Importance Of Loyalty In Hamlet

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Shakespeare’s Hamlet, published circa 1603, has engaged audiences since the Renaissance as a revenge tragedy resonating with Humanist themes that enable speculation on the scope and limitations of the human experience. Shakespeare’s construction of Hamlet’s fatal flaw relies on the archetypes of the Renaissance and Machiavellian man in terms of the dramatic treatment of struggle and disillusionment through his inability to act. The latter is reinforced through these archetypes in terms of the value placed on masculinity and intellectual coherence in relation to the demoralisation of madness and female sexuality in a religious context. Hamlet’s internal conflict is further reinforced through loyalty in terms of the ethical contrast of power
The characterisation of Claudius as the Machiavellian man is eminent in the quote, “the serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown”, which subverts the assertion that King Hamlet died through a snakebite. This is eminent through the biblical allusion to the devil disguised as a snake and the metonymy of the ‘crown’, which suggest that the king was actually murdered by his traitorous successor for the acquirement of political power and status. This is augmented by the symbolism of Claudius as the devil who “hath power to assume a pleasing shape” in terms of the Machiavellian notion that manipulating public perceptions of reality and politics is quintessential for the maintenance of power and authority. Claudius also represents the Machiavellian philosophy that “It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both”. This is evident in the quote, “By the sovereign power you have of us, put your dead pleasures more into command than to entreaty”. The simile ‘ command than to entreaty ‘ demonstrates how Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s are legally and patriotically bound to the government of Denmark, which is manipulated by Claudius for his bidding through fear and cunning. Hence the negative characterisation of Claudius as the play’s antagonist is implicit of Shakespeare’s denouncement of the Machiavellian man due to its
This is evident in the quote, “As I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on,” from the first act after his encounter with the ghost. The contextual reference of ‘antic’ for insanity in the phrase ‘antic disposition’ is implicit of the contrived nature of Hamlet’s madness. The fact that his act was perceived as plausible in his sociopolitical context reflects his superior skill and intellect through his experience as a student of theatre and of the high culture expectations associated with his noble status. This notion that Hamlet was sane is contradicted through the quote, “The spirit that I have seen may be the devil … Out of my weakness and my melancholy, as he is very potent with such spirits, abuses me to damn me”. Hamlet’s ‘melancholy’, synonymous with madness in Shakespeare’s context, reflects fear of immorality through the potential regicide of his uncle based on dubious proof that he murdered his predecessor. This is augmented by the allusion to madness as a malignant transcending force and the subversion of Hamlet’s intelligence through philosophical raving, reflecting how mental instability negated the coherency of the Renaissance

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