Journal 25
I think the some of the first themes that come to mind is death and betrayal. And based on what I have heard about the ending of the play, it would fit quite nicely. In the first act, it shows Hamlet trying to cope with the death of his father. His mother tries to tell him that death is normal, and that it is just part of life. But he is feeling betrayed by his mother, since she married his father's murderer. Therefor I don't think he will listen to her advice.
These themes sort of hint at what the reader can expect in the play. The play starts out with people discussing the death of their late king. It gives the audience the idea that since the play opened with death, it will most likely end with it as well. It is labeled as a tragedy, so I think that death and betrayal will be quite prominent.
And I think that themes of death and betrayal will set up the play for (shockingly) more death and betrayal. This act seems to be stretching the tension in the play. And if this tension keeps stretching, the only thing that can follow is tragedy. Right from the get go, starting the the play off with death will only lead to more death.
Betrayal
I agree with the notion that betrayal is a driving factor in this first act and the entire play for that matter. This betrayal plays into Hamlet's growing distrust and dislike of the opposite sex. (Example, when Hamlet says to his mother, "Frailty, thy name is woman"). His rocky relationship with his mother and Ophelia are directly impacted by his mother's actions to marry his uncle in such haste, instead of mourning his father. Not only is Hamlet's deceased father betrayed by Claudius and eventually the Queen, but Hamlet is as well and must reconcile what he will do about this situation. Nice job with the blog! Veronica Sparks
For an actual theme
I guess if I was to make this into a theme, it would go something like,"Betrayal and Death go hand in hand" or something like that. What I was trying to get out was that these two often play off each other, and there is usually a connection between them. I guess it isn't the best theme to represent that idea, but that's all I got...I never was very good at pulling out themes from stories.
I think the two usually go
I think the two usually go hand and hand because people feel abandoned when a lived one dies and in this way we are all betrayed by mortality. Hamlet is continuously struggling to come to terms with the importance of one's actions. He becomes conscience that although in life a few great individuals are revered above the rest when their time comes everyone is equally dead. So for me the central theme seems to be the utter mortality of even the greatest of individuals.