Corruption

Denmark, along with the King and Queen are marked by chaos and disposition. There is a threat of war, along with scandal, murder, and incest. Hamlet's actions and words in Act II further enhance the atmosphere of chaos in the play. In order to take revenge for his father's death, he decides to act insane. This allows him to plot a scheme against the King without arousing suspicion. "He took me by the wrist and held me hard. Then he goes to the length of all his arm, and, with his other thus o'er his brow, he falls to such perusal of my face as he would draw it. Long stayed he so." In this quote, Ophelia is talking to Polonius about how Hamlet acted crazy and distraught in front of her. They do not know that he meant to do so on purpose, so news of his insanity would reach the King as fast as possible. That action increases the chaos in the play.

The chaos is also increased by Hamlet's words. In scene 2, he openly makes fun of Polonius by calling him a "fishmonger" and saying "For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog, being a good kissing carrion - Have you a daughter?" Hamlet also goes on to threaten that he can or already has impregnated Ophelia. This conversation with Polonius adds to the build up of chaos. "O, what a rouge and peasant slave am I!......Why, what an ass am I!......Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell......The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King. In this soliloquy on pages 117 and 119, Hamlet uses imagery to compare himself to the first player, feeling distraught about his situation. He also reminds himself that his father was murdered by his uncle, and conspires to catch his Uncle in the lie by putting on a play and monitoring his reaction. Hamlet's dialogue and actions in Act II enhance the chaos and insanity present in the play so far.

Death

Death is one of the driving forces behind Act I right from the beginning. Hamlet thinks of death from different perspectives, questioning almost everything. He contemplates whether or not he should commit suicide, and the only thing keeping him from going through with it is his religious belief. Hamlet also ponders on why his father has come back as a ghost and whether or not he should follow him. King Claudius and his wife Gertrude have a different perspective on death. In his speech, Claudius tells Hamlet that fathers come and go, which shows that he thinks of death as a normal process in humanity. Unlike Hamlet, he does not question it any further. Ultimately, this shows that Hamlet has a philosophical trait to him, while King Claudius does not.