The Tragedy of Isolation
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, isolation leads the title character to question his belief in the
goodness of the world. As Hamlet feels betrayed by his loved ones, he distances himself from
them emotionally. He no longer trusts them to love and support him. This loss of trust prevents
him from reconciling with them and leads him to distrust the world. When Hamlet’s mother
marries his uncle, the prince is outraged that she would betray the late King Hamlet’s love. The
inconsistency of Gertrude’s marriage vows and her actions makes Hamlet question the word of
others. With Ophelia, Hamlet feels similarly betrayed. The seeming two-facedness of his lover
further pushes Hamlet to distrust appearances. In the case of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern,
Hamlet believes his childhood friends have sided with Claudius. Hamlet withdraws his trust in
them. This emotional isolation prevents him from understanding the reasoning behind their
actions and leads him to treat the world more coldly. Hamlet’s isolation from his mother, love,
and childhood friends blinds him from the circumstances of their betrayal and causes him to see
the world in a harsher light.
By distancing himself from his mother, Hamlet allows her seeming betrayal to make him
question the loyalties of others. In his rage at his mother, Hamlet begins to rant about her
unfaithfulness. His rage leads to his realization that “frailty thy name is woman” (I, i, 150). In his
distraught state, he applies the infidelity of his mother to the entire gender. Hamlet’s newly
formed suspicion of the world makes itself known in his treatment of Horatio and Marcellus.
Instead of taking them at their word, Hamlet forces them to swear on his sword not to tell of the
ghost’s revelation (I, v, 160-162). His mother’s supposedly disloyal heart has taught him to be
wary of all promises. This distrust carries over to Hamlet’s meeting with Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern. Although they are his childhood friends he asks, “What make you at/Elsinore” (II,
ii, 290-291). Hamlet doubts their intentions despite their assurance that they have only come to
visit him. Hamlet’s feelings of betrayal by his mother lead him to distance himself from her
rather than seek an explanation for her actions. Lack of reconciliation causes Hamlet’s hurt to
fester. This results in his distrust in the world at large, including his good friends Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern. It is Hamlet’s choice to isolate himself from his mother that prevents the
soothing of his hurt and allows his distrust to expand to all.
Hamlet’s isolation from Ophelia leads him to see lovers as unfaithful. At Ophelia’s
rejection, Hamlet begins to see all lovers as liars. He tells her, “God hath given you one face, and
you/make yourselves another” (III, I, 155-156). Hamlet’s ‘you’ encompasses all beautiful
women, whom he now sees as two-faced. His emotions also result in his criticism of man. “We
are arrant knaves/all; believe none of us” (III, i, 139-140). Hamlet allows his hurt to taint his
view of all who proclaim love. He does not allow Ophelia to explain herself, and his bitter view
of lovers continues to plague him. When Ophelia says the prologue of Mousetrap is brief,
Hamlet replies, “As woman’s love” (III, ii, 174-175). He has not recovered from Ophelia’s
rejection. Hamlet again allows his feeling of betrayal to colour his view of the world. He takes
his experience with Ophelia and applies it to all lovers. It is his isolation from Ophelia which
impedes him from understanding her rejection and allows this biased view of lovers to persist.
This distrust of love represents another facet of Hamlet’s newfound harsh view of the world. His
lack of communication with Ophelia leads him to see unfaithfulness in everyone.
Hamlet’s isolation from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern causes him to adopt a colder
treatment of the world. This change in attitude is first seen when Hamlet, realizing his friends
have been sent by the king, stops joking with them and aggressively pursues the admission of
their betrayal (II, ii, 242-338). This cruel behaviour manifests itself once more when Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern ask Hamlet for the location of Polonius’ body. Hamlet responds, “To be
demanded of a sponge, what/replication should be made by the son of a king” (IV, ii, 12-13).
This cold superiority is far different from the warm greeting his friends received in Act II.
Hamlet’s harsh countenance culminates in his justification of their deaths. He says to Horatio,
“Why, man, [Rosencrantz and Guildenstern] did make love to this employment./They are not
near my conscience” (V, ii, 64-65). Hamlet’s disregard for their lives is in stark contrast to his
hesitation to kill Claudius. Hamlet feels that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern deserved their fate.
This is the sign of a colder Hamlet. It is his emotional isolation from his friends that leads him to
this point. Had he maintained a measure of trust and investigated their allegiance, he would have
known that they know nothing of Claudius’ crime. Instead, Hamlet allows the hurt of their
betrayal to ruin his trust in his friends. His isolation from them destroys his sense of mercy.
Hamlet’s isolation leads him to misinterpret the intentions of his loved ones. Their
supposed betrayals results in his loss of faith in the goodness of the world. In each case,
Hamlet’s reaction to betrayal is the withdrawal of his trust. He puts up an emotional barrier,
preventing the others from proving their innocence. Gertrude does feel guilt for her hasty
marriage and is unaware that she sleeps with her late husband’s murderer. Ophelia is only
leaving Hamlet at her father’s orders. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are ignorant of King
Hamlet’s murder and follow Claudius’ orders for the sake of the country of Denmark. Of the
three, Hamlet chooses to confront only Gertrude for her betrayal. He learns that she is not as
cold-hearted as he believed and appears to forgive her. Had Hamlet sought this same
reconciliation with Ophelia or Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, his view of the world might not
have been healed. However Hamlet, as is only human, allows his emotions to cloud his
judgment. He cannot let go of his hurt and worsens the situation by distancing himself from the
loved ones who might help him to understand the betrayal and to release his negative emotions.
It is ironic that Hamlet goes to such lengths to prove that Claudius murdered King Hamlet and
therefore deserves death, yet he immediately turns on his mother, lover, and best friends. Hamlet
treats those he loves most with the least consideration. It is because he loves them so dearly that
their betrayal wounds him so deeply. For Hamlet, his loved ones represent the best in the world.
When those he trusts with all his heart hurt him, it is no stretch of the imagination for him to lose
faith in the rest of the world. That Hamlet’s self-imposed emotional isolation from Gertrude,
Ophelia, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern would lead to his harsh judgment of the world
around him is a natural and tragic progression.