Hamlet: Tropes

Signature tropes

The ones that say the most about Hamlet. Pick one to read it.

• Dishonored Deadin 79 titlesPolonius is reportedly given very quick and shoddy funeral rites, what with the king and queen trying to brush their heir's new homicidal tendencies under the rug.Read →
• Purple Prosein 237 titlesYeah yeah, they speak in verse, not prose, but these unnecessarily flowery descriptions exceed the Shakespearean norm by enough to merit this trope.Read →
• Flower Motifsin 208 titlesOne of the most famous examples in the Western canon occurs during Ophelia's mad scene, when she distributes real or imaginary flowers to the assembled cast.Read →
• Narrative Filigreein 94 titlesIt's a revenge tragedy in which a man instructs his servant at length on the proper way to spy on his son, a group of traveling players drops by and performs a play, the hero's college buddies show u…Read →
• Tragic Mistakein 180 titlesThe mistake that leads to Hamlet's downfall can be traced back to the prayer scene, where he doesn't kill Claudius when he has the chance.Read →
• Unnecessarily Cruel Rejectionin 76 titlesIn Act 3, Scene 1, Ophelia is ordered by her father to meet up with Hamlet and return his letters to see if he'd gone mad over his love for her.Read →