Moral And Psychological Atmosphere Essay Research Paper

Moral And Psychological Atmosphere Essay, Research Paper

From its opening, the tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, plunges us into a world of mystery, intrigue and plotting. It is dark, enigmatic and yet resplendent court of Elsinor that we saunter into, a court dominated at different times by two characters. With Hamlet trying to prove Claudius’s guilt, and Claudius trying to pierce the secret of Hamlet’s madness, and using Polonius, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Ophelia, and finally Gertrude as his pawns. This makes the atmosphere more and more gloomy and tense

The play begins with the Changing of the guards on a cold winter’s night at the castle of Elsinor. The men talk about ghost that they have seen, which is the dead king of Denmark. The scene is set on a dark cold night, causing the atmosphere to be gloomy, with tension that can be felt distinctively, foreshadowing of what is to come. This is the skill with which Shakespeare evokes a mood appropriate to this tragedy.

The prince Hamlet’s first moral struggle is seen in the soliloquy. He wishes to end his life for this world has become ” weary, stale, flat and unprofitable”. It is not just the death of his beloved father and king which has reduced him to this state of despair but also the fact that his mother’s hasty marriage to his uncle Claudius. He perceives this marriage as unrighteous and is religiously wrong. This accounts for his wish to commit suicide. However according to the bible it morally incorrect, it is forbidden by the sixth of the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament. The question to live or to end his life is seen in another scene. “To be or not to be” This suggests that Hamlet is always in the tussle of morality.

The atmosphere of the play is steeped in the odour of corruption as well as decay. These visible elements of corruption are reinforced by numerous words and images throughout the play. One of these is ” something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” This is said by Marcellus when he saw the ghost and aware of the cause of Old hamlet’s death. This highlighted the theme of decay. Another example is when the Ghost compares Gertrude’s sin to preying on garbage. In addition Hamlet warns Polonius of the way the sun breeds maggots in a dead dog.

” For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog,

being a good kissing carrion”

It means that even the purity of the sun can causes corruption when it shines down on the carcass of a dead dog. This reinforces the idea of corruption, obsess with decay. That has tainted the atmosphere Further more hamlet compares Gertrude’s second marriage-bed to a “nasty sty”, and urge her not to “spread the compost on the weeds to make them ranker”, and speaks of ” rank corruption”. Characters in the court of Denmark are polluted with corruption and the foul of decay that contribute to the atmosphere.

The nature of the relationship in the court of Denmark is such that it often contains the theme of spying, suspicions, intrigue as well as plotting. It can be explained here as Claudius and Polonius plot an attempt to trap Hamlet despite the fact that they are actually close relative. The theme of spying and plotting is even reinforced by our knowledge that even while Polonius and Claudius are plotting to test hamlet, they themselves or rather Claudius is falling into Hamlet’s trap by directly accepting Hamlet’s invitations to attend the play without a moment of hesitation or suspicious. This suggests that plotting is a means of survival skills in order to stay alive in the court of Denmark. It is also an irony that Hamlet is able to see through Claudius..s pathetic plot the moment he sees Ophelia with a book, which is given by Claudius as a means of deceiving Hamlet. It also suggests Claudius’s cleverness in plotting. Here Claudius unwittingly walked into hamlet’s “mouse trap” and got snared. It is thus this double plotting and the mighty opposites that increase the tension in the play, increased our anticipation of what is to come. The intensification of intrigue in the play is leading the audience to realize the political games that are being played by both sides as each attempted to catch the other out. They also brought us to another dramatic concern, which is to bring us to the knowledge of the court of Denmark. Because of the spying, plotting, we are being made to realized or reminded that the court despite being royalty and grandeur is actually closer to the baser nature of human being. It is thus reminds that royalty and status does not bring with it moral. Instead, the danger at the court, made one almost constantly struggling with one’s moral values and the need to continued existence. The spying and intrigue in the scene also enable us to contrast the present Elsinor with Claudius as king and Elsinor of the past when old Hamlet as the king. It seems that the context of the court has change with the change of the king. Now it is spying and plotting in order to catch the enemy out. Something indeed is lacked between relationship and in the court of Denmark, as the king’s morality gets diseased.

However a genuine spark of maternity is seen a relationship in the court of Denmark; which is the queen’s concern for her son Hamlet. Firstly, she directly expressed concern for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as with regard to Hamlet. This can also be viewed as an indirect question about Hamlet’s well being, since a