Characters
This prince struggles with revenge, relationships, and mental illness throughout the play.
Who is Hamlet?
The ghost reveals that this happened to him.
The poison symbolizes this moral condition throughout Denmark.
What is corruption?
Hamlet's main goal is to achieve this key theme.
What is revenge?
This man is accidentally slain by Hamlet.
Who is Polonius?
This is what killed Hamlet.
A fatal wound from a poisoned sword.
The ghost symbolizes the demand/want for this.
What is revenge?
The theme of appearance vs. reality is shown through spying and this other behavior.
What is acting?
This man is the reigning King of Denmark for much of the play, husband of Gertrude, and uncle to Hamlet.
Who is King Claudius?
Ophelia dies in this way.
Drowning
What is death?
What is the collapse of order?
This character is a close friend and confidant to Hamlet who survives the events of the play.
Who is Horatio?
Hamlet delays killing Claudius for this reason.
Claudius was praying and Hamlet did not want him to go to Heaven when he dies.
Ophelia's talk of flowers symbolizes these feelings.
What is betrayal, grief, and/or corruption?
Hamlet's hesitation to act on his desires highlights this theme.
What is action vs. inaction?
(2 Characters) These are childhood friends of Hamlet who keep a close watch on him throughout the play.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
Hamlet avoids being executed in England by doing this.
Altering Claudius's letter.
This is a symbol for all being equal in death, regardless of status.
What is Polonius' corpse?
Hamlet frequently questions this theme regarding the human existence.
What is death/mortality?