Shakespeare's Hamlet: An Analysis of Imagery, Symbolism and

Shakespeare's Hamlet: An Analysis of Imagery, Symbolism and Allusion

Character analysis expressed by colour

Allusion

Black

Claudius- Evil, and Selfish

Black

White

Scarlet

Hyperion and the Satyr

“O, my offense is rank it smells to heaven; It hath the primal eldest curse upon't, A brother's murder.” (III, III, 36-38)

Polonius- Deceitful, and Nosy

“Ophelia, walk you here. Gracious, so please you, We will bestow ourselves. Read on this book, That show of such an exercise may color Your loneliness.” (III.I.43-6)

"So excellent a king, that was to this / Hyperion to a satyr. So loving to my mother" (I. ii. 139-40).

Ghost of King Hamlet- Questionable intentions

Hyperion - Greek God of the Sun

“It is a damned ghost we have seen”

(III.II. 80-82).

Satyr - A mythic mixture of man and and goat

Scarlet

Laertes- Bold, and Passionate

“And so have I a noble father lost, a sister driven into the desp'rate terms, Whose worth, if praises may go back again, Stood challenger on mount of all the age For her perfections. But my revenge will come” (IV.VII. 25-29)

Horatio- Loyal, and courageous

The Nemean Lion-12 labors of Hercules

“In faith, my lord, not I” (I, V, 152).

"each petty artere in this body As hardy as the Nemean lion’s nerve" (I. iv. 82-3)

The Nemean Lion - The first labor in which Hercules conquered

Hamlet believes his interaction with the phantom is similar to Hercules' battle with the Nemean

Niobe and Guilt

White

Ophelia- Innocence

"Like Niobe, all tears" (I. ii. 151).

“You should not have believ'd me, for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I lov'd you not.”“I was the more deceiv'd.” ( III.I. 117-122)

Hamlet- Goodness

Niobe's children were taken by the Gods

Hamlet believes he is “very proud, revengeful, ambitious”. (III.I. 123-124)

Painters will commonly picture Niobe crying to represent her feeling of guilt

Discussion Questions

Hamlet's Costume Changes

Symbolism In Hamlet

Symbolism: the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities.

1. Why do you think Shakespeare makes such a concious effort to refer to Greco-Roman culture ?

Poison

Hamlet wears an all black outfit. Him wearing an "inky cloak" symbolizes his mourning for his dead father,

Yorick's Skull

The way he dresses on the outside really symbolizes

how he’s feeling on the inside.

2. Do you think there could be another colour to represent the remaining characters, such as Gertrude, Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, and if so which colour?

-Symbolizes the inevitability of death

Ophelia's Flowers

“...upon my secure hour thy uncle stole with juice of cursed hebenon in a vial.

And in the porches of my ears did pour the leperous distilment…” (I.v 61-64)

“get you to my lady’s chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come”—no one can avoid death (V.i.178–179).

The Ghost of King Hamlet

In Hamlet, Ophelia used flowers as symbols of her deep sorrow and grief

Rosemary, Columbine, Rue, Daisy, and Violet flowers used by Ophelia during act 4 to symbolize different characteristics.

King Hamlet’s ghost is another key figure that symbolizes the theme of death

“Haste me to know’t, that I, with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of

love, may sweep to my revenge” (Act 1, scene 5, 29-30).