Disease, Sickness, Death, and Decay in Hamlet Essay -- Shakespeare Ham

Death, Sickness, and Decay in settlement Decay is defined as a gradual decline deterioration, indisposition as any departure from health. Both have many forms physical, psychological, social, and so on Multiple object lessons of illness and deterioration can be found in the tragedy settlement. In this drama, Shakespeare uses imagery of decay and disease and the emotional and moral decay of his characters to enhance the standard pressure of the play. The drama Hamlet abounds with images of decay and disease. aeriform bodies are described in this manner in Act I Horatio says that the moon Was sick al well-nigh to doomsday with eclipse, and in Act III, Hamlet says that the moon is thoughtsick at his mothers sin. Abstract ideas such as wealth and cessation are also associated with such imagery by Hamlet in Act IV This is thimposthume of much wealth and peace, / That inward breaks, and shows no elbow grease without / Why the man dies. In addition, in Act I Laertes uses an exa mple from plant lore to convince his sister Ophelia to preserve her virginity The canker galls the infants of the leakage Too oft before their buttons be disclosed, And in the morn and molten dew of youth Contagious blastments are most imminent. Furthermore, in Act I the ghost uses words associated with disease to describe his poisoning and death The leperous distillment, whose offspring Holds such an enmity with blood of man That swift as mercury it courses through The natural gates and alleys of the body, And with a sudden vigor it doth posset And curd, equivalent eager droppings into milk, The thin and wholesome blood. So did it mine, And a most instant tetter barked about Most lazarlike with vile and loa... ...this play. The gentle wind of disease serves to ascend the audiences disgust for the situation. Secondly, disease leads to death, so this figuratively diseased society is doomed. Because of this sensory faculty of doom, there is a slight foreshadowing of the plays tragic end. The tragic atmosphere is enriched by the motif of disease and decay. The atmosphere of the play is reinforced by imagery of decay and disease and the emotional and moral decay of the characters. This atmosphere is an integral part of the play as a whole and contributes greatly to its impact upon the audience. Shakespeares skill in weaving this motif into the play is turn up of his genius as a playwright and quality of his writings. Works ConsultedShakespeare, William. The disaster of Hamlet. ca. 1600-1601. Ed. Edward Hubler. A Signet Classic. New York Penguin Publishers,1963.