Samuel Lorenz English IVH Lindsey Esposito 1 October 2024 What it Means to be Healthy Thesis: The theme power is unstable and can lead to destruction is shown in Shakespeares Hamlet through symbolism, characters, WRITE IN PRESENT TENSE Power is unstable and can lead to destruction, characters, conflict, symbolism/foreshadowing. The play Hamlet takes place in Denmark during winter. They spot a ghost which resembles the fallen king of Denmark. This fallen king reveals there was disloyalty and murder. This leads to a series of events of grief, revenge, death, hysteria, and many other high emotions. The theme of power is unstable and can lead to destruction as shown in Shakespeare’s Hamlet through symbolism, foreshadowing, and characters. …show more content…
Then in scuffling they change rapiers, and Hamlet wounds Laertes.” (Act V, Scene II, 309-310) The rapiers symbolize power as Laertes, who is using the poisoned, has more power over the non poisoned rapier and he wounds Hamlet. The power shifts to Hamlet and he uses the rapier to wound Laertes, leading to both of their deaths. Another symbol is shown in Act V, Scene I. As Hamlet picks up a skull, he starts to wonder who these people are. Hamlet then alludes to “Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander turneth to dust: the dust is earth.” (Act V, Scene I, 212-213) This quote is alluding to Alexander the Great, known for being a very powerful man. Although he had all this power, he still died and ended up buried like an ordinary person. In addition to these symbols, there are also characters that show foreshadowing in the play. The foreshadowing in the play ironically predicts the ending each character meets. In Act III, Scene IV Hamlet and his mom are talking but Hamlet kills Polonius while they're talking and tells his mom not to tell anyone about what happened and talked about during their meet or Hamlet will harm her. “Be thou assured, if words be made of breath and breath of life, I have no life to breathe,