HAMLET: THEMES, MOTIFS AND SYMBOLS

In Hamlet is evident the impossibility of certain and shows a life of uncertainties. Then, it's present the incest and incestuous desires, as we can see in the relationships between Gertrude and Claudius and also between Leartes and Ophelia, because he speaks her in sexual terms. We have a behavior of misogyny because Hamlet is cynical about women in general and there is connection between female sexuality and corruption. In Hamlet, words are used to communicate the ideas but they can distort the truth, manipulate other people and serve as tools in corrupt quests of power. The sinister uses of words are represented by images of ears and hearing. In this work no one can avoid death, the poison is a symbol of betrayal, corruption, deceit, revenge and death and the Ophelia's  flowers are delicate and a symbol of innocence.

HAMLET

When Hamlet’s father, the old King of Denmark, died, his brother Claudius became the new king. After only a few weeks, Claudius married Gertrude, the old king’s wife. Hamlet was angry with his mother because she remarried so quickly. He also hated Claudius, his stepfather.

One cold, dark night on the walls of Elsinore Castle, a friend of Hamlet’s saw the ghost of the Hamlet’s father. The friend told Hamlet about the ghost and that night, they both went up into the castle walls. It was another very cold night, and as the clock struck midnight, the ghost suddenly appeared.

He took Hamlet aside and said to him that he was killed by Claudius who put poison into his ear.

Hamlet was full of anger and hatred. He wanted to kill Claudius, but he was indecisive. He started behaving strangely and Claudius began to suspect that Hamlet knew something. He asked Polonius, his chief minister, to find out about Hamlet’s strange behavior.

Polonius knew that Hamlet was in love with his daughter, Ophelia. He sent her to look for Hamlet to find out what was wrong. When Ophelia found Hamlet, he was thinking about life and death:”To be, or not be-that is the question…”. Ophelia tried to comfort Hamlet but he became angry and told her get out of his life. Ophelia was very upset and believed Hamlet was mad.

A few days later, Hamlet went to his mother’s room. She looked sad, while they were talking, Hamlet heard a noise behind a curtain. He was suspicious and thought it was Claudius. He took out his sword and killed the person behind the curtain. But it was not Claudius, it was Polonius!

The situation in Elsinore was getting worse. Claudius sent Hamlet to England. While he was there, Ophelia went mad and killed herself. When Hamlet returned, he was more depressed, now both his father and Ophelia were dead while the evil Claudius was still alive!

Soon, Laertes, Ophelia’s brother, arrived in Elsinore. He blamed Hamlet for the deaths of his father and sister, and challenged him. Claudius wanted Hamlet to lose and so he poisoned Laerte’s sword. He also prepared a glass of poisoned wine to give to Hamlet in case he won.

The fight began. During the fight, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, drank some of the poisoned wine from Hamlet’s cup.  Laertes told Hamlet that his sword and the wine were poisoned and that it was Claudius, and then died himself. Then Hamlet forced Claudius to drink the poisoned wine, and Claudius died. Hamlet had only the time to name Fortinbras, a friend of him as heir. The drama ends with Hamlet's funeral.

Romeo and Juliet: theme, motifs and symbols

Romeo and Juliet is the most famous love story in the English literary tradition. Love is naturally the play’s dominant and most important theme. In this play love is a violent, ecstatic, overpowering force that supersedes all other values, loyaltiesand emotions, but this theme is even brutal, powerful emotion that captures individuals and catapults them against their world, and, at times, against themselves. The themes of death and violence permeate Romeo and Juliet, and they are always connected to passion, whether that passion is love or hate. The connection between hate, violence, and death seems obvious. But the connection between love and violence requires further investigation. At the end the decision of the double suicide is  the highest, most potent expression of love that Romeo and Juliet can make. It is only through death that they can preserve their love, and their love is so profound that they are willing to end their lives in its defense. One of the most visual motifs in the play is the contrast between light and dark, often expressed in terms of night/day imagery. Light is not always good and dark is not always evil, but they are used to demonstrate contrasts. 
The Mercutio's description of Queen Mab and her carriage are important because they symbolize the power of fantasies, daydreams and desires. Friar Lawrence remarks that every plant has its own properties and that nothing exists in nature that cannot be put to both good and bad uses. Thus, poison is not intrinsically evil, but it is made letal by humans. The sleeping potion he gives to Juliet is concocted to cause the appearance of death but this potion bring to Romeo's suicide. As this example shows, human beings tend to cause death even without heading to.