- Absent Presences
-- void left by Hamlet's deceased father
-- ghosts of former relationships from Act Zero (Hamlet & Ophelia have broken up, death of Polonius's wife (Ophelia's mother) unmentioned, a mystery
-- Death of Old Fortinbras of Norway in battle, Hamlet's father's greatest adversary
- Seems vs Is (Appearance vs Reality)
Funeral clothes, play costumes, Hamlet's insanity act
- Atomic Theory of Hamlet --
-- Espionage
-- Hamlet as the central figure
- Dead Elephant Syndrome
-- worms, smelly corpses
-- sin, mother's "common" behavior, infidelity
-- make-up, covering over imperfection and sin
- Poison in the Ear
-- false friends, bad advice
- Dirt
-- strangeness of landed aristocracy
-- human sacrifice needed to retain land
-- burial of Hamlet's true love
- Acting and Insanity
-- Play Within the Play, madness, deceiving (this is related to make-up and cosmetics metaphors)