discuss corruption in Hamlet

Corruption refers to a break away from the normal and expected, and this explanation can certainly be seen throughout Shakespeare's tragedy of Hamlet.The death of King Hamlet immediately introduces the theme of corruption as with the death of the head of the state, the rest of Denmark will fall into jeopardy with the lack of leadership. Not only does King Hamlet's death lead to a corruption of society's normal order, but he was murdered by his bother, Claudius. The presence of murder further accentuates corruption within the tragedy as it undermines the honourable and pure image of family- especially that of the royal family. However, Claudius is not the only family member who corrupts the family name, as this responsibility can be attributed to Hamlet as well. Shakespeare's infamous closet scene between Hamlet and his mother holds unavoidable allusions to the take of Oedipus Rex and the notion of incest. Incest was of course a taboo in Elizabethan England, and so for Hamlet to present such strong similarities to Oedipus, his image as a tragic hero becomes corrupt and tainted with sin.Furthermore, the death of King Hamlet not only corrupts society by removing its leader, but his return as a ghost hugely corrupts the natural order. As McNamara as explained, Elizabethan audiences still believed in the supernatural, viewing ghosts as 'followers of Satan', and so audiences are expected to feel uneasy about Hamlet's desperate plea to follow the ghost. The question whether King Hamlet's ghost is a 'spirit of health' or a 'goblin damned' expresses uncertainty as to the motives of the ghost, meaning that the image of such an 'excellent King' that Hamlet boasts of in Act 1, is corrupted by Shakespeare's allusions to the suspicious supernatural.