Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
- Hamlet (1.4.90), Marcellus to Horatio
SHAKESPEARE
Marcellus, shaken by the many recent disturbing events and no doubt angered (as is Hamlet) by Claudius's mismanagement of the body politic, astutely notes that Denmark is festering with moral and political corruption. Horatio replies "Heaven will direct it" (91), meaning heaven will guide the state of Denmark to health and stability.
This line spoken by Marcellus (and not Hamlet as is commonly believed) is one of the most recognizable lines in all of Shakespeare's works
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. Set in the Kingdom of Denmark, the play dramatizes the revenge Prince Hamlet exacts on his uncle Claudius for murdering King Hamlet, Claudius's brother and Prince Hamlet's father, and then succeeding to the throne and taking as his wife Gertrude, the old king's widow and Prince Hamlet's mother. The play vividly portrays both true and feigned madness -- from overwhelming grief to seething rage -- and explores themes of treachery, revenge, incest, and moral corruption.
To Hamlet, drinking to excess has ruined the whole nation, which is known abroad as a land full of drunken swine
Not to forget:
"There's small choice in rotten apples."
"- William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew
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