Thematic Elements of Murder in Some Plays of William Shakespeare

Abstract

This thesis aims at investigating the thematic elements of murder in three plays of William Shakespeare namely Hamlet, Macbeth and Othello which stand out of Shakespeare’s tragedies by the key role of their protagonists who commit murders in all the three plays. Special focus is given to the supernatural element in Macbeth and Hamlet as well as the element of the villain character of Iago in Othello in addition to other villain characters in Macbeth and Hamlet, where Shakespeare uses these elements evidently in regard to murder. Specific reference is paid to the psychological element and the female role in bringing about the calamities of the individuals involved in these plays. Freudian’s theory of psychoanalysis is touched upon as it is unavoidable in such kind of study. As regarding the life struggle of the characters in the selected plays, sometimes they bid success and sometimes their lives are full of pain, suffering and failure, echoing real life. It is this which substantially elongated the works of Shakespeare. The researcher adopts the analytical descriptive method to analyze the characters of the plays that are concerned in this study. The conclusion sums up the findings of this study and in the end the researcher suggests some recommendations compatible with this thesis and its likes in the future.