The central storyline of the play is based around Claudius, the old King Hamlet and Hamlet. In the final scene of Act 1, Marcellus declares 'Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.' This can be read in two ways, the literal reading or an impending war and the suggestion of Claudius’ misdoings and the murder of King Hamlet. Before the play starts we learn that Claudius is the new King of Denmark because his brother, the former King was killed in an act of war. We later find out when the ghost tells Hamlet, that it was in fact Claudius that killed King Hamlet,
The ghost to Hamlet, describing the true cause of his death:
"Murder most foul, as in the best it is,
But this most foul, strange, and unnatural."
This proves that there is both deceit and corruption in the first scene of Shakespeare’s Hamlet as he tells Hamlet of both the murder and how unnatural his death was.
“Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole
With juice of cursed hebona in a vial,
And in the porches of my ears did pour…”
This tells of how Claudius poured poison in the ear of King Hamlet while he was sleeping. This is the most prominent act of deception.
The marriage of Gertrude and Claudius is seen to be corrupt because it is close in time to the funeral of King Hamlet. It also seems like too short a time for Gertrude to marry after her husbands death. We are introduced to her as loving her late husband dearly, which makes it seem even more deceitful for her to marry her brother-in-law only two months after Hamlets death.
“Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast,
With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts –
O wicked wit and gifts that have the power
So to seduce – won to his shameful list
The will of my most seeming-virtuous Queen…”
This demonstrates how Claudius put the King in a false sense of security to gain his trust and then stole everything he had back away from him. It also suggests King Hamlet knew Claudius’ plan all along to steal his wife and become king, and in turn takes over everything he once had.
At the end of Act 1, Hamlet begins to act as if he is going insane. This shows that he is not entirely truthful all of the time. This suggests that he is begging to be and could become deceptive as the play continues. He is described to “put an antic disposition on –“ This shows how he is deliberately acting mad to deceive people into making them believe he is just going mad until they eventually forget about him. Then he can take his revenge on Claudius for killing his father.
From this, I conclude that throughout Act 1 of Hamlet, deception and corruption are used as central themes to the main storyline to progress the storyline and shows the demise of characters. It also emphasizes the tragedy of the play.
