The rot crept slowly into Denmark. In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, many characters were victims of this rot and others contributed to the spread of the rot. Old Hamlet, young Hamlet, Claudius and young Fortinbras are in constant relationship with the rotten antics that take place throughout the play. However, all the characters are affected by the rot that slowly rules the entire nation. The relationships between the characters are very suspicious, because everything that happens during the show is very secret. In the end the whole story is drowning in the rot that has taken over. The possibility of a rotten way of life spreading slowly destroys Denmark as a whole. Rot appears as a theme in Hamlet, because there are rotten relationships between family members, rotten morals, rotten relationships between countries, and there is a rotten plot. The core of the rot throughout the play begins with the rotten members of the family. Claudius is made king shortly after poisoning his brother, Old Hamlet, in his sleep. Not only is he declared king, but he marries Gertrude, old Hamlet's wife, soon after her death, of which young Hamlet openly disapproves. Hamlet does not trust any of the events that happened, hence the rotten relationships between family members. The ghost of Hamlet’s father comes to solidify Hamlet’s feelings towards his new stepfather by saying, “It turned out that, while I was sleeping in my orchard, a serpent stung me. So the whole ear of Denmark was brutally abused due to a counterfeit trial of my death. But know, noble youth, the serpent that stung your father's life now wears his crown (Act I, scene 5, 35-40). The ghost tells Hamlet that everyone thinks he was bitten by a snake in the middle of the paper, which is perfect, because he only had to pretend to hide. His act is why most of the plot ended up so rotten. Denmark was slowly rotting as a nation. The rot has taken over the character's relationships with family members, his morals, his relationships with other countries, and slowly taken over the plot of the entire work. The characters in the play slowly let this rot take over, because there was nothing else they could do. It's basically become the norm. Although rotten relations were evident since King Hamlet killed the elder Fortinbras, Claudius helped spread the rotten dispositions. Since the new king was completely rotten, it slowly spread to everyone else, like an uncontrollable plague, eventually causing a population to decay. Just like in the play, in the real world a rotten appearance can ruin many pure souls.