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Hamlet: Something is Rotten

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” are words uttered in the play Hamlet by a guard, Marcellus. His statement was a concern to the way things were going on in Denmark. The king had been killed by his brother Claudius who had now taken up the throne. This statement seems to foreshadow the calamities and the problem that people of Denmark went through including fall of the once great kingdom due to corruption by the leaders. The quote can be interpreted to mean that Marcellus thought that the politics in Denmark was not right thus the use of the term rotten. It also indicates the various moral decay that existed in Denmark including incest, revenge and betrayal.

Bibliography

Altick, Richard D. “Hamlet and the Odor of Mortality.” Shakespeare Quarterly 5.2 (1954): 167-176.

Ajo García, Rubén. “An Analysis of King Claudius in Two Contemporary Performances of Hamlet.” (2018).

Brucher, Richard T. “Fantasies of Violence:” Hamlet” and” The Revenger’s Tragedy”.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 21.2 (1981): 257.

Foakes, Reginald Anthony. Hamlet versus Lear: cultural politics and Shakespeare’s art. Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Foakes, Reginald A. “Hamlet’s Neglect for Revenge.” Hamlet: New Critical Essays (2013): 85-99.

Grønbæk, Justine. “Servile power: When something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” Power and Education 1.2 (2009): 201-213.

Hunt, John. “A Thing of Nothing: The Catastrophic Body in Hamlet.” Shakespeare Quarterly 39.1 (1988): 27-44. Lacan, Jacques, Jacques-Alain Miller, and James Hulbert. “Desire and the Interpretation of Desire in Hamlet.” Yale French Studies 55/56 (1977): 11-52.

Khan, Amir. “My Kingdom for a Ghost: Counterfactual Thinking and Hamlet.” Shakespeare Quarterly 66.1 (2015): 29-46.

Langis, Unhae. Virtue, Justice, and Moral Action in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010.

Litton, Glenn. “Diseased Beauty in Tony Richardson’s Hamlet.” Literature/Film Quarterly 4.2 (1976): 108.

Magnus, Laury. “Tragic Closure in Hamlet.” (2001): 180-200.

Shertzer, Racheal Leah. Corrupt Leadership and Its Impact On Social Morality in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Thomas Middleton’s The Second Maiden’s Tragedy. Diss. The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY., 2008.

Vanhoutte, Jacqueline. “Denmark’s Rotting Reconsidered.” Philological Quarterly 91.3 (2012): 393.

Watson, Robert N. “Giving up the Ghost in a World of Decay:” Hamlet”, Revenge, and Denial.” Renaissance Drama 21 (1990): 199-223.

Woolff, Nicola. “Shakespeare’s tragic family, sacrificers and victims from Cain to Hamlet.” (1998).

Name:

Professor:

Course:

Date:

Hamlet: Something is Rotten

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” are words uttered in the play Hamlet by a guard, Marcellus. His statement was a concern to the way things were going on in Denmark. The king had been killed by his brother Claudius who had now taken up the throne. This statement seems to foreshadow the calamities and the problem that people of Denmark went through including fall of the once great kingdom due to corruption by the leaders. The quote can be interpreted to mean that Marcellus thought that the politics in Denmark was not right thus the use of the term rotten. It also indicates the various moral decay that existed in Denmark including incest, revenge and betrayal.

Bibliography

Altick, Richard D. “Hamlet and the Odor of Mortality.” Shakespeare Quarterly 5.2 (1954): 167-176.

Ajo García, Rubén. “An Analysis of King Claudius in Two Contemporary Performances of Hamlet.” (2018).

Brucher, Richard T. “Fantasies of Violence:” Hamlet” and” The Revenger’s Tragedy”.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 21.2 (1981): 257.

Foakes, Reginald Anthony. Hamlet versus Lear: cultural politics and Shakespeare’s art. Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Foakes, Reginald A. “Hamlet’s Neglect for Revenge.” Hamlet: New Critical Essays (2013): 85-99.

Grønbæk, Justine. “Servile power: When something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” Power and Education 1.2 (2009): 201-213.

Hunt, John. “A Thing of Nothing: The Catastrophic Body in Hamlet.” Shakespeare Quarterly 39.1 (1988): 27-44. Lacan, Jacques, Jacques-Alain Miller, and James Hulbert. “Desire and the Interpretation of Desire in Hamlet.” Yale French Studies 55/56 (1977): 11-52.

Khan, Amir. “My Kingdom for a Ghost: Counterfactual Thinking and Hamlet.” Shakespeare Quarterly 66.1 (2015): 29-46.

Langis, Unhae. Virtue, Justice, and Moral Action in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010.

Litton, Glenn. “Diseased Beauty in Tony Richardson’s Hamlet.” Literature/Film Quarterly 4.2 (1976): 108.

Magnus, Laury. “Tragic Closure in Hamlet.” (2001): 180-200.

Shertzer, Racheal Leah. Corrupt Leadership and Its Impact On Social Morality in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Thomas Middleton’s The Second Maiden’s Tragedy. Diss. The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY., 2008.

Vanhoutte, Jacqueline. “Denmark’s Rotting Reconsidered.” Philological Quarterly 91.3 (2012): 393.

Watson, Robert N. “Giving up the Ghost in a World of Decay:” Hamlet”, Revenge, and Denial.” Renaissance Drama 21 (1990): 199-223.

Woolff, Nicola. “Shakespeare’s tragic family, sacrificers and victims from Cain to Hamlet.” (1998).