“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 take over the state of Denmark, resulting in the death of the royal family and government. Regardless of the characters' motivations, good or bad, they all contribute to the rot of Denmark. Emotions and desires 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 decay that spread across the state and destroyed it. The character most guilty of corruption, deceit and ignoble actions is King Claudius. Due to his dishonorable act of killing his brother, King Hamlet, a series of events occurred that caused chaos within the royal family in Denmark. Hamlet, son of King Hamlet, felt that it was his duty to seek justified revenge for his uncle Claudius' crime, so Hamlet takes all necessary measures to prove that Claudius was guilty and to 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 to the royal family as possible. He even went to the extreme of deceiving his children to get closer to the royal family. He spies and plots throughout the entire play until death puts an end to his plan. Corruption in Denmark began with King Claudius; when he killed his brother, King Hamlet, to become the… middle of paper… This would cause the people to overthrow Claudius and make Hamlet the kind of king Denmark needed. Polonius is another character in the play who is corrupt. He is the lord of Denmark and thrives on a very high status, to gain 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 with maintaining a good reputation. He is so worried that he sends his servant Rinaldo to spy on Laertes while he is in Paris. This act of deception foreshadows the corruption within Polonius, for no noble man should spy on the man of prestige he has raised, he should also trust his son and not betray him in this way. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Dover Publications Inc.1992