The Role Of Corruption In Hamlet

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the titular hero and tragic figure of the play constantly finds himself unable to act on the Ghost’s instructions to take revenge on King Claudius despite the compelling reasons he realizes for doing so. The reason for this delay is Hamlet’s tragic flaw – his tendency towards thought and introspection rather than impulse and action. Because of this flaw, Hamlet is unable to ignore the moral aspects of his actions and “thereby becomes the creature of mere meditation, and [he] loses his natural power of action” (Coleridge, 343).

“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles“ (Marx 15). The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx displays different ideas between the clashing social stances during his time. These thoughts highlight the several issues with the overbearing upper class showcasing the difference between social status and their given power in society. Similarly, the Marxist lens displays how the nobles gaining control of the social, economical, and political aspects of a society affect the lower class. William Shakespeare's Hamlet emphasizes division of social classes and unquenchable desire to obtain power through self- benefiting manipulation and misuse of authority.

No nation is entirely free from corruption. Nevertheless, if corruption is strong enough, it can hinder the good governance and decay the fabric of society. It is an obstacle to sustainable development, and leaves little room for justice to prevail. Throughout the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, a corrupting disease plagues Denmark and the people within it. The incestuous marriage between Gertrude and Claudius, in addition to murdering King Hamlet, is the main example of deceit, corruption and evil. Throughout the play we can

central to the play. I am going to look at only the first act of the

Another instance where Shakespeare creates a metaphor between the state of Denmark and a garden is when Marcellus says to Horatio '"'Something is rotten in the state of Denmark'"' (1.4.67). This passage is very important in the play because it shows that Hamlet is not the only person concerned with the position that Denmark is in. This metaphor is hinting that Denmark is being left untended by the protector King Claudius. As the king, Claudius should be tending to Denmark to make it flourish and grow instead, Claudius neglects it and Denmark begins to wither away and eventually dies under his rule. This disregard of his '"'garden'"' shows that Claudius is the wrong person on the throne of Denmark. This excerpt also creates a sense of sickness and infection, exactly how an unattended garden would be. This is not a good image for Claudius and Denmark because people do not want to be in a country that is rotting from

"This above all, to thine own self be true." Hamlet shows that integrity is the most important personal quality to have in a world in which people are often not what they seem." Discuss.

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark has been performed thousands of times since it was “written in 1599–1601 and published in a quarto edition in 1603” (Britannica.com). It’s popularity stems from its themes that translate across time. These themes, are seen to be relatable even to this day with the ever growing audience. Readers and viewers are able to find similarities between the current state and or even relate to one of the characters or events taking place over the course of Shakespeare’s five act masterpiece. Shakespeare's, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark remains a viable text for contemporary readers in that it functions as a mirror.

There is a lot of corruption in Hamlet by Shakespeare, but how does it effect the main character Hamlet? To start, corruption in this play is made up by multiple elements such as greed, manipulation and immoral choices. All of these elements and corruption as a whole may or may not have affected hamlet. This is the theme that I will be exploring in the following series of paragraphs.

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness ‘’, a quote by Martin Luther King. This quote relates to one of the principal themes in Hamlet. As a synonym for selfishness, greed also ties in to the theme of the play. The egocentricity of the character Claudius and his brother King Hamlet had a very large impact on several lives. He is the perfect example of ‘’one must do whatever it takes ‘’.

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet has been widely regarded as one of the greatest tragedies ever written. One prominent theme exemplified in this particular play is the theme of rottenness or decay. Shakespeare uniquely uses disease, rotting, and decay in order to reveal the manifestation and consequence of moral corruption. Physical corruption mirrors the moral corruption within the characters in the play. The moral corruption in Denmark is showcased for the readers throughout the play by images of physical corruption and disease. Shakespeare argues in Hamlet that sin or moral corruption is like a disease that leads one to one’s own “death” or demise. Nobody is immune from it.

Reasonable disfunction Throughout Hamlet and The Count of Monte Cristo, the protagonists of the story adopt a identical approach to avenge the wrongdoings that devastated their ordinary world. Throughout Shakespeare's play, "Hamlet", the main character is perceived to be overwhelmed with madness by the death of his father when, in fact, he is aware of his actions and wishes to be suspected of insanity to exact out his vengeance. Likewise, Edmund Dante's, disguises his true intentions behind his wealth and influence in order to orchestrate his revenge. Throughout their early lives both characters have a naivety regarding their perception of their worlds and relationships around them which only become more clear following events in which their presumed allies betray them. Some critics of Shakespeare's Hamlet argue that Hamlets inaction is overdone and unnecessarily melodramatic; I argue that Hamlets early dysfunction is legitimate,

In many of Shakespeare’s tragedies, the playwright draws a connection between the moral health of the kingdom and the corruption of the ruler himself. In Hamlet, he explores the extent to which corruption influences characters. By utilising animal and nature imagery, Shakespeare exemplifies how sexual and political vices corrupt characters and ultimately lead to their demise.

Corruption in Denmark begins with selfish greed. Unknown to Hamlet or the people of Denmark, Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, begins the turmoil by murdering his own brother by pouring a poisonous “juice of cursed hebona” into Hamlet Sr.’s ear, in exchange for his selfish

Throughout ‘Hamlet’ we have the images of death, decay, rottenness, and corruption embedded in the story. The imagery that Shakespeare uses in hamlet relates directly with the plots of the play perfectly. The corruptions images are illuminated in the beginning with Claudius own actions. The characters use metaphors of disease in the connection to sickness and rottenness. Within “Hamlet”, Shakespeare makes a number of references to Denmark 's tainted state due to the deceitfulness that lies within. Shakespeare uses death and decay to exemplify the death of the characters, and the decay of these characters that comes with those deaths, as well as the decay and death of morals and the death and decay that comes of political corruption of the government of Denmark. Denmark is repeatedly defined as a physical body made ill by the moral corruption of Claudius. They don 't know that Claudius isn 't legitimate throughout the play; characters draw clear links between the moral lawfulness of a ruler and the health of the nation. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern state their beliefs that health of a country is tied to the legitimacy of the King. Because death and decay are so prevalent throughout Hamlet, it could be said that Shakespeare intended for them to be a major theme.

Central to the plot and the themes developed in Shakespeare's Hamlet, are the varying elements of corruption which occur during the play. This is echoed in Marcellus' famous comment of 'Something is rotten in the state of Denmark,' when Hamlet is beckoned away by the Ghost (1.4.90). As the play continues and the story enfolds, it becomes apparent that there truly is 'something rotten in the state of Denmark,' and rather that it is not just one 'something,' but many things.