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Decay in Shakespeare's Hamlet

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Shakespeare presents corruption as the
cause of Denmark's decay. Claudius'
corruption acts as the poison that leads to
Denmark's decay of stability and security.
Likewise, Hamlet corrupting his own
morals causes his own mental decay as
well as the decomposition of the State of
Denmark as his insistence of following his
revenge is at the expense of corrupting
his morals, in turn leading to the
instability and insecurity of Denmark and
ultimately foreign control over the Royal
Court.

Claudius' corruption and greed which

leads him to commit regicide against his
brother creates never-ending corruption
in Denmark as he is seen as a usurper
and murderous king by the audience.

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This corruption of the throne is the poison that causes the decay of Denmark and could also present
the decay of religion as the divine rights of a king is broken with the regicide perhaps reflecting the
religious upheaval and instability of England at the time due to the split from Rome and the conflicting
views of Catholics and protestants who would have had different views on revenge.
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During Elizabethan times the majority of people believed the health of a nation was connected to the
legitimacy of its king, however, the illegitimacy of Claudius due to regicide causes the decay of
Denmark.

Perhaps Shakespeare suggests a connection between external decay and internal, systemic decay. The
external decay being the physical corruption that Claudius brings about with the 'most foul and
unnatural murder' and the internal decay being the poisoning of the political and social affairs of

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Denmark's decay is further reflected through Hamlet's comment about the Royal Court saying "tis is an
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unweeded garden, that grows to seed;/ Things rank and gross in nature." This is an extended metaphor
for the corruption of Denmark which comes forth from the centre; the Court, and into society like a
growing, spreading unweeded garden causing troubled times which is seen later on by the death of
many of the characters including Hamlet himself.

The image of decay is further emphasized through Hamlet's comment about Claudius saying, "a man
may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm."

This is a symbol of corruption and decay of Denmark as the worm represents the dead king's corpse
which has decayed and been consumed by the worm which is later used in fishing and is thus eaten by
the fish which ends up eaten by Claudius thus Hamlet accusing Claudius of eating a dead corpse of the
old king is symbolic of the corruption of the State of Denmark as it reflects the regicide committed by
Claudius. Therefore, Shakespeare presents decay by showing how Claudius' corruption poisons
Denmark and infects it with decay.

Furthermore, Claudius' corruption which leads to the decay and rot of Denmark infects Hamlet causing
him to develop an obsession with physical corruption as he corrupts his morals and obsesses over
death and rot.

Hamlet can no longer see the beauty of the world around him as he tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
that he sees nothing but "foul and pestilent congregation of vapors" and this is due to the melancholy
that engulfs him after his father's murder and the corruption of Denmark. He even associates his
mother's marriage with rot and decay when he refers to the "Royal bed of Denmark" as "enseamed
bed".

READ: Mistreatment of Ophelia in Hamlet

His mother's haste remarriage affects the whole of Denmark and the image of her marriage bed being
the bed of Denmark goes back to the view that with the regicide committed by Claudius, corruption has
become innate to Denmark and the decay and rot that comes with corruption spread from the throne 1'
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The corruption that has engulfed Denmark and poisoned it infects Hamlet thus urges him to act to stop
it through revenge. However, this revenge is out of his character and as William Hazlitt states that
Hamlet is 'a great moraliser' thus he needs to corrupt his own moral compass to act upon his revenge.

Hamlet prolonging his revenge by acting mad is all due to his moral compass and his dread as an
existentialist hero. He goes through the philosophical journey of finding the morality behind his
revenge and this leads to his hamartia of inaction which leads to his tragic death and many others .. ·

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Denmark alongside the corrupt throne due to regicide.

His insistence on revenge and the delay in his corruption of morals leads not only to his death but the
unnecessary deaths of Polonius, Ophelia, Laertes and Gertrude and as Coddon states, Hamlet's
madness is "an instrument of social and political disorder" which is true as his revenge and corruption
of morals also leads to the decay and destruction of Denmark with a foreign power taking over the
crown .

Fortin bras takes over the throne and the rot and decay are inevitable and Fortin bras is needed to
purify Denmark's and this is demonstrated when Hamlet finds the skull of Yorick, a former jester
lamenting on how all the parts of Yorick he knew the man's "infinite jest", warmth and genitality but
also physical attributes such as his tongue and flesh are gone forever thus realizing that all men, even
the most influential leaders in history like Alexander the Great return to 'dust'.

He also obsesses over the body's process of decay and asks the gravediggers for detailed descriptions
of how long it takes for the flesh to rot off the bones. Hamlet's continued fixation on the inescapable
process of dying and decay shows that he feels incapable of stopping the decay and rot of Denmark
due to it being engulfed in corruption and indeed in the end a foreign leader is needed to take over
Denmark and cleanse it from its corruption. Denmark had to rot in order to flourish just as human
flesh decays and fertilizes the ground beneath it.

Therefore, due to the existence of a tragic hero; Hamlet in the state of Denmark, the decay of Denmark
is inevitable as this tragic hero is the leader and core of the state.

Overall, Shakespeare presents corruption as the cause of Denmark's decay. The corrupt throne which
is the core of the country is decaying due to Claudius' regicide and this infects Hamlet's mortals leading
to his own corruption and mental decay ultimately leading to the destruction of the state of Denmark
and the succession of a foreign king.

Cite this article as: William Anderson (Schoolworkhelper Editorial Team), "Decay in Shakespeare's
Hamlet," in Schoo/WorkHelper, 2021, https://schoolworkhelper.net/decay-in-shakespeares-
hamlet/.

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Author: William Anderson {Schoolworkhelper Editorial Team)

https://schoolworkhelper.net/

Tutor and Freelance Writer. Science Teacher and Lover of Essays. Article last
reviewed: 2020 I St. Rosemary Institution © 2010-2021 I Creative Commons 4.0

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