“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark (Shakespeare 22),” this famous quote from Hamlet describes the theme behind most of the actions that occur in this play. In this work we see corruption taking over the state of Denmark, causing the death of the royal family and the government. Despite the motivations of each of the characters, good or bad, they all contribute to the rot of Denmark. Emotions and desire fill their heads, making their judgments unclear. This unclear judgment causes each character to lie and betray everyone in the kingdom, creating a totally corrupt state, especially King Claudius, Hamlet, and Polonius. They use deception to get exactly what they want. These plans to use lies and dastardly acts to achieve these goals were the cause of corruption and decadence that spread through the state and destroyed it. The character most guilty of corruption, deception, and dastardly actions is King Claudius. Due to his dishonorable act of killing his brother, King Hamlet, a series of events took place, causing chaos within the royal family of Denmark. Hamlet, son of King Hamlet, felt it was his duty to take revenge for his uncle Claudius' crime. Hamlet therefore takes all necessary measures to prove that Claudius was guilty and obtain justice for his late father. Lord Polonius, although not part of the royal family, was corrupt in his own way. He wanted to stay as close as possible to the royal family. He even went so far as to deceive his children to get closer to the royal family. He spies and plots throughout the play until death puts an end to his plan. Corruption in Denmark began with King Claudius; when he killed his own brother, King Hamlet, to become the...... middle of paper...... This would have caused the people to overthrow Claudius and would have made Hamlet the type of king Denmark needed. Polonius is another character in the play who is corrupt. He is the lord of Denmark and aspires to a very high status, to obtain this more honorable status, Polonius deceives and lies to many characters in the play, including his son Laertes and his daughter Ophelia. At the beginning of the play, it seems that Polonius is very concerned about maintaining a good reputation. He is so concerned about this that he sends his servant Reynaldo to spy on Laertes during his absence in Paris. This act of deception foreshadows the corruption within Polonius, as no noble man should have to spy on the man of prestige he raised, he should also trust his son and not betray him in this way. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Dover Publication Inc...1992