Disease And Decay In Hamlet
Within Hamlet the themes of death, disease, and decay are spread throughout the entire play. All are mentioned by Hamlet, the apparition and Horatio. All are described in great detail. These motifs reflect many of the characters inner struggles and views on life.
Claudius kills King Hamlet and sends Hamlet into a dark place inside his mind where an obsession with death and possibly avenging his father's suspicious undoing. After his father's death, Hamlet's mother marries Claudius almost immediately. The inappropriately timed union angers Hamlet and his feeling of betrayal causes him to believe that love and compassion are not an important or real part of any human or relationship. His depressive and morbid outlook assures him that death is the only thing that is certain in the world. In his early soliloquies, Hamlet expresses longing for suicide "O that this too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew” (I, II, 130) and often thinks about this …show more content…
Denmark's failing state is described as a poisoned, corrupted, and diseased under Claudius' rule. This comparison is important because it is as if the poison Claudius put into King Hamlet's ear is making its way through the kingdom. Hamlet is so obsessed with death and decay that he finds comfort in these dark aspects of his life as he has the upmost respect for his deceased father, only professes his love for Ophelia once she dies, and handles Yorick's skull with gentle care.
Hamlet's fragile mental state keeps him in a frame of mind where he not only sees Denmark as a rotting state, but uses flowers and weeds to describe him and Ophelia's decaying mental health. King Hamlet is killed in the garden. The irony of death in such a place with growth and greenery adds to the sadness of the play. In fact, Hamlet refers to his entire world “tis an unweeded garden, That grows to seed; things rand and gross in nature. Possess it merely”
Claudius kills King Hamlet and sends Hamlet into a dark place inside his mind where an obsession with death and possibly avenging his father's suspicious undoing. After his father's death, Hamlet's mother marries Claudius almost immediately. The inappropriately timed union angers Hamlet and his feeling of betrayal causes him to believe that love and compassion are not an important or real part of any human or relationship. His depressive and morbid outlook assures him that death is the only thing that is certain in the world. In his early soliloquies, Hamlet expresses longing for suicide "O that this too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew” (I, II, 130) and often thinks about this …show more content…
Denmark's failing state is described as a poisoned, corrupted, and diseased under Claudius' rule. This comparison is important because it is as if the poison Claudius put into King Hamlet's ear is making its way through the kingdom. Hamlet is so obsessed with death and decay that he finds comfort in these dark aspects of his life as he has the upmost respect for his deceased father, only professes his love for Ophelia once she dies, and handles Yorick's skull with gentle care.
Hamlet's fragile mental state keeps him in a frame of mind where he not only sees Denmark as a rotting state, but uses flowers and weeds to describe him and Ophelia's decaying mental health. King Hamlet is killed in the garden. The irony of death in such a place with growth and greenery adds to the sadness of the play. In fact, Hamlet refers to his entire world “tis an unweeded garden, That grows to seed; things rand and gross in nature. Possess it merely”