The document discusses major themes in Hamlet including isolation, betrayal of trust, romantic love, and appearance and disguise. As Hamlet descends further into madness, he becomes increasingly isolated from those around him with the exception of Horatio. Many characters spy on one another, destroying genuine interactions. Romantic love is portrayed as failing through the Queen's actions and Ophelia's rejection of Hamlet. A key theme is the shifting of identities and disguises used by many characters, calling into question what is real versus just appearance.

1. WEEK 10: FINISHING HAMLET Major themes

2. THEMES IN HAMLET
ISOLATION
As the central character disintegrates, he’s more
and more cut off from those around him.
Hamlet’s appearance of
madness confuses others
and holds them at a
difference; he’s operating
on a different plane of
reality from most of them.
Only Horatio is
trustworthy, and he is
powerless to pull Hamlet
back from the brink.
The conclusion is the
ultimate isolation – death.

3. THEMES IN HAMLET
BETRAYAL OF TRUST
Everyone is spying on everyone else, so few
interactions are genuine.
Polonius is a professional
eavesdropper who will spy even
on his own son; “by indirections
find directions out.” He pays for
his eavesdropping with his life.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
also forfeit their lives for being
the King’s spies against Hamlet.

4. THEMES:
ROMANTIC LOVE
The failure of
romantic love.
THE QUEEN
The Queen’s actions set the tone
for Hamlet’s and the overall
play’s attitude toward love. As
we watch the Player King and
Player Queen together, we
hear her proclaim an “undying”
love that will in the end prove
faithless. Her speech can be
seen almost as a parody.
OPHELIA
Ophelia initially rejects Hamlet
in obedience to her father. This
could be why she takes “rue”
(the plant of repentance) for
herself as well as giving it
away.

5. THEMES:
APPEARANCE &
DISGUISE
Another omnipresent
theme is appearance
and disguise – the
shifting of identities.
“I know not ‘seems,’” Hamlet
says in Act I, yet after his
encounter with the ghost he
becomes committed to
deception. Does Hamlet
pretend to be insane so long
and so well that he becomes
so? Or does the encounter
with the ghost itself drive him
mad?
The King’s disguise is obvious;
he convinces everyone he
wishes to play the role of
loving father to Hamlet, yet
all his actions are driven by
his need to hold onto his
power. He even puts on a
false appearance of prayer.

6. THEMES:
APPEARANCE
AND DISGUISE
The ghost refers to his “most seeming-virtuous
queen.” We have no evidence that she was in on the
murder, but she may have been his brother’s lover
before he was dead.
Of all the major characters, only Horatio never
independently puts on a disguise or practices
deception. That’s why it makes sense that he is left
alive at the end of the play to tell Hamlet’s story.
He’s the only one trustworthy enough to get it right.
A new order rises from the ashes of chaos at the
very end, as Fortinbras of Norway takes control.