Themes, Motifs and Symbols

Themes, motifs and symbols in some of Shakespeares plays. Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. Motifs are reoccurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the texts major themes. Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colours used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.

Macbeth

Themes:

The Corrupting Power of Unchecked Ambition

The Relationship Between Cruelty and Masculinity

The Difference Between Kingship and Tyranny

Motifs:

Hallucinations

Violence

Prophecy

Symbols: 

Blood

The Weather

Hamlet

Themes:

The Impossibility of Certainty

The Complexity of Action

The Mystery of Death

The Nation as a Diseased Body

Motifs:

Incest and Incestuous Desire

Misogyny

Ears and Hearing

Symbols:

Yorick’s Skull

A Midsummers Nights Dream

Themes:

Love’s Difficulty

Magic

Dreams

Motifs:

Contrast

Symbols:

Theseus and Hippolyta

The Love Potion

The Craftsmen’s Play

Romeo and Juliet

Themes:

The Forcefulness of Love

Love as a Cause of Violence

The Individual Versus Society

The Inevitability of Fate

Motifs:

Light/Dark Imagery

Opposite Points of View

Symbols:

Poison

Thumb-biting

Queen Mab