ipl-logo

Shakespeare's Use Of Corruption In Hamlet

1032 Words5 Pages

Hamlet Essay Explore how time and place are used in Shakespeare’s Hamlet to shape the audience’s understanding of corruption. In your response, make detailed reference to the play. Shakespeare’s revenge tragedy, Hamlet (1892) encompasses perennial concerns on corruption that are not only applicable to the Elizabethan era, but also to contemporary society. As a result of corruption, Hamlet is perceived as an afflicted character struggling to live in a world of complex appearances and paradoxical actions. Consequently, his overwhelming desire and reason for filial revenge is instigated, reflecting the intricate nature of the human condition in the undertaking of his vengeance. Shakespeare expertly explores Elizabethan ideologies in the background …show more content…

Furthermore, Claudius’ Machiavellian nature is divulged, executing fratricide in his egotistical desire for power. However, his sinister actions are masked as he exhibits himself as a sympathetic king and husband, conveyed through his use of parallelisms, “with mirth in funeral and dirge in marriage”. He successfully stabilises the melancholic event of Old Hamlet’s death with the joy of his incestuous marriage, heightening his manipulative actions as he tries to attract and be compassionate with the court. Additionally, Claudius’ usurping of the crown interrupts the Elizabethan value of maintaining the social hierarchy, eventually causing a sense of corruption. This is depicted through the metaphor of an, “Unweeded garden, that grows to seed; things that rank and gross in nature”, underlining Denmark’s state of instability in conflict. Ultimately, from the realisation of Claudius’ facade in conjunction with the distortion of Elizabethan values, the audience sees the corruption that leads to Hamlet’s death, along with the demise many other innocent characters affected by this

Show More
Related

How Is Betrayal Justified In Hamlet

828 Words | 4 Pages

Although Hamlet is plotting to murder a king which is the highest form of treason any person could commit in his time, is made to seem like an honorable and justified action. Through the ghost of his father demanding that Hamlet avenge his untimely death by the hand of his brother, the audience disposes of this idea that plotting against and killing a king is treason. The audience understands Hamlets rage and desire for revenge and is encourages it although Claudius is the new king of Denmark and father to Hamlet. This betrayal Hamlet commits against his former uncle now his adoptive father would disgust the audience had it not been that Claudius was guilty of murdering Hamlets father and plotting to murder Hamlet. By having this double crossing it establishes how not even the bonds of family can quench the thirst for power and

Read More

Figurative Language In Hamlet's Soliloquy

741 Words | 3 Pages

Claudius is then compared to the internal organs of slaves and a man without morals, remorse or kindness (Ham.2.2.607-608). The powerful metaphors and adjectives used to describe Claudius not only express Hamlet’s intense contempt and disdain towards him, but also serve to convince Hamlet to commit murder. However, Hamlet depicts himself as a whore, a prostitute, and a swearing kitchen maid (Ham.2.2.614-616), reiterating the notion that he is worthless, as well as weak for expressing his emotions through words rather than actions. The shift from metaphors to similes indicate Hamlet’s failure to move past his cowardice and proceed with an act of revenge that would inflict

Read More

Zeffirelli And Branagh's Hamlet Analysis

1102 Words | 5 Pages

Within the classic Shakespeare play of Hamlet, many overarching themes can be found. However, when one looks more closely, they can see that the idea of revenge has huge impacts on the plot. When watching the movie adaptations, one directed by Franco Zeffirelli in 1990 and the other by Kenneth Branagh in 1996, some discrepancies can be seen throughout the story. The way the directors depicted certains scenes has changed the way the views see the ideal of revenge. By analyzing the depictions of Hamlet’s personality throughout all three versions of Hamlet, the audience realizes the importances of revenge in the plot.

Read More

Character Deception In William Shakespeare's Hamlet

1940 Words | 8 Pages

Hamlet Character deception is a common characteristic that has and will be a reflecting characteristic in literature for centuries. In many of William Shakespeare’s tragedies, deception, whether positive or negative, is being used to mislead, to protect characters, or to hide a crime or future crime. Analyzing why the characters are using deception against each other is very important to the reader’s understanding of the work as a whole. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, He uses Hamlet’s deception of character and also the character’s use of deception towards Hamlet to carry out the overall theme of the tragedy. The theme that is represented, is that in able to get malicious revenge, you must be able to act as if you are someone different than your true self while in turn, being able to deal with others deceiving you.

Read More

Doubt And Royal Corruption In Hamlet Essay

662 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

Similarities Between Hamlet And Machiavelli

910 Words | 4 Pages

Michael Olufunsho Fafemi Alan Rosiene HUM 2052 February 6 2018 Hamlet, The Claudius similarity and Machiavellism Shakespeare through the play Hamlet portrays many complex themes through the various characters in the play. Hamlet, the protagonist is in particular a mesh of various complexities and ideas. He is often caught in between his own opposing characteristics and these ultimately affect the course of his actions.

Read More

Hamlet Dishonesty Analysis

1626 Words | 7 Pages

Had he been honest, perhaps his life would have had another stream. In this play Claudius represents the worst in human nature -- lust, greed, corruption, and excess. Claudius and his corrupt court lie in the pleasures of the

Read More

What Is Claudius Evil

254 Words | 2 Pages

Claudius, as seen in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is both intelligent and clever, two traits that, put together, complement his manipulative and dangerous nature. Due to his cunning nature he portrays the role of a very complex villain. The death of King Hamlet by Claudius results in Prince Hamlet to act out of character, which thus resulted in the tragic death of Polonius and Ophelia. While Hamlet and Gertrude were having conversation, Polonius was hiding behind the huge carpet that was hanging on the wall. Unknowingly, Hamlet stabs Polonius.

Read More

Abuse Of Power In Elizabethan Era

1534 Words | 7 Pages

Firstly, Hamlet is a play of a man by the name of Hamlet, whose father was murdered by Claudius, his uncle. Claudius murdered the king by pouring poison in his ear to claim the throne for himself. Hamlet is then told by a ghost to murder Claudius for revenge, and he struggles within himself for the length of play whether to do it or not. When Hamlet begins to hesitate it does more damage than good and causes a chain reaction of tragic events, and makes the readers question whether Hamlet is truly sane or not. Claudius’s corruptness begins to show when he uses his authority to order those around him to rid of Hamlet.

Read More

Nature Of Cruelty In Hamlet

887 Words | 4 Pages

This amorality stems from his desire to avenge the “rank and gross[ly]” (Shakespeare, 29) cruel actions of his uncle, the King Claudius. In the end however, both Hamlet and Claudius die with little pomp, victims of each other in a cyclical stream of karma. Shakespeare uses this eventuality to denounce the use of cruelty as a means to an end, for it brings nought but meaningless death. The fact that Hamlet becomes so cruel specifically because of Claudius’ treachery is a testament to the relationship between oppressor and oppressed. As Hamlet becomes that which he once hated, Shakespeare emphasizes the fact that the line between victim and oppressor is often more blurred than defined.

Read More

King Claudius's Ambition Essay

679 Words | 3 Pages

First of all, King Claudius’s ambition to become the next King of Denmark causes him to lose his conscience. As King Hamlet’s ghost reveals the truth of his death, he anguishes, “Thus was I [King Hamlet], sleeping, by a brother’s hand, Of life, of crown, of queen at once dispatched” (1.5.81-82). The throne of Denmark motivates King Claudius to slay his own biological brother to succeed King Hamlet’s “crown”. His desire to gain power has overwhelming covered up his moral values.

Read More

Theme Of Deception In Hamlet

1854 Words | 8 Pages

This aids the reader in analyzing the motives for each of the intricate characters and how every action has a motive that can tie back to Hamlet’s grand scheme which is to get revenge for the kingdom overtaken by an authority figure who did not earn that title, honor his father’s legacy that is taken from him in the crossfire of jealousy, and for the good of Denmark. Between the murder of King Hamlet and Polonius, Ophelia’s death, and the disloyalty of many characters, we enable ourselves to see the mood of confusion

Read More

Cultural Materialism In Hamlet

853 Words | 4 Pages

Firstly, according to Providentialism and the great chain of being, there is a hierarchy related on the understanding of the world. In the state’s sphere, the king is the figure of God on Earth; he is elected by God. However, Claudius is not an elected king, but an “imposed” one (he kills his brother in order to crown himself). Moreover, in some moments (IV, iii, 3-4 and IV, vii, 18-21), Claudius questions the idea that the king is not elected by God but by the crown, since Hamlet is supported by the people. Thus, the play presents an illegitimate crown.

Read More

Shakespeare Use Of Revenge In Hamlet Research Paper

1305 Words | 6 Pages

In Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, revenge plays a major role in how the characters act. They base their actions off of getting revenge. Hamlet, Laertes, and Young Fortinbras all are trying to get revenge for their fathers. All three of the characters use different methods for getting revenge and they all get different results. Shakespeare uses these three characters to show that revenge can consume you and that is all that you want and he shows how harmful it can be.

Read More

Morality And Morality In Hamlet

1510 Words | 7 Pages

In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the title character Hamlet’s mind is violently pulled in divergent directions about the morals of murder. He feels an obligation to avenge his father’s death and thinks that it may be excused, since it is a case of “an eye of an eye.” But he is conflicted because the Bible has also taught him that murder is a sin and revenge should be left to God. Hamlet’s struggle to interpret this moral dilemma and his indecision, together are the ultimate cause of all the tragedy in the play; this internal conflict illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole: that murder, greed, and revenge are sins, no matter the reason, and procrastination is very detrimental.

Read More

More about Shakespeare's Use Of Corruption In Hamlet

Open Document