‘Above all else, Hamlet offers an outstanding insight into the power of self-interest.

’
In the light of this statement, explore the ways in which Shakespeare presents self-interest
in the play.
In your answer, you must consider relevant contextual factors.

In Hamlet, Shekspaeare uses multiple self-interested characters like Claudius,

Polonius to illustrate themes like ambition, feminine roles. While also using revenge heroes
who revenge for their family rather than direct interests.

Shakespeare also highlights morally unchecked ambition that results in chaos.

Claudius’ regicide of late king Hamlet implies already a direct offense to God as the chain of
being suggested that the king was directly appointed by God. So human desruptuion in
killing the king is running against God’s will, thus causing world chaos that results in the
chain of catastrophe. Therefore, when contemporary 1600s Elizebethan audience watch the
play, they may start to criticise Claudius’s selfishness to having go against the rigid religious
establishment. Through Claudius’ lack of conscience and interest, Shakespeare is
highlighting the morally unacceptable habeviour. The pretense Claudius put on in the
beginning Act 1 Scene 2 when he display himself as a rightful heir with the flowery language
like ‘our whole kingdom to be contracted in one brow of woe…we with wisest sorrow think on
him’ shows his hypocrisy. With alliteration devices like ‘we with wisest’ and metaphor like
‘kingdom…contracted in one brow of woe’ establish an image of him being educated and
virtuous. Contrasting with the latter when audience knows his real intent and sin. By
introducing Claudius’s constructed side first, Shekspeare is able to cause disillusionment for
the audience, making them the victims to his deception, letting them experience first hand
the seriousness of this uncontrolled desire to satisfy his interest.
In male characters’ pursuit of their own interests, victims, often female, are sacrificed.
Polonius and Laertes’ urge for Ophelia to be ‘scanter of your maiden presence’ and their
oddly obsession with her chastity for almost the entire act 1 scene 3 show their obsession
with their own reputation. As the chastity of contemporary girl are entry tickets to marrying a
better family to secure their family’s social standing. Hence keeping Ophelia’s ‘maiden
presence’ is also keeping this own interests of reputation that is very important for nobles in
the Medieval times where Hamlet is set. Thus this unreasonable urge for Ophelia to break
sexual but also emotional connections with Hamlet entirely just to perhaps dismiss public’s
suspect of her and their family connote a patriarchal restriction for women like Ophelia that
they have to put their family’ interests before her self-interest as she loves Hamlet. This love
and harm is further highlighted with the film production of Hamlet in 1996. Ophelia was
almost weeping as she answer quietly ‘i shall obey, my lord’, with moments of scenes with
Hamlet flashing as she says it. The quietness and softness in her voice also metaphorically
symbolise that she- as a presentation of all women at that time, has no say but to ‘obey’ to
his male family members who are ‘[her] lord’. The title and address of ‘lord’ makes their
family connection look fragile, showing their imbalance in power. And women’s tendency to
be exploited by men.
Moreover, when Ophelia is used as a pawn to attract Hamlet into spilling his intention
in act 3 scene 1 also lead to the devastation of Ophelia as seen in production in the 1940s
production where Ophelia was dumped onto the stairs and was left crying on the floor,
Polonius who did this as a favor to woo Claudius didn’t comfort Ophelia until finishing the
unimportant dialog with Claudius. SHowing Ophelia as an instrument to gain Polonius’
higher standing interest only. And that even her own father prioritise Claudius without family
connections over her. Her contribution to him is then seen as a duty and is not repaid by
care when she’s hurt for helping him. This heartbreak of hers in terms contributes to her
madness as she is swayed by men who see her as a tool. Even Hamlet who seems to love
her as he sweel with tears when he tells her to go to a ‘nunnery’, being a slang in the
Elizebethan times as brothel. Thus being almost the greatest offense a lover can say. So
Hamlet’s act of hurting her after knowing Polonius is in the room shown in also the 1940s
production shows that he sees this as a chance to put his enemy off the thought of him being
lovesick, for Hamlet to execute his construct of being plainly mad. Thus Ophelia is also seen
as a tool for Hamlet’s, her lover’s plot. Resulting in her madness. While madness was seen
as a result of sinning towards God, the sin here is not done by Ophelia but by people around
here. So the innocence of Ophelia reflects the harm of the patriarchal society.
The revenge in general are seen as regardless of self-interest as both Hamlet and
Laertes value their responsibilities and their love to the dead rather than out of their own
interest. Through the intensity in this revenge, Shakespeare is trying to convey the power of
ambition even when it’s not for one’s own purpose. From the construct of Hamlet, his
inability to revenge though he has to ‘mean and will’ even leads to his own almost madness
as he starts using a lot of informal language like ‘Swounds’ ‘scullion! Fie upon! Foh!’, even
speaking in prose. Prose being associated with commoners is highly inappropriate to a
‘prince of Denmark’ or ‘dane’ like himself. Conveying the unnaturalness and that he has
almost ‘seem to shatter all his bulk and end his being’, being his own foil to what he used to
be and destructing his own image. It is like he has constructed a new self for revenge. The
sanity of this construct which evokes lots of debates may imply the possible madness of
Hamlet. Since the audience should normally understand fully the inner workings of a
character through soliloquy’s. Yet with Hamlet’s long soliloquies, audience are still not clear
of his situation. Illustrating that he may also be not clear of his sanity too. Evoking that he
may perhaps be really mad, as a result of his selfless devotion to revenge, and justice of his
father’s death. The idea of revenge also drives the entire play as the genre of revenge
tragedy implies.
For Laertes, his extend to murder may be reflected through his rebel from God and religion.
He damned God by ‘to hell, allegiance! Vows to the blackest devil!’. The connotation of ‘hell’
and evoking to ‘devil’ associates himself with Satan which is a very offensive act as he is
showing signs of rebelling against the entire Christian belief and since England was a strict
Protestant country having Protestant as the official religion. Heretics used to be burned to
death during the Elizebethan Era, hence his offense for revenge may shock a lot of
contemporary audience, especially when Laertes is saying that directly to the King, echoing
the idea of chain of being again that he is rebelling against God’s chosen one. While the play
was set in Denmark, Denish Church was also Protestant and they share the same belief.
Therefore the idea of him being so openly against God may show that he doesn’t mind being
seen as challenging God.