20 Interesting Hamlet Essay Topics

Most literature essays imply analyzing a piece of writing or comparing and contrasting its characters. Whatever it is, you will be required to use your analytical abilities, critical thinking, and knowledge of literature concepts in order to write an outstanding paper.

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is one of the world's most famous literary masterpieces. This is a tragedy written by Shakespeare about four centuries ago, which means its setting and dialogues somehow reflect life in those times, which in its turn means that you will need to know the history of that period to be able to analyze the work deeply. Also, you will need to be able to read between the lines and understand what all the dialogues and soliloquies are intended to tell the reader.

Depending on the topic you eventually choose, you may have a chance to share your personal opinion about the characters of the play or the concepts to be covered. But knowing Shakespeare as an author will be useful too if you are required to interpret his message.

The period of the Renaissance was actually all made of some tragic moments. In case you didn't know, Shakespeare was a master of tragedy. There's a number of abstract themes that he focused on and that you may want to discuss in your essay. For example, madness, death, monarchy, revenge, tragedy, humanity, betrayal, and love.

While essays in other disciplines are challenging since you always want a unique topic, which is hard to pick, literary essays are much easier. You can still be unique even if someone else has the same topic. The thing is discussing such concepts as love, death, or revenge; you will always be original because you interpret them using the paradigm of your own understanding and theories concerning these concepts. Now, have a look at some ideas and feel free to select any of them for your brilliant essay.

A List of Best Topic Ideas for Your Essay on Hamlet

1. Hamlet's love: Does he really love Ophelia?
2. How is the idea of suicide presented in the play?
3. The role of the Ghost in the story and Hamlet's relationship with the Ghost
4. What is the role of Denmark's setting in the play?
5. Describe the kind of king Claudius is. Is it his true nature or is it just an appearance he needs to have due to his status?
6. Why does Hamlet keep doubting the Ghost's words after Claudius' confession? Explain the nature of Hamlets uncertainty
7. What is the role of questions in the play and why does Shakespeare raise them?
8. What is the role of revenge in Hamlet? Find and analyze the three separate revenge plots.
9. Discuss Hamlet's inner conflict. What is the reason for his ambiguous thoughts?
10. The role of the monolog in the play. How does Hamlet pose himself with the help of his monologs?
11. Compare and contrast Claudius and Macbeth
12. Compare and contrast Horatio and Hamlet
13. Compare and contrast Claudius and Laertes
14. Compare and contrast Hamlet and Fortinbras
15. Was Hamlet only pretending to be mad or was he so convincing to himself that he did fall into madness a few times throughout the play?
16. The historical background of the creation of the play
17. What is the role of imagery in Hamlet? Use examples to show how Shakespeare creates different moods with the help of descriptions
18. How does Hamlet's relationship with his mother Gertrude change throughout the play?
19. Find comic scenes in the play and analyze what they serve for
20. Why did Shakespeare in your opinion make the play tragic? What was the point in Hamlet's death?

What? Have you not found YOUR topic yet? There's something more we, at phdify.com, can offer - have a look at our sample Hamlet essays and their topics. We publish them online for YOU to get inspired!