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Doubt And Royal Corruption In Hamlet Essay

662 Words3 Pages

The setting in William Shakespeare's Hamlet plays a profound role in establishing the themes of doubt and royal corruption. With perpetual scenes in the castle, it becomes a symbolic location that reveals complications and state-of-minds that affects characterization and exacerbates the brooding mood. One of the central issues in Hamlet is the deficiency of trust and the castle is an essential component in enhancing this theme. There is absolutely no certainty for privacy as characters such as Polonius will hide “behind the arras [he will] convey [himself]/to hear to process” (3.3.29-30). That lack of secrecy discloses that Polonius cannot be trusted and will cause chaos in the castle. Furthermore, Polonius’s plan establishes Gertrude’s vulnerability for it can potentially solve her …show more content…

This “blurs the grace and blush of modesty/calls virtue hypocrite” leads to heightened tension in the castle (3.4.42-43). King Claudius’s actions are truly questionable, and his ceaseless flaunt of his “incestuous” marriage is a grave disrespect to the traditions and the citizens of Denmark. With the castle serving as a connotation of a crown, it creates dramatic irony because the present King is a murderer. Rosencrantz, who mistrusts Hamlet, asserted, “ That spirit upon whose weal depend and rest/The lives of many” (3.3.13-14). Denmark’s diseased throne complicates its political aspect, and it reveals that nearly the entire royal court and country is mocked of their loyalty. Such corruption in the monarch foreshadows misfortune to fall upon the country; King Claudius is too concerned with his title of King, and not looking for the welfare of the nation. As nature is thrown off course, the whole nation has a price to

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