In his famous tragedy, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Shakespeare explores multiple revenge schemes against an eerie background. The play’s protagonist, Hamlet, is suffering after the death of his father and former king. Hamlet is also in agony as his uncle, Claudius, married his mother shortly after his father’s death, and is now king. Hamlet is now in emotional turmoil as he begins to see his father’s ghost, who reveals it was Claudius who murdered King Hamlet. Hamlet feigns madness and plots to avenge his father’s murder. However, Denmark is being filled with supernatural occurrences and moral dilemmas, and Hamlet struggles to accomplish his goal. The opening scene of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark sets a fitting atmosphere
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The righteous King Hamlet was killed by his own evil and conniving brother. Claudius is only interested in becoming king so that he may be powerful. He makes a strategic move to marry his brother’s wife Gertrude so that he can claim the throne, very shortly after his brother’s death. Dr. Stephen Evans described the marriage of Gertrude and Claudius: “As young Hamlet learns, not only has his own father been murdered, but the murderer also has (perhaps incestuously) married Queen Gertrude, his mother (possibly the end result of an adulterous relationship).” With this union, Claudius diminishes the sanctity of marriage and the throne. Claudius’s immoral influences continue as he continually encourages and orders people in the castle to spy or deceive on his behalf, such as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern or Polonius. The “something rotten” reference can also be taken quite literally. There are many deaths in the play, as well as many references to decay. An entire scene in Hamlet is devoted to a graveyard where gravediggers converse in the presence of skulls. This further enforces the eerie background of the play as it obsesses over death and supernatural themes. The decay references in The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark can be seen as the decomposition of the hierarchy of Denmark or the rotting of King Hamlet, or the many other dead bodies in the
The righteous King Hamlet was killed by his own evil and conniving brother. Claudius is only interested in becoming king so that he may be powerful. He makes a strategic move to marry his brother’s wife Gertrude so that he can claim the throne, very shortly after his brother’s death. Dr. Stephen Evans described the marriage of Gertrude and Claudius: “As young Hamlet learns, not only has his own father been murdered, but the murderer also has (perhaps incestuously) married Queen Gertrude, his mother (possibly the end result of an adulterous relationship).” With this union, Claudius diminishes the sanctity of marriage and the throne. Claudius’s immoral influences continue as he continually encourages and orders people in the castle to spy or deceive on his behalf, such as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern or Polonius. The “something rotten” reference can also be taken quite literally. There are many deaths in the play, as well as many references to decay. An entire scene in Hamlet is devoted to a graveyard where gravediggers converse in the presence of skulls. This further enforces the eerie background of the play as it obsesses over death and supernatural themes. The decay references in The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark can be seen as the decomposition of the hierarchy of Denmark or the rotting of King Hamlet, or the many other dead bodies in the