How Does Shakespeare Convey a Sense of Anomie in Hamlet Act 1, and to what end?

Drew York

How Does Shakespeare Convey a Sense of Anomie in Hamlet Act 1? And to what end?

Williams Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’- written in the early 17th century - still carries as profound a message in modern times as it did when it was originally written. It tells of a young Danish prince- hamlet- who is struggling to come to terms with his father’s sudden tragic death. The sense of anomie Shakespeare weaves into the play comes in many forms in act 1 alone; emotional, spiritual, physical, political and relational. Throughout the play, hamlet struggles to articulate his feeling of inner-turmoil and insignificance, but Shakespeare uses anomie in all of its forms to allow the audience to empathise with the main characters by asking poignant and timeless questions such as ‘ to be or not to be’.

Before we start, we should take a look at what “anomie” actually means. Mainly used in sociological context, anomie is when social norms are broken down, or a state of social instability. To fully understand the word’s meaning, we have to look at it’s roots. The word “anomie” is derived from the ancient Greek word anomos. The word anomos has two parts; the first – “a” – means without (as in a – theist, without god), and the second, - nomos – means law. So literally the word anomie is derived from the Greek word for lawlessness. We can now define “anomie” as being without law, rules or boundaries. We should take anomie’s literal meaning into account when looking at it’s representation in the play.

In Act 1, Scene 1, Shakespeare creates a sense of anomie through tension and suspense. In this scene Marcellus, Bernardo and Horatio are standing guard on a platform of a Danish castle in the middle of the night. Marcellus asks Bernardo “Has this thing appeared again to-night?” to which Bernardo replies “I have seen nothing.” Shakespeare has given us no clues to what this “thing” might be, but he has given us fuel to fire our imaginations. Shakespeare has been deliberately vague in his description to give a sense of mystery to the scene (which is heightened by the lonely night-time setting), but by using the preposition “thing”, he has suggested that what Marcellus and Bernardo are talking about is neither “he” nor “she”, it is something un-human or otherworldly. This creates emotional anomie in the audience as they are dreaming up terrible monsters and evil demons, trying to fathom what this “thing” is throughout the first part of scene 1.

Shakespeare uses pathetic fallacy to create the feeling of suspense. Pathetic fallacy is a dramatic technique used to manipulate audience reaction, by using the environment to reflect the emotions of the characters, e.g, in Scooby doo, when they decide to stay in the old abandoned castle, it’s inevitably thundering and raining. The first scene is set in the middle of the night, as Bernardo tells us in the line “Tis now struck twelve”, and Francisco adds to the setting with the statement “'tis bitter cold”. This picture Shakespeare gives us of a bitterly cold middle of the night, with a lone guard patrolling a castle, sets the scene for the ghost’s appearance. Also, I picked up some tension when reading the first scene, in the way the characters spoke in the lines:

BERNARDO
Who's there?

FRANCISCO
Nay, answer me: stand, and unfold yourself.

BERNARDO
Long live the king!

FRANCISCO
Bernardo?

This passage of dialogue suggested to me that the characters were a little on edge, by the way they question each other, and Bernardo’s tentative, “Who’s there?” and the way Francisco refuses to reveal his identity before he knows who he’s talking to. This gave me the impression something was up.

Horatio plays the role of the sceptic, telling the others “Tush, tush, ‘twill not appear”. This technique is often used in Hollywood horror movies, where one character refuses to believe that anything is happening right up until the point where they inevitably get killed, and in the context of the play, Shakespeare uses Horatio as a dramatic device to the same effect – to create tension between characters and provoke audience reaction/participation. This technique is considered to be a cliché, something that everyone is familiar with, and Shakespeare used it hundreds of years earlier to the same end. This is one example of why Shakespeare’s plays have been so popular for so long, using timeless writing techniques to provoke emotional reaction in his audience.

As Bernardo starts to tell the tale of when he and Marcellus first saw “it”, the ghost appears. Shakespeare finally provides us with an idea of what the ghost looks like when Bernardo states “In the same figure, like the king that’s dead.” It is interesting that Bernardo says “like” the king. This suggests that Bernardo is hesitant to assume it is definitely the king’s spirit, and introduces the theme of appearance vs. reality, as in 14th century Denmark (where the play is set), people believed that evil spirits could take the form of a pleasing figure to lure curious souls to their deaths. This heightens the feeling of anomie and tension, as the audience and characters try to find out whether this “portentous figure” has good or bad intentions.

When Horatio tries to question the ghost, it does not reply, further boosting the tension of the audience.

Bernardo comments “Well may it sort that this portentous figure, comes armed through our watch; so like the king that was and is the question of these wars.” Bernardo is saying that the ghost appearing in the form of Denmark’s late king, and the fact that he appears in full armour, could be an omen of war. Omens usually never

appear predicting happy events or good times ahead, and because Horatio earlier pointed out “At least, the whisper goes so. ...

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When Horatio tries to question the ghost, it does not reply, further boosting the tension of the audience.

appear predicting happy events or good times ahead, and because Horatio earlier pointed out “At least, the whisper goes so. Our last king, Whose image even but now appeared to us, Was, as you know, by Fortinbras of Norway, Thereto prick'd on by a most emulate pride, Dared to the combat; in which our valiant Hamlet--For so this side of our known world esteem'd him--Did slay this Fortinbras; who by a seal'd compact, Well ratified by law and heraldry, Did forfeit, with his life, all those his lands Which he stood seized of, to the conqueror: Against the which, a moiety competent was gaged by our king; which had return’ To the inheritance of Fortinbras, Had he been vanquisher; as, by the same covenant, And carriage of the article design'd, His fell to Hamlet. Now, sir, young Fortinbras, Of unimproved mettle hot and full, Hath in the skirts of Norway here and thereShark'd up a list of lawless resolutes, For food and diet, to some enterprise That hath a stomach in't; which is no other-- as it doth well appear unto our state - but to recover of us, by strong hand and terms compulsatory, those foresaid lands so by his father lost: and this, I take it, is the main motive of our preparations, the source of this our watch and the chief head of this post-haste and romage in the land.” This lengthy passage explains that the late Hamlet took land previously belonging to Norway with force, and killed Norway’s king. Now, Fortinbras (the son of the dead Norwegian king), seeks revenge, and has rallied up an army to take back the land lost by his father. That fact, accompanied by the omen of war represented by the ghost, introduces political, or social anomie, as the state of Denmark looks set for war.

Another way the the ghost could create anomie in Act 1 is the fact that in the time the play was written, a spirit roaming the earth meant that it was in limbo, a place between heaven and hell, where souls go to be purged of their sins. People believed that souls were burnt for days on end to rid them of evil, the time depending on the amount and severity of their sins. The fact that the king’s souls is walking the earth cold mean that he died before he had a chance to repent his sins, or that he was killed and is seeking revenge or justice. Horatio says to the ghost “If thou art privy to thy country's fate, which, happily, foreknowing may avoid, O, speak! Or if thou hast up hoarded in thy life extorted treasure in the womb of earth, for which, they say, you spirits oft walk in death, Speak of it: stay, and speak!” What Horatio is asking the ghost, is whether he has indeed come to warn of a terrible event, or whether he is seeking buried treasure, acquired during his lifetime, which some people believed spirits did at the time the play was written.

In Act 1, Scene 2 starts with Claudius, the new king of Denmark, addressing his subjects. His speech starts “Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother's death the memory be green, and that it us befitted to bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom To be contracted in one brow of woe, yet so far hath discretion fought with nature That we with wisest sorrow think on him, together with remembrance of ourselves. Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen, the imperial jointress to this warlike state.” Claudius is saying although we should be sad that King Hamlet died, we should rejoice in the fact that he and the queen are marrying. It seems he is trying to distract the public from tragic events, to make them feel at ease and content. He continues, “Now follows, that you know, young Fortinbras, holding a weak supposal of our worth, or thinking by our late dear brother's death our state to be disjoint and out of frame.” He is telling of Fortinbras’ intention of taking back the land lost by his father, and how he thinks Denmark is weaker because of King Hamlet’s death. He answers this threat with the crowd-pleasing “So much for him.” Claudius is trying to instil calm in his people, he is trying to show that everything is under control to combat the rising fear of war, the rising social anomie.

After Claudius’ speech, he turns to young Hamlet, son of the dead king, and the plays main character. Claudius, his uncle and stepfather, and Gertrude, His mother, are asking him how “clouds still hang on him”, how he is still grieving his fathers death. Gertrude tells him “Thou know'st 'tis common; all that lives must die, passing through nature to eternity.” To which Hamlet replies “Ay, madam, it is common.”

“If it be, why seems it so particular with thee?”

“Seems, madam! nay it is; I know not 'seems.'”

Again this passage of dialogue puts forward the theme of appearance vs. reality, as the ghost did in scene 1. Hamlet is saying that he does not seem to be grieving, because that would suggest that he was not grieving genuinely, he is grieving, he is truly feeling devastated by his fathers death. His statement can also be interpreted as Hamlet saying he literally is grieving, a personification of the feeling, a living representation of the emotion, wearing only “my inky cloak, - customary suits of solemn black.” And talking with “windy suspiration of forced breath”. He goes on to list these “actions that a man might play”, saying that he truly feels them.

Later in the scene, when everybody else has left the court, Hamlet muses;

“O, that this too too solid flesh would melt
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!
Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God!
How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable,
Seem to me all the uses of this world!
Fie on't! ah fie! 'tis an unweeded garden,
That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely. That it should come to this!
But two months dead: nay, not so much, not two:
So excellent a king; that was, to this,
Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth!
Must I remember? why, she would hang on him,
As if increase of appetite had grown
By what it fed on: and yet, within a month--
Let me not think on't--Frailty, thy name is woman!--
A little month, or ere those shoes were old
With which she follow'd my poor father's body,
Like Niobe, all tears:--why she, even she--
O, God! a beast, that wants discourse of reason,
Would have mourn'd longer--married with my uncle,
My father's brother, but no more like my father
Than I to Hercules: within a month:
Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears
Had left the flushing in her galled eyes,
She married. O, most wicked speed, to post
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!
It is not nor it cannot come to good:
But break, my heart; for I must hold my tongue.”

This soliloquy shows the audience Hamlet’s feeling of inner turmoil, emotional, and sometimes physical anomie.

In the context of Hamlet’s emotions, anomie takes on a new meaning, similar to anomie in it’s social context, but not quite identical. Rather than the absence of law, Shakespeare uses anomie to create an absence of purpose. Shakespeare wants to show us Hamlet’s psychological condition; the feeling of rootlessness and futility. The main difference between social and emotional anomie, is that social anomie is unrest on a large scale, and emotional anomie is unrest on a much more personal level.

In the first two lines, it seems he is trying to show the audience his hatred of his physical existence, how he wishes he could “melt, thaw and resolve himself into a dew”. He is saying how he feels his body is holding him, anchoring him to the earth that seems so pointless and trivial to him.

He then talks of “the everlasting had not fixed his canon against self-slaughter.” This seems suggest Hamlet would end his own life if god (the everlasting) had not forbidden suicide. Hamlet goes on to say how the world appears to him, how he sees no future or purpose. “How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, seem to me all the uses of this world! Fie on't! ah fie! 'tis an unweeded garden, that grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature possess it merely. That it should come to this!” The first sentence of this passage tells the audience how Hamlet now views life, seeing it as tedious and pointless. This could be seen to reflect the attitudes shown by some adolescents nowadays, another reason why Shakespeare’s plays are still relevant today. In the next line, “’Tis an unweeded garden…” Hamlet talks about how the earth seems overrun by tragedy, using the metaphor “unweeded garden” to represent the earth, and is saying how men – “rank and gross in nature” – rule it sinfully and selfishly.

The phrase “Hyperion to a Satyr” is a comparison between Hamlets father, the late king, and Claudius. A Hyperion is a sun-god, a powerful, well loved and strong leader, and a Satyr is half man – half goat, lusty and stupid. This powerfully reflects Hamlets contrasting emotions and thoughts towards both men.

Hamlet is angry at his mother for remarrying. This is evident in the lines “Frailty, thy name is woman!-- A little month, or ere those shoes were old with which she follow'd my poor father's body, like Niobe, all tears:--why she, even she-- O, God! a beast, that wants discourse of reason, would have mourn'd longer--married with my uncle, my father's brother, but no more like my father than I to Hercules.” Hamlet is showing the audience how he feels about his mother, and consequently women as a whole. In the part “A little over a month…” to “…married with my uncle.” Hamlet is saying how after his father had died, his mother, Gertrude, was “Like Niobe”, (a goddess from Greek mythology who cried forever after her children were killed) but then married his uncle within a month of king Hamlet’s death. The line “posted with such dexterity to incestuous sheets” really shows how Hamlet feels about his mother, making her out almost as evil, devious and fake. He doubts whether his mother’s grief was genuine. This is the beginning of Hamlet’s distrust of everyone.

The second-to –last line of the soliloquy, “it is not, nor it cannot come to good” sums up Hamlets opinion on the marriage, but can also be interpreted as a comment on the whole state of events. The soliloquy as a whole gives the audience and insight into the mind of Hamlet, and allows us to see his inner turmoil, his psychological condition of rootlessness, futility, anxiety and amorality.

Shakespeare creates a sense of institutional anomie in Act 1. Institutional anomie can be characterised by the breakdown of social norms, or events that could disrupt society or government. The main source of institutional anomie in Act 1 is the threat of war from Fortinbras of Norway. This whole state of unrest can be summed up by Horatio’s grave comment “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” This single passage represents the underlying feeling of the whole play, and tells of tragic events yet to come. Shakespeare also weaves institutional anomie into his play with the marriage of Claudius to Gertrude, his once sister-in-law. This is considered by Hamlet as morally wrong, in the line “it is not, nor it cannot come to good.” Another way Shakespeare introduces the breakdown of social norms is when, at the end of Act 1, when Hamlet encounters the ghost for the first time, the spirit tells him of how Claudius Murdered him, his brother.

GHOST
I am thy father's spirit,
Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night,
And for the day confined to fast in fires,
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature
Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison-house,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres,
Thy knotted and combined locks to part
And each particular hair to stand on end,
Like quills upon the fretful porpentine:
But this eternal blazon must not be
To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O, list!
If thou didst ever thy dear father love--

HAMLET
O God!

GHOST
Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.

HAMLET
Murder!

GHOST
Murder most foul, as in the best it is;
But this most foul, strange and unnatural.

The repetition of “ most foul” and “unnatural” really paint a picture of evil and sick actions, almost creating a feeling of disgust in both Hamlet and the audience. Shakespeare explores the institutional anomie he has put out through different charcters. Some, like Ophelia, cannot take it and go mad. Others, like Laertes, spring to action, seeking revenge for his lost father. Shakespeare uses his rich descriptions to conjure images of deceit and woe to great effect, exploring and heightening the effect of the anomie in the play. This provokes different emotions in both the audience and the characters, which Shakespeare does so well in his work. The play, in the context of the 21st century, is still as effective a tool for provoking reaction in people as Shakespeare uses timeless subjects such as love and revenge.

The Ghosts speech in Act 1 scene 5 amplifies Hamlet’s feelings of inner turmoil and confusion as he learns his father was murdered by Claudius.

“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 lust
The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen:
O Hamlet, what a falling-off was there!
From me, whose love was of that dignity
That it went hand in hand even with the vow
I made to her in marriage, and to decline
Upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor
To those of mine!
But virtue, as it never will be moved,
Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven,
So lust, though to a radiant angel link'd,
Will sate itself in a celestial bed,
And prey on garbage.
But, soft! methinks I scent the morning air;
Brief let me be. Sleeping within my orchard,
My custom always of the afternoon,
Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,
With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,
And in the porches of my ears did pour
The leperous distilment; whose effect
Holds such an enmity with blood of man
That swift as quicksilver it courses through
The natural gates and alleys of the body,
And with a sudden vigour doth posset
And curd, like eager droppings into milk,
The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine;
And a most instant tetter bark'd about,
Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust,
All my smooth body.
Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand
Of life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatch'd:
Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,
Unhousel'd, disappointed, unanel'd,
No reckoning made, but sent to my account
With all my imperfections on my head:
O, horrible! O, horrible! most horrible!
If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not;
Let not the royal bed of Denmark be
A couch for luxury and damned incest.
But, howsoever thou pursuest this act,
Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive
Against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven
And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge,
To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once!
The glow-worm shows the matin to be near,
And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire:
Adieu, adieu! Hamlet, remember me.”

This speech uses powerful imagery to inform the audience as to how Hamlet’s father was murdered, such as “Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin”, “And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge, to prick and sting her.” and “swift as quicksilver”. Shakespeare uses metaphor and simile to great effect throughout the play, but especially in this speech. When the ghost says “Cut off in the blossoms of my sin”, he means he has been killed before he could repent his sins to god to make sure he went to heaven. Instead he has been sent to purgatory, or limbo, to have his sins burnt away. “And those thorns to prick and sting her” could be a metaphor for the guilt that will eat away at Gertrude in time for marrying her late husbands brother, or alternatively, the “thorns that in her bosoms lodge” could be seen as being a representation of Claudius, who’s thorny and evil demeanour lay so close to her heart, will “prick and sting her” in time.

In some parts of the speech, the emotions shown in this speech reflect those in Hamlet’s first soliloquy. The feeling that Gertrude has done wrong by remarrying is reflected in the lines “O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power so to seduce!--won to his shameful lust the will of my most seeming-virtuous queen”. The ghost is talking about how Claudius – “that incestuous, adulterate beast” – wooed Gertrude with presents and “wicked wit”. The theme of appearance vs. reality that is perpetuated throughout Act 1 shows up again here in the phrase “most seeming virtuous queen”. He says how he thought his wife was loyal and virtuous, when actually she has given Claudius – the satyr – her heart in exchange for gifts and “shameful lust”. The reflection of emotion in both soliloquies pushes Hamlet on to get his revenge, and the audience is now left feeling either in agreement with the male characters, or wondering why Gertrude is being blamed for so much, which is just the kind of reaction Shakespeare would have wanted.

The language used in the ghost’s speech is powerful and descriptive, often using comparisons and metaphor to get a point across, such as “And curd, like eager droppings into milk.” This overwhelms the audience with emotion, and leaves us with a rich picture of the events that have unfolded. The structure of the speech works to the same end, the first section, talking about how Claudius bought Gertrude’s heart, the second, talking of how Claudius went about killing king Hamlet, then the third, pushing, pleading Hamlet to take revenge for his father, asking “Hamlet, remember me…” These two factors, coupled together by Shakespeare’s masterful hand, provides the audience with a crystal clear picture of events, and lets readers and watchers alike form their own emotions and opinions on characters.

Shakespeare has told stories of happiness and woe, set from Rome to Denmark, and created characters that please and tickle, to bloodthirsty and selfish hunchbacks. But, out of all Shakespeare’s plays, Hamlet’s tale of love, hate, tragedy and lonliness will echo on throughout history, his story remaining relevant and poignant to everyone across the globe, his struggle to find his purpose, his struggle with losing ones most dear to him. Shakespeare conveys Hamlet’s feeling of anomie masterfully, allowing the reader to see the world through his eyes, to feel what he feels, and encourages us to look at our own lives and goals.

To answer the question “How does Shakespeare convey a sense of anomie “Hamlet” Act 1, and to what end?”, I would draw the conclusion that Shakespeare wants to give the audience the same feeling of unrest and anxiousness as the characters, to enhance the audience’s experience and understanding of the plot. Shakespeare achieves this by using powerful and descriptive imagery to provoke audience reaction, and sometimes deliberate vagueness to heighten the feeling of tension. I believe that Shakespeare wants our emotions to reflect the emotions of the characters, or vice-versa, in different situations, and to make us question what we truly value most.

“To be, or not to be. That is the question…”