Реферат: Hamlet Brutal Truth Essay Research Paper Disillusionment

but a fouled and pestilent congregation of vapors.”

-Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 325-6

The above lines represent Hamlet’s cosmic view on the planet. He finds

the world to be empty and lifeless, dirty and diseased, and his

particular place in it to be desolate and lonely. Indeed, he feels so

isolated and entrapped in his native land that he says:

[the world is a prison] “A goodly one, in which there are many confines,

wards, and dungeons, Denmark being one o’ th’ worst.”

-Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 264-6

This view of the world exemplifies the micro/macro concept, where

Denmark is the “micro” manifestation of a prison for our hero. The taint

of “micro” Denmark leads to repercussions that in turn affect the whole

universal order, leading to the consequence of the world itself becoming

the “macro” manifestation of a prison in Hamlet’s eyes.

Further along in the same paragraph, Hamlet offers up his opinion on

man, extolling his virtues and excellent qualities (”what a piece of

work is man^?”). Yet, it is tremendously ironic, that the ideal type of

man Hamlet is describing is nowhere to be found in the play. Hamlet

himself is indecisive, unable to take action, Claudius is a slave to his

lusts and passions, Polonius is a simpering, servile old fool, and

Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern are mindless ninnies. Quite simply, no

“true man” as Hamlet describes him exists in the play.

As a result of this dismal realization, and because of his inability to

adapt to the “unnatural state of things in Denmark”, Hamlet has lost the

love for life he once had. This loss of enthusiasm also stems from the

fact that he intrinsically knows there is more wickedness brewing under

the superficial illusionary surface of calm that Claudius is trying to

promote. As a culmination of all these factors, Hamlet loses all faith

in man: