Hamlet - Entrapment

The theme of entrapment can be seen throughout Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This theme is used to show how human beings exist in a world where to live is to act, and to act is ultimately to be caught in a sequence of events beyond individual control. This existential dilemma of the play can be seen operating through the language used by the characters in the physical and psychological entrapments and entrapments of fate. The language …

…to get out of murdering his uncle, fate has him locked into it’s trap. Eventually, the trap set by fate leads to Hamlet’s downfall. Through the court of Denmark, Shakespeare lets the audience know his views on life. Humans live in a world where to exist is to be the target of doom. The psychological and physical entrapments and the entrapments of fate in Hamlet are proof of Shakespeare’s idea on existentialism.