Show how Prince Hamlet was not entirely rotten but more of a product of a rotten society.

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Introduction to drama module

“The only thing rotten in Denmark is the Prince” Do you agree?

Shell Woodward

The aim of this essay is to show how Prince Hamlet was not entirely rotten but more of a product of a rotten society. I aim to show this by analysing his character and the dilemma he faces. By doing this I hope to reveal what was truly rotten in the State of Denmark. To help me understand the Prince’s dilemma and his surroundings I will look at the plays social, political and historical context. By doing this I will gain an understanding of the issues surrounding the play such as religious ethics, society and, of course, revenge and its consequences. In particular I will be looking at the character of Claudius, as I believe that he is the true source of the rottenness in Denmark and how this character drags Hamlet into a society that tests the most moralistic of men.

 Renaissance drama reflects upon the many changes that occurred in Britain and Europe during the 16th century. As Hamlet was most likely written in 1601 it is an excellent example of how these changes affected that society. The Revenge Tragedy genre derives from the Renaissance’s renewed interest in the Classical culture, which produced such literary geniuses as the Roman playwright, of Revenge Tragedy, Seneca. The conventions of this genre called for a brutal quest for vengeance, which drives the play forward. The play begins with a commission for a murder by the ghost of the victim demanding that his murderer be brought to justice. The murderer is shown to be living in an elevated state having profited from their crime. The avenger then spends the bulk of the play overcoming obstacles before gaining the opportunity for vengeance, which must be death. Along the way there is much bloodshed and the stage is littered with corpses. Greek and Roman belief systems varied greatly from Christian ones as they believed themselves to be God-like, whereas in the Renaissance Christian belief system there was an hierarchy of such power where God was placed at the top and then kings and man etc. But also in the Renaissance there was a new growing belief in the Classical cultures values as many people believed it to be the ultimate culture. This was called Renaissance Humanism. Humanists believed in the notion that man could achieve an almost god-like excellence, like the Romans and Greeks did. This meant that the question of who dealt out punishment for other people’s wrongful behaviour became an issue in Renaissance drama. Hamlet is a good example of the differences of beliefs between Classical and Christian belief systems. The obstacles that the Prince has to overcome are his ethics whereas in other plays of this genre the obstacles were usually complicated twists and the schemes of other characters.

Other dramatists of the Renaissance period also reflected on the difference of ethics between Classical cultures and Christian ones. One of these was Thomas Kyd in his drama, The Spanish Tragedy. Like Shakespeare’s Hamlet, The Spanish Tragedies main thematic concern was who had the right to administer justice. The Renaissance Christian ethic was, “vengeance is mine, saith the Lord; I will repay”, which shows that God should be the one and only avenger to an injustice. Kyd highlighted this ethic in his play by using a unique device for murder to reflect the fact that revenge was wrong according to Christian religious ethics. He risked public censure and even official punishment by having two of his characters die by hanging. Here the noose was used a symbol of temporal justice as Kyd wished to demonstrate just how fickle such justice was compared to Gods and the cosmos. Usually revenge in dramas consisted of stabbings and poisonings as the use of state sanctioned methods of execution, such as hangings, was thought to rob these methods of their value if used for entertainment purposes and therefore would undermine their value as a deterrent to crime. Renaissance law was in conflict with Christian ethics on justice also. Shakespeare chose to reflect the contrast between Christian and Humanist ethics on revenge differently in Hamlet and he did this by using many devices such as the Prince’s connection to Wittenberg.

When he returned from his studies at Wittenberg Hamlet’s discontent at the State of Denmark under his uncle, Claudius’, rule and the fact that his recently widowed mother had married her husband’s brother shows through in his first soliloquy.

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                                    “How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable

                                      see to me all the uses of this world

                                      Fie on’t, ah fie, ‘tis an unweeded garden

                                      That grows ...

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