th the scholar Horatio. Horatio is Hamlet's friend from Wittenberg who comes to Elsinore to see Old Hamlet's funeral. He is a noble stoic who is by far the most pure character in the play. Horatio is one of the few characters who never tries to deceive anyone, and who doesn't get involved in any crooked plots. Before the Mousetrap, Hamlet calls Horatio "as just a man/ As e'er [his] conversation cop'd withal" (III, ii, 55-56). This connection between Hamlet and Horatio is so strong that at the end of the play when Hamlet is dying, Horatio is moved to attempt suicide because he is "more an antique Roman than a Dane" (V, ii, 345). The strong connection between Horatio and Hamlet is important because the pure and wise Horatio would not associate himself with a "a sick, cynical, and inhumane prince." This is further evidence which casts doubt upon Knight's analysis of Hamlet.Wilson Knight also suggests that the state of Denmark is "one of healthy and robust life, good-nature, humor, romantic strength, and welfare." (Jump, 125). However, there are a great deal of textual evidence which indicates that this is an incorrect conclusion. When Bernardo and Francisco are keeping guard, Francisco notes that "tis bitter cold,/ And I am sick at heart" (I, i, 7-8). The guards are representative of the common people of Denmark, and his comment can be interpreted that the entire state of Denmark is sick at heart due to the recent death of Old Hamlet and Claudius' ascension to the thrown. Upon seeing the ghost of Old Hamlet, Horatio comments, "This bodes some strange eruption to our state" (I, i, 69). Even the scholar who was hesitant to believe in ghosts is now convinced that Denmark is headed for trouble. After the ghost makes his second appearance, Marcellus notes, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" (I, iv, 90). Theses observations in the first act are clear indications that Denmark has transformed into a state of chaos.The most glaring weakn...
