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Final Essay: ENGL 201B,

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Hamlet’s Choices and Consequences in the Face of Pandemic

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet has a wide variety of themes that fit both the medieval and contemporary world situations. The main character in the play is Hamlet, who is used both as a title role as well as a protagonist. Hamlet is the son of the late king. The play begins with a desire to avenge for his father's murder amidst criticism regarding his intentions and sanity. Shakespeare position is that Hamlet as a person who is grieved following the death of the king and angered by his uncle’s decision to marry his mother, Gertrude. Hamlet’s conducts culminate in instances of calamities as well as epidemics that affect how characters relate and interact with their pragmatic world. Highlighting the plagues ailing him kingdom, Claudius indicates that “Diseases desperate grown, By desperate appliance are reliev'd, Or not at all (IV.3.9-11). This is an indication of a pandemic that the kingdom was fighting, in which Hamlet's actions depict his character.

The first calamity that Hamlet faces is when his uncle sent him away from Denmark to England. Claudius sent Hamlet to England due to the fear that Hamlet was not only lovesick, but uncontrollable due to his actions. This instance culminates in one of the most substantial challenges that Hamlets faced because he had no chance to portray his love and prove that he was not insane. Looking at the circumstances surrounding this unprecedented turn of events, it is clear that Claudius did not have the best interest at heart; he wanted to get rid of Hamlet due to the fear that he was becoming unruly. In Act three of the play, Claudius indicates that "Therefore prepare you; I your commission will forthwith dispatch, And he to England shall along with you (III.3.2-4). Accordingly, Claudius considered Hamlet as a hazard that they could not endure in their amidst. Considering his father's position, it is evident that Claudius was interested in stepping into the throne that would otherwise have gone to Hamlet as a justifiable heir to his father's throne. Following this circumstance, Hamlet did not make an irrational decision, while he was inclined to England; he was not openly opposite of the directive given to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

At the onset of this unprecedented situation, Hamlet is not aware both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were bribed by Claudius to spy on him. Hamlet also managed to get a letter bearing the seal of the kind instructing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to behead Hamlet up their arrival...