Hamlet: Things to Consider for Speeches

Symbols:

Garden of Eden - (references to characters in the garden)
Ears
Things that are fortified
The Ghost (what is this ghost??? If it is Hamlet's father and is in Purgatory why is it asking Hamlet to murder his Uncle?)
Dress (particularly Hamlet's)
Sun/Son

Motifs:

Prostitution
Decay
Ambition (the shadows of beggars)
Spying
Madness
Acting/Theatre
"To thy own self be true"
Procrastination

Characters (could these also be symbols?):

Fortinbras
Gertrude
Ophelia
Claudius
Ghost
Horatio

Allusions:

Virgil - Tales of Dido
Bible - Garden of Eden, Jepthah
Nero
Alexander, Julius Caesar
Greek/Roman Gods (example: Hyperion, Satyr)

Themes:

Mortality - What does it mean to die? What happens to us after we die?
Lies and Deceit - Does anyone tell the truth in Denmark? Why does this bother Hamlet so much? (Think of ear as metaphor/metonymy/symbol)
Revenge - What does it mean to take revenge against someone? What are the consequences of taking revenge (both physical and spiritual)? This also falls into the meaning of action - as in what does it mean to act (think of the three different avengers: Laertes, Hamlet, Fortinbras).
Sex - what is up with Hamlet and sex?
What is the meaning of family?
What is out there in the universe?
How can one live in an inherently evil world?

And there are others.