through the themes that it portrays. Political, social and ethical corruption will never disappear. As long as man's nature remains the same, their will always be these moral dilemmas which we still face today and seemingly forever. Perhaps this is why Shakespeare is considered timeless, it can be translated any time period and still carry the same meaning and address such timeless problems.
             Not every play in which a Hero dies is considered a tragedy. There are more elements needed to label a play one. Probably the most important element is an amount of free will. In every tragedy, the characters must displays some. If every action is controlled by a hero's destiny, then the hero's death can't be avoided, and in a tragedy the sad part is that it could. Hamlet's death could have been avoided many times. Hamlet had many opportunities...