Hamlet Group

Question:

hp28
hp28
Student
High School - 11th Grade

What does it mean when Marcellus says

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."

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Posted by hp28 on Monday November 2, 2009 at 5:58 PM and tagged with hamlet.

Answers:


  1. pohnpei397 Teacher
    Community / Jr. College

    eNotes Editor

    This line, one of the most famous from Shakespeare's "Hamlet," appears in Act I, Scene 4.

    In this scene, Hamlet has just seen the ghost and has followed it off the stage.

    Marcellus, along with Horatio, has tried to get Hamlet not to follow the ghost but Hamlet has done it anyway.

    Marcellus says that something is rotten in Denmark, meaning that he does not trust that all is well -- that he thinks something is wrong.  He says this because he doesn't really think it's natural for a ghost to be appearing and talking to the prince and that the appearances of the ghost are a manifestation of something evil.

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    Posted by pohnpei397 on Monday November 2, 2009 at 6:05 PM