Treachery and Mortality in Elsinore Castle

Mauricio Arnal

Elsinore Castle

            While Shakespeare’s Hamlet might not spend most of its time focusing on the description of the setting in which its scenes take place, it is obvious that the various settings are crucial parts to the play’s meanings. The castle itself, in which most of the play takes place, is one of the most important settings. It not only sets the mood throughout the play, but it provides a key representation of the many values demonstrated throughout the play. Elsinore castle is not only the grand medieval home of the royal family, but it’s twisted hallways and labyrinth like structure provides a resemblance to the same features represented by the characters who inhabit it. What once was a beautiful structure that represented the power of the Danish people becomes a cold, solemn place filled with deception, murder and treachery.

            One of the most prominent examples of how setting is intertwined with the play is in the final scenes. In Act 5, Scene 2 we see how Elsinore emphasizes mortality and foul play, a central theme embedded in the play’s roots. Not only is Hamlet fighting a fight that he knows he will probably lose, but the devious king has plotted with Laertes to ensure that either way, Hamlet will die.

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Queen: No, no, the drink, the drink,--O my dear Hamlet,--

The drink, the drink! I am poison'd.

(Dies)

Hamlet: O villany! Ho! let the door be lock'd:

Treachery! Seek it out.

Laeretes: It is here, Hamlet: Hamlet, thou art slain;

No medicine in the world can do thee good;

In thee there is not half an hour of life;

The treacherous instrument is in thy hand,

Unbated and envenom'd: the foul practice

Hath turn'd itself on me lo, here I lie,

Never to rise again: thy mother's poison'd:

I can no more: the king, the king's to blame.

Hamlet: The point!--envenom'd too!

Then, venom, to thy work.

(Wounds the King)

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            In the final scenes, we see how the Claudius and Laeretes plan backfires on itself. After the queen is dead by her murderous king’s hand and both fighters have been stabbed and doomed by the poisonous sword, we see Laerete’s confession to the “foul practice” he has committed. We also see characters pay for the ultimate price for the actions they have committed. In a place where its labyrinth-like layout can prevent the body of Polonius to be found by many, Elsinore structure represents and allows the various acts of deception, spying, and treachery that occur throughout the play. Elsinore also hosts the final deception that leads to the royal family’s ultimate demise. The fight not only represents the characters paying for their sins they have committed in that very structure, but can also be viewed as the end of an era. An era, in which Fortinbras might be able to pick up the shattered pieces and once again regain the honor and power that the castle and the country deserve.