The violent question of bloodlines and succession is one that serves as a key element in many of Shakespeare's plays, spanning from "Hamlet" to "Richard II" and "Macbeth", and it is one that is clearly one of the major concerns of "Otranto". The link to "Hamlet" is strengthened even more because of the matter of incest that is also at play in "Otranto". "In "Otranto", the castle and its labyrinths become grounds for incest that signal the dissolution of familial bonds", which is also a major point of issue in "Hamlet" since Hamlet's mother (Gertrude) and his uncle (Claudius) were, in a way, related before their marriage. Both "Hamlet" and "Otranto" are literary springboards for discussion on the questions of marriage, as the question of Henry VIII's annulment of his marriage and later marriage to Anne Boleyn were still heated topics of controversy. Henry VIII had both married his brother's wife Catherine of Aragon and later dissolved that marriage due to Catherine's inability to produce a male heir that lived to adulthood. Similarly, "Otranto" revolves around "a larger sexual contest to secure lineage". Henry VIII dissolved the marriage on grounds that the marriage between Catherine and his older brother, Arthur, had not been consummated. Both "Hamlet" and "Otranto" show echoes of this story as major elements within the framework of each literary structure.