5.3.1

Imagery of Corruption & Decay

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Imagery of Corruption & Decay in Hamlet

The imagery of corruption recurs throughout the play.

Different meanings of corruption

Different meanings of corruption

The term can refer to moral corruption (e.g. Claudius’ murder of his brother), sexual corruption (e.g. what Hamlet sees as his mother’s incestuous lust) or physical corruption (e.g. the process of rot and decay which Hamlet confronts in the graveyard scene).

**"Too sullied flesh"**

"Too sullied flesh"

Hamlet’s first soliloquy opens with the wish that his “too sullied flesh” will dissolve away.
He sees his own body as corrupted or tainted (“sullied”) by the incestuous marriage of his mother and uncle.
This imagery links to the metaphor of the “unweeded garden / That grows to seed” and becomes overgrown with “things rank and gross”.

Hamlet links love & corruption

Hamlet links love & corruption

For Hamlet, afflicted by “melancholy”, all living things become corrupt.
This includes the love between man and woman: Hamlet chides his mother in A3S4 that she has set a “blister” on “the fair forehead of an innocent love”, the imagery suggesting the spread of a sore from a sexually transmitted disease.

Metaphor: sickness of Denmark

Metaphor: sickness of Denmark

This imagery of corruption and decay is also used to suggest that the whole state of Denmark is sick.
Laertes tells Ophelia that “the sanity and health of the whole state” depends upon Hamlet and, throughout Act One, various characters voice ideas about a sickness taking hold in the Danish state (e.g. Marcellus’ fear that “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”).

1

Introduction

1.1

Introduction & Background to Hamlet

1.1.1Introduction to Hamlet 1.1.2The Literary Tradition of the Hamlet Story 1.1.3Introduction to the Settings in Hamlet 1.1.4Introduction to Social Issues Raised

2

Plot Summary

2.1

Act 1: Key Events & Ideas

2.1.1Act 1, Scene 1 2.1.2Act 1, Scene 2 2.1.3Act 1, Scene 3 2.1.4Act 1, Scenes 4-5

2.2

Act 2: Key Events & Ideas

2.2.1Act 2, Scene 1 2.2.2Act 2, Scene 2

2.3

Act 3: Key Events & Ideas

2.3.1Act 3, Scene 1: Key Events 2.3.2Act 3, Scene 1: Key Ideas 2.3.3Act 3, Scene 2 2.3.4Act 3, Scene 3 2.3.5Act 3, Scene 4

2.4

Act 4: Key Events & Ideas

2.4.1Act 4, Scene 1 2.4.2Act 4, Scenes 2-3 2.4.3Act 4, Scene 4 2.4.4Act 4, Scene 5: Key Events 2.4.5Act 4, Scene 5: Key Ideas 2.4.6Act 4, Scene 6 2.4.7Act 4, Scene 7

2.5

Act 5: Key Events & Ideas

2.5.1Act 5, Scene 1: Key Events 2.5.2Act 5, Scene 2: Key Events 2.5.3Act 5, Scene 2: Key Ideas

3

Character Profiles

3.1

Hamlet

3.1.1Hamlet's Speech & Mind 3.1.2Hamlet's Heroic Status 3.1.3Hamlet's State of Mind 3.1.4Hamlet's Indecision/Action Taking

3.2

Claudius

3.2.1Claudius' Crime 3.2.2Changing Impressions of Claudius

3.3

Gertrude

3.3.1Mystery & Hamlet's View of Gertrude 3.3.2Gertrude's Character 3.3.3Gertrude's Relationship with Hamlet

3.4

Ophelia

3.5

Polonius

3.5.1Portrayal of Polonius & Treatment of Ophelia 3.5.2Polonius' Spying & Death

3.6

Laertes

3.6.1Laertes' Popularity & Relationship with Ophelia 3.6.2Laertes' Character Traits

4

Key Themes

4.1

Regicide in Hamlet

4.1.1Regicide in Hamlet

4.2

Madness in Hamlet

4.2.1Madness in Hamlet

4.3

Guilt & Punishment in Hamlet

4.3.1Guilt in Hamlet 4.3.2Punishment in Hamlet

4.4

Settings in Hamlet

4.4.1Physical Settings & Historical Setting of Hamlet

5

Writing Techniques

5.1

Structure

5.1.1Structure of Hamlet 5.1.2'Play Within a Play' Structure 5.1.3Play-Acting Motif

5.2

Form

5.2.1Soliloquy 5.2.2Comedy

5.3

Imagery

5.3.1Imagery of Corruption & Decay 5.3.2Imagery: Healing, Performance & Costume

5.4

Language

5.4.1Word Usage & Hendiadys 5.4.2Questions & Classical Allusions

6

Context

6.1

Social & Historical Context

6.1.1Elizabeth I & Succession 6.1.2Cosmic & Social Hierarchy 6.1.3Renaissance & Emergence of Humanism 6.1.4Regicide 6.1.5The Reformation

6.2

Literary Context

6.2.1Seneca Tragedy 6.2.2The Revenge Tragedy

6.3

Performance & Textual History

6.3.1Performance History of Hamlet 6.3.2Textual History of Hamlet

7

Critical Debates

7.1

18-19th Century Responses to Hamlet

7.1.1Introduction to Critical Debates 7.1.218th Century Commentary on Hamlet 7.1.3Romantic Commentary on Hamlet

7.2

20th Century Responses to Hamlet

7.2.1Freudian Response to Hamlet 7.2.2Other Early 20th Century Responses to Hamlet

7.3

Feminist Readings of Hamlet

7.3.1Introduction to Feminist Criticism 7.3.2Feminist Readings of Hamlet 7.3.3Presentation of Ophelia

7.4

Marxist/Political Readings of Hamlet

7.4.1Introduction to Marxist Criticisms 7.4.2Marxist Readings of Hamlet

Jump to other topics

1

Introduction

1.1

Introduction & Background to Hamlet

1.1.1Introduction to Hamlet 1.1.2The Literary Tradition of the Hamlet Story 1.1.3Introduction to the Settings in Hamlet 1.1.4Introduction to Social Issues Raised

2

Plot Summary

2.1

Act 1: Key Events & Ideas

2.1.1Act 1, Scene 1 2.1.2Act 1, Scene 2 2.1.3Act 1, Scene 3 2.1.4Act 1, Scenes 4-5

2.2

Act 2: Key Events & Ideas

2.2.1Act 2, Scene 1 2.2.2Act 2, Scene 2

2.3

Act 3: Key Events & Ideas

2.3.1Act 3, Scene 1: Key Events 2.3.2Act 3, Scene 1: Key Ideas 2.3.3Act 3, Scene 2 2.3.4Act 3, Scene 3 2.3.5Act 3, Scene 4

2.4

Act 4: Key Events & Ideas

2.4.1Act 4, Scene 1 2.4.2Act 4, Scenes 2-3 2.4.3Act 4, Scene 4 2.4.4Act 4, Scene 5: Key Events 2.4.5Act 4, Scene 5: Key Ideas 2.4.6Act 4, Scene 6 2.4.7Act 4, Scene 7

2.5

Act 5: Key Events & Ideas

2.5.1Act 5, Scene 1: Key Events 2.5.2Act 5, Scene 2: Key Events 2.5.3Act 5, Scene 2: Key Ideas

3

Character Profiles

3.1

Hamlet

3.1.1Hamlet's Speech & Mind 3.1.2Hamlet's Heroic Status 3.1.3Hamlet's State of Mind 3.1.4Hamlet's Indecision/Action Taking

3.2

Claudius

3.2.1Claudius' Crime 3.2.2Changing Impressions of Claudius

3.3

Gertrude

3.3.1Mystery & Hamlet's View of Gertrude 3.3.2Gertrude's Character 3.3.3Gertrude's Relationship with Hamlet

3.4

Ophelia

3.5

Polonius

3.5.1Portrayal of Polonius & Treatment of Ophelia 3.5.2Polonius' Spying & Death

3.6

Laertes

3.6.1Laertes' Popularity & Relationship with Ophelia 3.6.2Laertes' Character Traits

4

Key Themes

4.1

Regicide in Hamlet

4.1.1Regicide in Hamlet

4.2

Madness in Hamlet

4.2.1Madness in Hamlet

4.3

Guilt & Punishment in Hamlet

4.3.1Guilt in Hamlet 4.3.2Punishment in Hamlet

4.4

Settings in Hamlet

4.4.1Physical Settings & Historical Setting of Hamlet

5

Writing Techniques

5.1

Structure

5.1.1Structure of Hamlet 5.1.2'Play Within a Play' Structure 5.1.3Play-Acting Motif

5.2

Form

5.2.1Soliloquy 5.2.2Comedy

5.3

Imagery

5.3.1Imagery of Corruption & Decay 5.3.2Imagery: Healing, Performance & Costume

5.4

Language

5.4.1Word Usage & Hendiadys 5.4.2Questions & Classical Allusions

6

Context

6.1

Social & Historical Context

6.1.1Elizabeth I & Succession 6.1.2Cosmic & Social Hierarchy 6.1.3Renaissance & Emergence of Humanism 6.1.4Regicide 6.1.5The Reformation

6.2

Literary Context

6.2.1Seneca Tragedy 6.2.2The Revenge Tragedy

6.3

Performance & Textual History

6.3.1Performance History of Hamlet 6.3.2Textual History of Hamlet

7

Critical Debates

7.1

18-19th Century Responses to Hamlet

7.1.1Introduction to Critical Debates 7.1.218th Century Commentary on Hamlet 7.1.3Romantic Commentary on Hamlet

7.2

20th Century Responses to Hamlet

7.2.1Freudian Response to Hamlet 7.2.2Other Early 20th Century Responses to Hamlet

7.3

Feminist Readings of Hamlet

7.3.1Introduction to Feminist Criticism 7.3.2Feminist Readings of Hamlet 7.3.3Presentation of Ophelia

7.4

Marxist/Political Readings of Hamlet

7.4.1Introduction to Marxist Criticisms 7.4.2Marxist Readings of Hamlet

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Comedy

Imagery: Healing, Performance & Costume