Corruption In Hamlet

So by my former lecture and advice we shall you my son" (Shakespeare 90), Polonius reveals the lack of trust he has in Laertes. Therefore, by spying, Polonius alienates Laertes. Hamlet, Ophelia, and Laertes all suffer character alienation throughout Shakespeare's play, Hamlet. Claudius and Polonius spy on Hamlet and Laertes to maintain a safe rule of Denmark for Claudius. The queen also blames Ophelia for Hamlet's mental instability.

Why does human nature have a tendency to believe in information that is unsupported by justifiable data? William Shakespeare examines this problem fault in human nature through his protagonist, Hamlet. When Hamlet loses his father through unnatural causes, Hamlet grows suspicious of the characters around him. He quickly learns that the singing and cheerful disposition of the new King is suspect. In order to further investigate, Hamlet assumes an antic disposition and takes on the behaviours of a mad man.

Hamlet is seen to have little respect for women resulting in him using broken love for Ophelia to cover up his plan to murder Claudius. Shakespeare also creates Hamlet to have a hamartia which is an inability to act leading to him manipulating people to achieve his goals. In the play, it is clear that Hamlet causes much grief and turmoil in Denmark and eventually leads to Denmark's rot and his demise.

Hamlet’s first soliloquy begins with, “O that this too sullied flesh would melt,” (1.2.133). This reveals that he is depressed and appalled, but does not provide any evidence of insanity. In the same act Hamlet also directly tells Horatio that he is going to “feign madness” and that if Horatio notices any strange behaviors, it is because he is putting on an act (1.5.166). In the second act of the play, Shakespeare continues to drop hints that Hamlet’s madness is deliberately feigned in order to confuse and disconcert the king and his attendants. In one instance when Hamlet speaks to Polonius, Hamlet states, “Slanders, sir; for the satirical rogue says here that old men have gray beards; that their faces wrinkled; their eyes purging thick amber and plum-tree gum” (2.2.197).

Any disruption in this chain is believed to cause chaos in society. In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Denmark is thrown into chaos by the reckless actions of several characters that fail to follow the moral order. Hamlet is instructed by the ghost of his beloved father to restore order to Denmark and seek revenge on Claudius, the present king of Denmark and murderer of his father. By identifying the various levels of disorder in Denmark an evaluation of the effectiveness of Hamlet's "antic disposition" as a plan to restore order will be made. Throughout the play there are various factors that contribute to the disorder in Denmark.

Claudius kills his own brother through the use of a liquid poison. From the King’s death comes chaos for the country. Once King Hamlet’s ghost appears, Horatio declares, “In what particular thought to work I know not, But in the gross and scope of mine opinion this bodes some strange eruption to our state” (Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, 1, i, 66-68). This jealousy turns to death and leads to disarray for those in the kingdom; Horatio foreshadows that disarray. From Claudius’ jealousy came King Hamlet’s death, which leads Hamlet to deceit.

The death of King Hamlet disrupts the “Concept of Order” as well as the hierarchy causing disorder. The ghost of King Hamlet encourages his son, Hamlet to avenge him and in doing so says, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder,” (I.v.9). The ghost of King Hamlet insists Hamlet to restore the natural order. Claudius, the brother and murderer of King Hamlet disturbs the Concept of Order by lusting for the position King Hamlet has as the King of Denmark. After the death of King Hamlet, Prince Hamlet was supposed to be the next king of Denmark.

Hamlet explains that during the extremely rotten time, Hamlet, who is good and of virtue, must beg pardon to and get permission from Gertrude, who represents vice by committing many sins, to do good things such as urging her to repent. As a method for salvation, Hamlet asks her not to go to Claudius’ bed. Then he apologizes for the death of Polonius and admits his own fault. However, he insists that Polonius and he both are punished because God has made him the agent to punish Polonius with him and him with Polonius. He takes the responsibility, and explains Gertrude that he is cruel only to be kind to her and warns that worse things are yet to come.

I believe that the Problem is actually ours. Perhaps the real issue is not Hamlet's hesitation, but our unwillingness to understand it. In an ironic maneuver, Shakespeare has Hamlet tell us about the self-destructive power of a tragic flaw: So, oft it chances in particular men, That for some vicious mole of nature in them, As, in their birth--wherein they are not guilty, Since nature cannot choose his origin-- By the o'ergrowth of some complexion, Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason, Or by some habit that too much o'er-leavens The form of plausive manners, that these men, Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect, Being nature's livery, or fortune's star,-- Their virtues else--be they as pure as grace, As infinite as man may undergo-- Shall in the general censure take corruption From that particular fault: the dram of eale Doth all the noble substance of a doubt To his own scandal. Believers that virtuousness (or enlightenment) guarantees right conduct, take note! The key to Hamlet's flaw, the stuckness that has puzzled so many readers, is lodged, not in the beginning, but in the end--the place of maximum emphasis--of the "to be or not to be" soliloquy, the most famous dramatic monologue... ... middle of paper ... ...udies of Imagination.

Hamlet himself is obsessed with seeking out the truth, yet he hides his own feelings and intentions by putting on an “antic disposition”. The dramatic irony continues throughout the play for Hamlet’s lover Ophelia believes that “he had been loosed out of hell to speak of horrors”, while her father Polonius understands that “This is the very ecstasy of love”. Furthermore the notion of illusion of illusion can be seen the contrast between the ‘real’ and ‘seeming’ kings of Denmark. Shakespeare uses a variety of mythical images to compare Hamlet’s father to Claudius. Old Hamlet is described as having “Hyperion’s curls, the front of Jove himself” which is juxtaposed with the description of Claudius who is described as a “Mildewed ear”.