Hamlet Essay

Shakespeare’s efforts to target his Elizabethan audience have the effect of emulating the theme of the frailty of man through Hamlet’s speech. By subtly alluding to the Great Chain of Being through the prince’s words, Shakespeare develops a theme that underlies much of the play. The Elizabethans believed that the Great Chain of Being had been structured by God, with all people, regardless of social standing, having more importance than all animals. Hence, when Hamlet says, “We fat all creatures else to fat us”, the Elizabethans would have understood it to mean that mankind, being of a higher standing in the eyes of God than all other creatures, were right to dominate the creatures below them for their own gain. Yet Hamlet does not stop there, for he adds “and we fat ourselves for maggots”. This poses a question that targets the Elizabethan audience: if man is truly so superior, why is it that he becomes sustenance for such lower beings as maggots and worms? Clearly, the passage from act IV, scene ii serves to develop the theme of the frailty of man. The Elizabethan audience is presented with the idea of the Great Chain of Being familiar to them, but suddenly, humankind’s superiority is questioned as the undeniable weakness of man is highlighted. As powerful as this quotation is standing alone, it serves a much greater purpose as part of the play. It resonates with other sections that address the same theme, an instance being when Hamlet questions, “What is a man/If his chief good and market of his time/Be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more”. Though these other sections may not address the Great Chain of Being the way the first speech did, they are connected with the first speech through the same theme of the weaknesses that ...

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...een appearance and reality that Shakespeare was establishing throughout Hamlet and not just in this one scene; for example, how Hamlet appeared mad by grief yet he was really planning to execute his revenge or how Claudius spurred Laertes on to slay Hamlet not so much because Claudius grieved Polonius’ death, but because Hamlet knew the truth of Hamlet Senior’s murder. Clearly, these other instances in Hamlet that also developed the theme of appearance vs reality would have been emphasized through their association with the passage that questioned the appearance and reality of the Great Chain of Being’s structure. Thus, by targeting his audience, Shakespeare successfully developed the theme of appearance vs reality that the audience perceived in Hamlet. However, Shakespeare continued to use this technique to influence the interpretation of a final theme in his play.