NAVIGATING
SHAKESPEARE
What are
Shakespeare’s
plays really
about?
What are Shakespeare’s Plays about?
Shakespeare’s plays are not just about presenting messages or ideas to an
audience. Instead, his plays dramatises human situations. In essence, they
present snippets of human nature.
Shakespeare is one of the most imaginative writers. His language is rich and his
plays abound with ideas and themes.
A key point to note is that the themes presented in his plays depend on the nature
of the story. As such, each play has its own themes.
Each play operates in its own special world so many of the themes in an
individual play are related to each other.
MAIN THEMES IN
SHAKESPEARE’S
PLAYS
Shakespeare’s Main Themes
1. The contrast between appearance and reality
2. Deception
3. Change
4. Self Knowledge
5. Human Nature
6. Belonging versus Not Belonging
7. Losing and Finding
8. Freedom
9. Death
10. Renewal
Let us not
forget about the
great theme of
LOVE
LOVE AND WAR
Of Shakespeare’s thirty eight (38)
plays, the word ‘Love’ appears in all
of them. Of the 38, 33 mentions the
idea of war. This may be surprising
to you but many areas of
Shakespeare can be illuminated by
these two ideas. Suffice to say, many
of Shakespeare’s plays are about love
and aspects of war- be it political,
cultural or religious.
Ideas Associated with Love seen in Shakespeare’s Plays
❖ Young Love
❖ The Value of Love
❖ The Suddenness of Love
❖ Actions associated with/caused by Love
❖ The Folly of Love
❖ Cupid and the blindness of Love
❖ Love and the Old
❖ Sex
❖ The pains of Love
Ideas about Love and War
★ Love as War
★ Love in the time of war
★ The ambiguity of War (Honour and Loss)
★ Leaving for War and Staying behind
★ The separation of war versus the unity of war
★ War’s victims
★ Honour
Conflict in
Shakespeare’s
Plays
Conflicting
Elements
Many of Shakespeare’s plays
depend upon conflicting
elements which may have
nothing or very little to do with
war.
Types of Conflicts
● Conflicts between political ideas- one party might want to prevent another
from ruling or taking control which may lead to war
● Conflicts brought about by envy- ‘Envy’ is a powerful yet ugly element in life.
● The conflicts of ambition- ‘Ambition’ is often used as an attempt to seize
power illegally.
● Conflicts between groups- some of the most turbulent conflicts arise when
two groups compete.
● Conflicts between generations-this is often between the young and the old
such as parents attempting to control the young.
ACTIVITY TIME
Can you identify any examples of the types of conflicts mentioned above in any of
the plays you have studied?
Do You Want To Learn
More About the Context
of Shakespeare’s Plays?
Watch this video to learn more.
