Explore how Shakespeare presents the theme of knowledge and/ or knowing in Hamlet. You must relate your discussion to relevant contextual factors and ideas from your critical reading.

Shakespeare treats knowledge as a superficial and frail concept that, despite humanity’s innate desire to acquire it, is the cause of self-damnation and destruction.  This can be seen in Shakespeare’s presentation of the ghost of king Hamlet as a symbol of knowledge and truth, with Horatio’s commandment of “if thou hast uphoarded in thy life exhorted treasure in the womb of the earth… speak of it” (Act One, Scene One) supporting this. Beyond a literal level, the imagery of ‘treasure’ can be connoted to wealth of the mind: knowledge. The noun ‘treasure’ also implies a great material value to the act of knowing due to its direct connotations with forbidden monetary wealth, suggesting that secular humanity is inevitably urged towards knowledge, as if it were, at least in the profane sense, a necessity to social success. However, Shakespeare’s parallel between knowledge and secular aspirations suggests that ‘knowledge’ in the traditional and ‘philosophical’ sense causes a drifting from the divine and thus inevitably self-destruction in the form of over-reaching. When considering the Ghost as a symbol of human desire to know, it can be seen that this directly is associated with the tragedy that will ensue when Horatio states that “a mote it is to trouble the mind’s eye” in reference to the ghost. The noun “mote” implies a speck, with Shakespeare potentially suggesting that even a small amount of knowledge can hinder ‘the mind’s eye’, which may thus be used to portray the idea that humanity cannot cope with true acquirement of truth, and an attempt to do so often leads to misjudgement. This trait arguably fuels the tragedy by being the inciting incident, that is when Hamlet sees the ghost of his father, and in a metaphorical sense, indulges his innate human desire for knowledge. In addition, the noun “mote” can also be considered a pun of ‘moat’, foreshadowing the breakdown of civility in the monarchy as this knowledge was fated to cause tragedy and structural breakdown. This concept is encapsulated by the belief of Eric P. Levy, who states that “the world of the play is tormented by ignorance and goaded by the need for knowledge”, aligning with the idea that Shakespeare is potentially criticising humanity’s ignorance to the destruction instigated by the human condition’s urge to ‘know’.