What were the three main topics of Shakespeare?

Answer 1

Shakespeare deals with more than three main topics in his work. The themes of his sonnets differ greatly from those explored in the plays. The sonnets frequently deal with themes of the impermanence of youth and beauty. The history plays and some of the tragedies deal with the legitimate transfer of political power, as well as the question of what makes a good monarch. Some have said that the most common theme in the tragedies is the conflict between medieval and Renaissance values. Others think that it is that bad things only happen to bad people. Appearance and reality is a very vague topic which occurs in some form in all of Shakespeare's plays and most of anyone else's. Shakespeare seems to focus on the contrast between public behaviour and private thought, and how public behaviour is like the role played by an actor.

Answer 2

A great many of Shakespeare's plays deal with the theme of political transition, of the handing of power from one person to another. This is the underlying theme behind the eight sequential history plays, especially in Richard II, the three Henry VI plays and Richard III. It is referred to in Henry IV and Henry V as well. The commission of murder to attain the throne appears not only in Richard III but in Hamlet and Macbeth as well. King Lear deals with voluntary abdication. Julius Caesar also deals with violent political transitions.

Another common theme is social conformity. In Taming of the Shrew, Katherine is avoided by potential suitors because she does not act in the way expected of her, and only finds a place in society when she learns to do so. Coriolanus also fails to achieve his political ambitions because he will not conform. In other plays, Shakespeare points out the unreliability of those who can appear to be what they are expected to be. King Lear chooses the wrong daughters because the right one cannot heave her words into her throat. He banishes his most faithful subject because he gives him honest advice, instead of the advice Lear wants to hear. Iago, like Regan and Goneril, knows how to say the right thing at the right time, but is totally untrustworthy.

Sexual identity is a common theme, as is not surprising when so many plays involve women who impersonate men. Shakespeare spent much of his time attacking the pat generalizations about men and women that people loved to make then and love to make now. Orsino, in Twelfth Night, makes a number of blanket statements about how men love more than women do, and Viola, in her guise as Ceasario, poignantly explodes them. In Shakespeare's day, the received knowledge was that women were sexually charged creatures who could not resist cheating on their husbands; men therefore had to be constantly vigilant. Whenever this stereotype rears its ugly head, Shakespeare beats it down. Imogen, Desdemona, Mrs. Ford and Hero are all falsely suspected of adultery, and they are all innocent.

Answer 3

Shakespeare tackled many subjects, including love, betrayal, revenge, guilt, redemption, war, etc.

Answer 4

Shakespeare's plays generally fall into the categories of Comedies, Tragedies and Histories.

Answer 5

If this question is referring to three specific genres of literature, than Shakespeare's plays would be categorized under either comedies, histories, or tragedies.

Answer 6

Three themes Shakespeare writes about include conscience, as in Macbeth, love, as in Romeo and Juliet, and revenge as in Hamlet.

Answer 7

Histories, tragedies and comedies