Shakespeare a long with other authors use illness, diseases, and weakness through out their plot and characterization. Depending on the characters it show a variety of characteristics. The characters with the defect are a little bit more powerful than the other characters because they are the ones overcoming the defect. Shakespeare creates a sense of realness in his writing by adding some illness or defects, people could relate to them if they have the same conditions. In the case of the novel Hamlet the main character, Hamlet, has lost his father, and has gone crazy. Other people might have lost their father as well and connect to it, but shakespeare adds a little bit more by maKing Hamlet go insane. In this drama, Shakespeare uses imagery of decay, disease, the emotional, and moral decay of his characters to enhance the atmosphere of the play.
Early in Hamlet, Shakespeare's first use of imagery was decay Marcellus says, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" (1.4.72), to Horatio after Hamlet leaves to talk with the ghost of his father. The imagery of decay used here gives the reader a background understanding of a few things. When examined, that statement can refer to many of things about the ruling class that are rotten in the state of Denmark. One idea of the rottenness is the marriage between Hamlet’s uncle Claudius and his mother Gertrude. Their marriage can be seen as an act of incest, but Claudius sees it as that the marriage was in the best interest of Denmark. In his first soliloquy, Hamlet says of the world, "things rank and gross in nature / Possess it" (1.2.136-137). He feels that the whole world is diseased, that it is "an unweeded garden / That grows to seed." Not only Hamlet sees the whole world diseased but also Marcellus, this could be a sign of something going bad in Denmark.
Shakespeare also include imagery of disease in his play. In act four we can find many examples of imagery of disease. In act four Hamlet has killed Polonius,...