Weeds In Hamlet

Iterative use of vivid and detailed imagery in a piece of literature is often a way of expressing a theme or concept in a literary work. This is the case in William Shakespeare"'"s Hamlet, a revenge tragedy that continually depicts the vibrant metaphors of manifesting corruption and festering disease in order to auger the impending calamities in the state of Denmark. Throughout Shakespeare"'"s play, there are successive images of deterioration, decay and death. These images are skilfully accomplished through the use of metaphors of rotting and dead gardens. Shakespeare wonderfully creates these metaphors that add great dimension to the play of Hamlet.

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.

Hamlet is as much a story of emotional conflict, paranoia, and self-doubt as it is one of revenge and tragedy. The protagonist, Prince Hamlet of Denmark, is instructed by his slain father’s ghost to enact vengeance upon his uncle Claudius, whose treacherous murder of Hamlet’s father gave way to his rise to power. Overcome by anguish and obligation to avenge his father’s death, Hamlet ultimately commits a number of killings throughout the story. However, we are not to view the character Hamlet as a sick individual, but rather one who has been victimized by his own circumstances.

In the play Hamlet there are many themes that were brought to our attention; Madness, Revenge, Mortality, Religion, Incest, Family, and Death. In this essay we will be discussing two of these themes that we found intriguing, the two themes are Death, and Revenge.

Shakespeare uses Hamlet’s first soliloquy to show how weeds symbolize Claudius and the way Hamlet feels towards him. Hamlet says, “ ‘Tis an unweeded garden,” when referring to the kingdom after his father’s passing (1.2.135). Weeds in a garden mean that it is being unattended to. Shakespeare uses this phrase as a way of showing Claudius neglect towards the kingdom and reveals Hamlet’s disgust for the

Hamlet is undeniably an epic among all plays. Shakespeare’s command of storytelling and the meticulously sculpted layers of the play add to the sheer grandeur of the life of Hamlet and the multitude of forces acting against him. The complex dialogue, the magnificent story arches, and the archetypal themes are all essential to the understanding and enjoyment of Hamlet, but there is one particular subject matter that The Bard placed at the center of all the conflict and emotion of the play: grief. The Prince of Denmark’s burdened life after his father’s death is completely coerced by the tearing force of grief throughout his mental and emotional state of being. His purpose, his insanity, and ultimately his downfall stemmed from this encumbrance.

Hamlet, the first in Shakespeare's series of great tragedies, was initially classified as a problem play when the term became fashionable in the nineteenth century. Like Shakespeare's other tragic plays, Hamlet focuses on the complications arising from love, death, and betrayal. There are numerous examples of powerful imagery; however, none of them surpass the strong presence of repeated garden imagery. It is difficult to disregard of the similarities between Hamlet and the story of The Garden of Eden stated in the Bible. William Shakespeare parallels the Garden of Eden and the Royal Kingdom in Denmark to reveal corruption, temptation and the fall of innocence in the play. The image of a fallen Eden is threaded throughout the entire play, as Shakespeare tells not only of the fall of Elsinore but also of the destruction of Paradise.

Imagery is an integral part of literature. The protagonist, Hamlet, his mother Queen Gertrude and her husband King Claudius, along with Hamlet’s love interest Ophelia are all affected by human sin through the evocation of sickness and rot. Sin, the driving force of the play, impacts each character, decaying his or her mind, resulting in the emotional and physical demise of each character and the decay of the state of Denmark, which has become “rotten” after Claudius poisons his own brother and weds his sister-in-law. William Shakespeare’s tragic play Hamlet has explicit imagery evoking sickness, death, and decay. The use of death, rot, and sickness as images illustrate the sinful human nature of the characters and the corruption of Denmark.

When the fallen King Hamlet returns as the Ghost to warn Hamlet about the corruption in Elsinore,Hamlet learns the cause of his father’s death: he was murdered at the hand of Claudius by way of poison. The Ghost insists that Hamlet evens the score of his death by killing Claudius and therefore wiping out the foul disease that has taken hold. Contrary to the current state of affairs, under King Hamlet the kingdom of Denmark had been honored and respected and recognized as strong and good.During this time, Denmark could have been compared to a garden that has been looked after and cared for, unlike the “unweeded garden” it became under the sinful rule of Claudius (1.2.139). Marcellus’ comment refers to this and that Claudius is the impetus for the rot of the country. Claudius’ murderous plan, which gave him his new founded power, has begun the infection of the people around him. The Ghost tells Hamlet to “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.31). The image of Claudius’ foul sin of murder is exhibited by the suggestions of physical contagion in the night air. Adjectives such as nasty, rank, blasted, and infected have “powerful connotations of physical evil” and all point to the situation that has befallen the castle (Altick 171).

In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the protagonist-Hamlet- is given a task to avenge his father’s death, but he is constantly procrastinating. The tragedy results in the death and corruption of many characters, including Hamlet. Hamlet’s conscientious neutrality and vitality during the spreading of the contagion prohibit him from becoming villainous or heroic, but his actions, infected by the contagion, indirectly affect other characters ultimately determining his final destination.

The play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare takes place in 11th century Denmark with the courts corruption as its main focus. Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses imagery of rot and disease to symbolize the corrupt state of Denmark. Denmark’s corruption can be traced back to the unnatural death of King Hamlet, leading to Hamlet, the dead kings son, seeking revenge, and finally, ending with the purging of the court. Following the Old Kings death, strange and unnatural events begin to occur. The appearance of King Hamlets ghost at the beginning of the play is the first example of the “strange eruption to our state” (1.1.69) present in the play.

In Hamlet’s first soliloquy, he speaks about “O that this too too sullied flesh would melt,/ thaw, and resolve itself into a dew” (1.2.129-130). The imagery created including the melting of flesh is an example that Hamlet is not in the state of mind he should be in and he thinks the whole world is disease comparing it to “an unweeded garden” (1.2.135) and “things rank and gross in nature” (1.2.136). The ghost of the King is another example of imagery for he is a walking example of death and decay and the images he creates about his death aids in developing the theme. He describes the moment of his death as “a most instant tetter barked about,/ Most lazar-like with vile and loathsome crust” (1.5.69-70); the ghost tries to create the feeling the death is becoming like a leper.

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

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of the most popular dramas in world literature, as it examines the passionate, but toxic ambitions of King Claudius. He murders his own brother, King Hamlet, to overtake the throne, power, and wife. As a result of King Claudius’ fratricide, he inherits the “primal eldest curse” of Cain and Abel, and the dispersion of his venom ends the lives of several major characters. Including, of course, Prince Hamlet, who gets drawn into a deep depression over his father’s death, who later visits him as an apparition. This essay will analyze Shakespeare’s symbolic use of poison, embodied by King Claudius and the unintended consequences of his wicked acts.

Hamlet aspires to resolve his father’s murder with “bloody” action (IV.v.69). For that reason, when Hamlet succeeds in impaling his uncle upon the rapier and forcing him to consume the poisoned elixir, “[Shakespeare] has depicted in [Hamlet] a true national hero” (Crawford). According to this belief, as Hamlet has taken the life of the man that killed King Hamlet and was powerless to stop Denmark from falling to Fortinbras, the Danes have been lifted from danger and the prince Hamlet can be deemed a “savior.” Yet, this victory is short lived when compared to the impairment Hamlet has brought his nation and the amount of lives he has spent in his whirlwind of destruction. Crawford’s idealistic view of Hamlet fails to support itself when weighed against the unfortunate truth—Hamlet cannot be savior of Denmark.