Theme of Disharmony in "The Merchant of Venice" and "Hamlet"

Both plays introduce the main characters Antonio and Hamlet as melancholic, a psychological disharmony seen throughout both plays. Antonio precise melancholy is never established, but it can be taken as a premonition of the suffering he endures in the course of the play. He lacks interest in romance and although his foreign investments establish him as a prosperous merchant, he seems to almost welcome his unhappiness. Hamlet melancholy is understandable at the beginning of the play since it is due to the death of his father and the speedy marriage of his mother to his uncle. Throughout the play, we watch the gradual crumbling of the beliefs on which Hamlet's worldview has been based. In the first Act Scene II already, in this first soliloquy, religion has failed him, and his warped family situation can offer him no solace. …