to what extent does the play hamlet explore moral and political corruption?

Weetbix

how to I approach this question

Breifne72

You can really kill a few birds with the one stone for this question,:) the theme of deception and appearance v reality can all be tied into moral and political corruption. When approaching the question, you can use everything in the play! Claudius killing his brother to become king, Gertrude betraying her first husband, Polonius will do anything to be in with the king, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern betray the trust of their friend Hamlet, the whole court of Elsinore is morally and politically corrupt!:eek: if you don't have it already i'd recommend getting your hands on key notes by Tony Lake. The notes in that are a huge help!

spurious

Make sure to address the question, so point out instances of both political and moral corruption.

rkeano5

Deception, deception, deception. Don't get too swayed by the wording of the question. (Hey that rhymes )

If I was you I'd first discuss the play's context,i.e. something being rotten in the state of Denmark. Then talk about how the Danish court is all an intricate web of lies, deceit, false appearances and, of course, moral and political corruption.

I would then move on to discuss Claudius and his role as the chief architect of the play's corruption, both politically and morally. You could probably write an essay only about Claudius under that heading but then again why would you? There's so much more you could write about such as Polonius (as a morally bankrupt individual who even spies on/uses his kids) and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, as traitors of Hamlet. Oh and I'd discuss Gertrude as well.

But that's just me. What would I know?