The Juxtaposition In Hamlet

Hamlet is a world lacking in absolutes. Shakespeare places his characters into situations that reveal the gray areas of their moralities and force them to reevaluate what they consider right and wrong, while never providing a satisfactory answer himself. But Shakespeare always has something final to say about human nature, and in this play full of duality, one of the many binaries reveals a theme: although Shakespeare emphasizes Hamlet’s desire to uphold tradition in the face of corruption, he has Hamlet respond to Claudius’s transgressions by breaking social traditions and norms himself. This juxtaposition ultimately serves to illustrate the idea that tradition is inherently performative, and that humans are inherently corrupt. Immediately upon Hamlet’s introduction, he is preoccupied with the manifestations of corruption in Denmark. This is exemplified by the classic line, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” (1.4.90), although he is not the one to actually voice …show more content…
Through Act 4 and 5, he becomes increasingly fixated on the physical aspect--the corruption--of death. In an allusion to Caesar and Alexander in Act 5, he remarks that, “O, that that earth which kept the earth in awe / Should patch a wall t’ expel the winter’s flaw!” (5.1.217-8). This is an expression of the futility of living only to end as dust and it addresses on the idea that corruption is inherent in the human body; Hamlet’s obsessive rumination has revealed to him that delaying a decision about his revenge has not changed the outcome for either his body or his soul. In fact, by feigning insanity and breaking tradition, he hastened the exposition of his own corruption. It is this understanding that spurs him to be able to overcome his indecision and act. Murdering Claudius is an act that damns him to hell, and he is only able to do it after realizing that he has already corrupted himself by existing outside of the bounds of