What is the theme of murder in Hamlet or other Shakespeare's plays?

In Macbeth and Julius Caesar, murder is presented as the act that destroys political stability and plunges society into chaos. After Macbeth murders King Duncan, Scotland is robbed of its rightful king, Duncan's rightful heir Malcolm must flee for his life, and Macbeth becomes an illegitimate, detested king. The country is thrown into political chaos, civil peace is destroyed, and suffering ensues. Similarly, in Julius Caesar political stability is destroyed by Caesar's assassination and the power vacuum produces a violent power struggle. The forces of Antony and Octavius go to war against those of Brutus and Cassius. After Antony's speech at Caesar's funeral, mobs surge through the streets, burning and killing. Rome is plunged into chaos. In both of these plays, the murder of the ruler and head of government brings enormous and disastrous consequences.

Murder is more than a political act, however, in each play. Caesar's murder, however Brutus might try to justify it, is presented in its horror. An unarmed Caesar is surprised and set upon by a group of assassins who stab him to death, one striking after the other. King Duncan, a wise and just monarch, is also set upon when he cannot defend himself. He is sleeping when Macbeth hacks him to death and leaves the scene of the murder covered in the King's blood. Furthermore, in Macbeth one foul murder follows another. Murder becomes the means of a tyrannical monster (Macbeth) to remain in power. Without pity or hesitation, he orders the additional murders of men, women, and children, all of whom are surprised and defenseless, attacked by groups of killers.

In both of these plays, nothing good comes of murder. Murder results in warfare and further destruction. Brutus and Cassius kill themselves when faced with defeat by Antony and Octavius; Lady Macbeth commits suicide after descending into madness; Macbeth is beheaded by Macduff in battle. When Macbeth, Cassius, and Brutus chose to shed blood, their acts of murder opened the floodgates of violence. As Macbeth himself said, "[B]lood will have blood."

Can you briefly describe the theme of murder in Hamlet?

Well, you've got the most obvious example--the murder of King Hamlet by his brother, Claudio.  This is done for ambition...the desire for the crown and perhaps even the Queen.  You might include pictures of brothers, a crown, poison in the ear, royalty, or ghosts.

There are several other murders in Hamlet, though.  There is the murder of Polonius which is a case of mistaken identity since Polonius is hiding behind the tapestry in the Queen's bedchambers and Hamlet thinks it is Claudius.  Polonius is guilty of brown-nosing and being nosy in general.  You might include a photo of a nosy neighbor or a court jester (Polonious is portrayed in the play as sort of an idiot).

There are the murders of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in England.  This is carried out by the King of England on the orders of King Claudius, but it was supposed to be Hamlet who was the victim.  R & G are also bumbling idiots who have their noses in business where they don't belong.  They are Hamlet's friends from school, so you might have photos or pictures of school friends (maybe in school uniforms?) or school books to indicate their deaths.

Don't forget the murders of Gertrude (she drank he poisoned wine with the pearl in it...she tells Hamlet it was the wine and she realizes it was Claudius' doing), Laertes (he is stabbed with the poisoned sword and he confesses his treacherous plan with Claudius) and Claudius (Hamlet stabs him with the fateful sword and makes him drink the poisoned wine).  You might choose a sword, a wine goblet with a pearl, another crown, perhaps?

Of course, there is also Hamlet's murder.  He has fallen victim of the poisoned sword as well, but not before he has suffered the deaths of his beloved mother and friend, Laertes, and exacted his revenge on Claudius.  It might be neat if you could find a skull and crossed bones to represent all the greed and death which takes place in the final act. 

I've included some links to pictures associated with the play.  Good Luck and have fun...sounds like a neat project.

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/category/lang.html

Is "murder" a theme in Hamlet?

Murder as a natural part of revenge and of ambition is somewhat of a theme in "Hamlet".  The play, as the link below explains, is considered a "revenge tragedy".  Hamlet's father is killed by Claudius, Prince Hamlet's uncle, because of Claudius' ambition (Act 3, sc. 3, ll. 53-55).  The ghost of Hamlet's father then asks Hamlet to get revenge for him.  Hamlet stews about this challenge for most of the play.  Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius which drives Ophelia mad which leads to her death.  In the duelling scene at the end of the play, Hamlet kills Laertes and finally Claudius, but not before Gertrude dies from drinking poisoned wine meant for Hamlet, and not before Hamlet himself is scratched by the poisoned tip of Laertes' sword.  And we can't forget that Hamlet changed the orders Claudius had written asking the English to kill him and had Rosencrantz and Guildenstern killed instead with the reason that he said they had done everything Claudius asked of them.  Lots of deaths, but really few premeditated murders.  In that sense then, "murder" is not a theme of the play nearly as much as "revenge", "reluctance to take action", and "madness" are themes.

What is the theme of death in Hamlet?

Hamlet is a revenge play and as such death is its inciting incident: the murder of Hamlet's father. However, one compelling thesis about death in Hamlet may be that even more thematically important to the play than death itself is the question of what happens after death and the concept of the afterlife.

Hamlet's father is damned to haunt the castle as a ghost instead of being at rest because of the manner in which he was killed. Hamlet's quest for revenge is motivated not by just vengeance for vengeance's sake, but to free his father's spirit. Hamlet's own concerns about the afterlife are apparent from his very first monologue in act I, scene II, in which he contemplate suicide but states "the Everlasting [...] fix'd his canon 'gainst self-slaughter" ie. suicide is a sin and killing oneself may free one from earthly toils only to condemn one to Hell in the afterlife. In "To be or not to be" Hamlet addresses his fears about the afterlife again with the lines,

"To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause"

Later, in act III, scene III, Hamlet has the opportunity to kill Claudius but decides not to because at the time Claudius is praying, and therefore his soul would go to Heaven. Sending his father's killer to Heaven does not strike Prince Hamlet as suitable revenge, and so, he lets the moment pass. This is yet another example of life after death proving more important than death itself.

What is the theme of death in Hamlet?

Death and Hamlet's contemplation of death are prevalent themes in Hamlet.  If you think about it, death is what kicks off the entire drama.  If Claudius does not kill King Hamlet, there is no play. The reader is introduced to Prince Hamlet after King Hamlet's death.  That death leads to the ghost of King Hamlet appearing to the young Hamlet and asking the prince to seek revenge against Claudius.  In other words, death is both a cause and a consequence.  Claudius's murder leads Hamlet to revenge which in turn must end in death.  

Hamlet does often reflect on both spiritual and physical death.  He reflects on physical death in the classic Yorick scene with the skull and the rotting bodies in the cemetery.  Hamlet also spends time debating the spiritual consequences of death.  Hamlet is not a happy guy.  He longs for death to end his suffering, pain, and grief, but he cannot bring himself to commit suicide because he believes that will bring him eternal damnation.  "To be or not to be."  That is Hamlet's biggest question.