Health is an important condition that mankind should be concerned with. Health is commonly linked with youth, although health can be lost or damaged at any age and in many different ways. Because of this, many people take good health for granted. There are many factors and areas contributing to one good health, and when lost, all have various side effects and degrees of severity. Poor emotional health, for one, may be attributed to great stresses in one's life, and side effects may range from unhealthy thoughts to emotional outbursts at inopportune times. This state of mind may lead to mental insatiability, which in most severe cases, can cause insanity. Both of these conditions are greatly affected by environmental factors, such as other people, deaths, and other uncontrollable situations. The loss of (or lack thereof) health is shown at great depth in several of William Shakespeare's plays. The poor state of Denmark contributes greatly to all the characters emotional and mental health in Shakespeare 's Hamlet.
             As the play begins, the reader is placed in the midst of action, otherwise known as 'med ris'. Therefore, the reader does not see how poor Denmark's situation actually is as there is nothing to compare it to. The reader learns that Hamlet Sr. the former King, has recently suffered and untimely demise. His brother, Claudius, has taken over the kingdom. Yet, the reader learns that Claudius has married Gertrude, Hamlet Sr.'s widow, very shortly after his death in Claudius' opening remarks; "'Therefore our sometimes sister, now our queen, ...with mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage,...taken to wife.'" (1.2.8-14). This is an emotionally unstable time for all involved, especially Hamlet Jr. whose uncle has, just recently after his own father's death, become his uncle. This
             uncontrollable situation causes stress to Hamlet, and also to others arou...