Corruption

• Knight = “Hamlet is the poison in the veins of the community”
• Doran (2009) & Kozintsev (1964) = present crooked crowns hovering over/on Hamlet
• Zefferelli (1990) = Drewry dark setting
• Boyd (2004) = A dark and oppressive Elsinore reflecting themes of death and decay; background and lighting is dark/black
• Muir = A sense of infection surrounds Claudius' crimes and Gertrude's sin
• Branagh = The consequences of one single royal family
• 'something is rotten in the state of Denmark' = sense of Corruption in Denmark
• “O bosom black as death” = Gertrude expressing her guilt; heart becomes corrupted
• “My offence is rank” = Claudius confessing that his crime is wrong
• Altick = “The cunning and lecherousness of Claudius’ evil has corrupted the whole kingdom Denmark”
• “Justly killed by my own treachery” = Laertes expressing that he has been corrupted too; karma
• “To kill a king?” = Gertrude unaware of corruption in Denmark
• "The poisoner" = title given for Claudius's character in the dumbshow
• “To be played on by a pipe” = R&G betraying Hamlet
• "Sponge" = symbolism used by Hamlet to express R/G being sychophants
• Kozintsev (1964) = public confrontation where Hamlet walks away from court back facing them
• Icke (2018) = R & G & H crying as he reveals the truth about them
• “Foul and most unnatural murder” = description of Old Hamlet's ,urder