In William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark; many practices of betrayal take place. First, the elder Hamlet murders the elder Fortinbras. Then, the elder Hamlets’ brother Claudius murders the elder Hamlet while he naps in the garden. With the elder Hamlet gone, Claudius becomes king and marries his sister-in-law Gertrude. Throughout the course of the play the characters stray further and further away from their moral beginnings. The downfall of the chara