All throughout history, each culture adopted its own cultural hierarchy which dictates economic freedom, political power, and social status. These structures were set from birth and they have continued until modern times, there was no freedom to move up or down the ladder. In the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries, the “Great Chain of Being” ruled all. At its apex stood God and his divine beings, then royalty and nobility, then the commoners and servants, and finally the animals and plants. People were born to one status and remained there their entire life. There was no choice. William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is set in the era of the Great Chain of Being in Denmark. Hamlet and his family rule the kingdom of Elsinore and everyone they interact with is meant to be below them in every social sense. Furthermore, each character’s status has a profound effect on their psyche and how they choose to live their life. The Great Chain of Being in Hamlet dictates more than a socioeconomic position; it formulates how the characters believe they can live their life and how they look at the world.
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, has an entire country observing how he lives which he cunningly uses to exude great influence over those who watch him. Hamlet recently lost his father but when his mother confronts him about his displays of grief, Hamlet vehemently responds:
‘Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,
Nor customary suits of solemn black,
Nor windy suspiration of forced breath,
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye,
Nor the dejected ‘havior of the visage,
Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief,
That can denote my truly. (Shakespeare I.II.77-83)
Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, does not want Hamlet showing his mourning openly because she knows it is not a good image for the royal family. Royalty publically shows their mourning for tragic events for a specified period and then must move on. According to a recent article on a modern-day Denmark’s prince’s death by Sheena McKenzie, the current Danish mourning for the royal family is one month. Hamlet’s father, the king, died over two months ago, so Hamlet has far exceeded the official period of grief, but he understands that. Hamlet makes a public display of his emotions, listing out five reasons why no one could possibly understand how he feels, because he knows it will grab the attention of the kingdom and send a message. He wants to tell the kingdom that his father’s death was too quickly brushed aside. Hamlet recognizes his immense power as royalty and uses it to spread his beliefs to a large audience almost instantaneously. Hamlet uses his power as prince to ensure the news of his crazed state will reach the public. To excuse his future actions to carry out a revenge plan, Hamlet needs the entire kingdom to fully believe he is mentally insane and the best way for him to do so it to make a public display of it. He finds his perfect opportunity when Polonius, a trusted advisor to his father and the current King Claudius, approaches him. Polonius takes note of Hamlet’s change in personality almost immediately and inquires if Hamlet recognizes him. Hamlet simply states, “Excellent well. You are a fishmonger,” (Shakespeare II.II.175). Hamlet knows full well who Polonius is, having known him his entire life, but Hamlet is keenly aware he is being watched. J. Dover Wilson analyzes this exact scene in his essay “Antic Disposition”: “Words and the action are a direct invitation to the spectators to look in that direction; and, as they do so, Hamlet enters the inner stage from the door at the back, his eyes upon his book.” Dover emphasizes how Hamlet is constantly on display with the country as “spectators.” As a royal, perfection at all times is expected from Hamlet, so any deviance from that is a call for attention. With a few out of place words, Hamlet captures the attention of everyone watching and immediately plants the seed of his insanity in the minds of all watching him. The whole kingdom is watching which gives Hamlet power.
The noble class does not have as much control as royalty, but they have great power; Polonius, advisor to Claudius, and Horatio, advisor to Hamlet, are apart of this class and use their influence in completely different manners. Polonius has a great deal of power but he wants more for himself and his children, Laertes and Ophelia. To acquire more control, he seeks to impress Claudius by advising him and Gertrude on how to deal with Hamlet, and being their eyes and ears when they are not around. Polonius advises Gertrude on how to deal with Hamlet:
He will come straight. Look you lay home to him.
Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with,
And that your grace hath screened and stood between
Much heat and him. I’ll silence me even here. (Shakespeare III.IV.1-4)
Polonius tries to keep Gertrude’s ear in the hope that if she likes his advice, she will tell Claudius to give him more power. In the end, Polonius’s meddling results in him being stabbed and dying behind the curtain he was hiding behind to spy on Hamlet. Hamlet scholar Anthony DiMatteo adds that “the power to rule, in terms of obtaining, conserving and augmenting control of a society, often comes to a ruinous end of dispossession by violent means,” (5). DiMatteo’s argument of the effect of the search for power is intensely characterized by Polonius. In a time where enough power was rarely gained to move into a higher class, Polonius continues to crave even more influence, eventually leading to his demise. On the other hand, Horatio is also part of the nobility class but accepts his great power with great responsibility. Horatio is Hamlet’s friend and he takes that role with the expectation of honor and loyalty. To Hamlet, Horatio is “A man that Fortune’s buffets and rewards/Hast ta’en with equal thanks,” (Shakespeare III.II.60-61). Someone who is able to take everything life throws at him, Horatio is the quintessence of grace and honor. Instead of having a thirst for more, Horatio takes his title and class as a reason to be a role model for everyone around him, including Hamlet. Polonius and Horatio may come from the same socioeconomic class, but they approach their status completely differently, making them see life in two different ways: a quest for power or for honor.
Laertes is in a unique class of the nobility who has freedom of money but complete reliance on the crown. Laertes is Polonius’s son and his status is attached to Polonius’s. Laertes himself has no power in the court but he has money that comes from the nobility. Because of his lack of duties in Elsinore, Laertes decides to visit France and asks Polonius’s permission who agrees and adds a slew of advice:
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not expressed in fancy — rich, not gaudy,
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that. (Shakespeare I.III.70-74)
Laertes is off to a country Polonius considers flashy and less honorable than Denmark but he allows his son to leave court because Laertes has no contribution in Elsinore. As long as his father remains a trusted advisor to the king, Laertes does not need to worry about duty and responsibility on a daily basis. However, Laertes does have an overall obligation to the crown as a member of the noble class. Despite not having a role, he is still the son of a high noble and must not act in any way the crown dislikes. Before leaving on his ship for France, Laertes must return once more to court:
Your leave and favor to return to France,
From whence though willingly I came to Denmark
To show my duty in your coronation,
Yet now, I must confess, that duty dont,
My thoughts and wishes bend again toward France
And bow them to your gracious leave and pardon. (I.II.52-56)
Laertes is at the will of the king to come and go from court, only forced to make an appearance when all the nobility is called upon to show unity for large events, like a coronation. He has a heavy duty to his king but no other connection to life in Elsinore that forces him to stay. His mind is focused on the fun he has in France instead of on the political dynamics in Denmark, which is acceptable because of his lower nobility status. Laertes has the funds to live without restriction until he is called back for duty.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are member of the commoner class whose only responsibility is to the crown. They are Hamlet’s college friends who are summoned to Elsinore by Claudius to keep an eye on Hamlet’s behavior and report back to him. Other than these orders, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have no further obligations. When they greet Hamlet, they share that they believe “ambition [is] so airy and light a quality that/it is but a shadow’s shadow,” (Shakespeare II.II.255-256). With no real purpose in life, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are free to have no ambition or drive. Unlike Hamlet, no one cares what they do with their lives, allowing them freedom Hamlet will never have. The only duty Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have is to King Claudius. When Claudius orders them to leave for England with Hamlet, Guildenstern simply replies,
Most holy and religious fear it is
To keep those many, many bodies safe
That live and feed upon your majesty. (Shakespeare III.III.8-10)
Without any argument, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern fully obey Claudius’s demands. They see the command as their duty to their country to protect the King’s people and uphold his requests. While Rosencrantz and Guildenstern do have a heavy sense of duty to the throne, their low class status ironically allows them more freedom in every other sense.
At the bottom of the Great Chain of Being in Hamlet are the Gravediggers. Completely removed from royal persuasion, they are free to do whatever they please. They can make jokes, toss around insults, and discuss controversial topics with no threat of punishment. One of the gravediggers goes as far to insult the nobility:
And the more pity that the great folk
should have countenance in this world to drown or hang
themselves more than their even Christian. (Shakespeare V.I.24-26)
Suicide itself is a topic typically hushed and not discusses in Hamlet’s time because it was illegal and taboo, so whoever discusses it risks their reputation. The gravediggers, however, have no reason not to discuss taboo topics because no one listens to their opinions. For the gravediggers to discuss such an issue in addition to insulting the nobility’s extra conveniences would be blasphemous if there was anyone who cared to hear them. On the topic of being free to do as they please, DiMatteo adds that Shakespeare’s play is meant to bring up “ the dubious affairs of human sovereignty.” Most people think that people with more money and power are more satisfied with life, but it can be quite the opposite. The people with the least are the happiest and the people with everything they could wish for are never satisfied because they have more pressure on their shoulders. Like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the gravediggers have no obligations but they are even more unencumbered than Rosencrantz and Guildenstern because they have no ties to the crown. When Hamlet approaches the gravediggers, they ask him if Hamlet remembers “the very/day that young Hamlet was born,” (Shakespeare V.I.132-133). The gravediggers are removed from royal affairs, they fail to even recognize Hamlet when he stands directly in front of them. The gravediggers have never been in court or apart of court affairs, so they have no reason to know what Hamlet looks like or have the pressures of Denmark’s political state pressuring them. In his essay, “Hamlet,” Paul A. Jorgensen analyzes that “it is a court that will somehow merit the scourging of a terrible kind,” (Jorgensen). Every character who has some relation to court has to deal with monstrous pressures which weigh them down. Without the stress of status, the gravediggers are unburdened and free to live how they please.
The Great Chain of Being left no room for change or choice and instead dictated how people lived. While the same strict social classes are not in place today, each culture still has its own idea of status and how flexible it is. India’s caste system is reminiscent of the Great Chain of Being’s rigidity. Monarchies are still usually patriarchal and impossible to be apart of unless born into it. The American social system is a flexible system where people can move up and down with the right resources and work. In each case, there is still a strong sense of duty and a spectrum of freedoms attached to each class.
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