Rottenness In Hamlet Research Paper

The words, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark,” (citation) are spoken by Marcellus when Hamlet decides to follow the ghost without paying any heed to the possible repercussions. The appearance of a ghost is itself a bad omen, as on his first spotting of the ghost Horatio foreshadows, “this bodes some strange eruption to our state” (I. i. 69). It is a problematic phenomenon which portends danger to the state. Through Horatio’s words,” And then it started like a guilty thing / Upon a fearful summons. I have heard/ the cock that is the trumpet of the to the morn”, it is indicated in the play that the ghost might stir turmoil in Denmark. Its supernatural appearance and urgent departure at the end of witching hour signifies malice and nothing good can come out of it.
The ghost is of Hamlet Sr. who is ruthlessly murdered by his own brother Claudius. Hence another aspect of rottenness in Denmark is the King’s murder. We find out about the murder when the ghost describes the manner of his death in the following words, “Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, / With juice of cursed hebanon in a vial, / And in the porches of mine ear did pour…” (I. v. 62-64).The death of Hamlet Sr. is followed by a hasty marriage between Claudius and Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude. It is unnatural for a wife to marry her husband’s brother and that too so soon after his demise. Hamlet is deeply offended and miffed by his mother’s lack of grief. In Elizabethan times, a murder was considered to be the worst of all crimes. Moreover, it was incestuous to marry your sister in law, as it is righteously condemned by Hamlet, "She married: - O most wicked speed, to post / With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!” (I. ii.