Symbols
in Hamlet
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Poison
Poison plays a big role in Hamlet. It is a symbol of betrayal, corruption, deceit, revenge and death When Claudius pours the poison into Hamlet’s ear and murders him, it demonstrates how much the need for power can corrupt someone. In this case, the need for power motivated Claudius to poison his own brother.
Later, when Laertes and Claudius are planning to kill Hamlet for revenge, they also decide to use poison. When the poison actually comes into play, it ends up killing Queen Gertrude (thus betrayal), and eventually leads to the death of Laertes, King Claudius and Hamlet.
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Yorick’s (Jester’s) Skull
The skull represents death and the afterlife. When Hamlet picks up the skull of Yorick and begins to talk to it, he questions death, and what happens after. Hamlet eventually realizes that no matter what kind of a life someone may lead, everybody dies and ends up in the same place after death – as mere dust.
He questions the importance of being important while alive, and the importance of being alive in general. He talks about how someone like Yorick could end up in the same position and place as someone such as Alexander the Great, when he says,
“as thus: Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth to dust, the dust is earth, of earth we make loam , and why of that loam, whereto he was converted, might they not stop a beer-barrel” (V.i.209-213)?
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Ophelia’s Flowers
Ophelia has gone mad because of her father, Polonius’ death. She enters the scene, carrying many different types of flowers (however some editors believe that the flowers were just imaginary), and begins to give different flowers to different people. Each of the flowers represents something, and there is a reason behind why Ophelia gives certain flowers to certain people. First, she gives the rosemary to Laertes, which is a symbol of remembrance. She also gives pansies to Laertes, as they represent a symbol of thoughts – particularly thoughts of love.