Anomie In Hamlet

E: Evaluate the role of family in a character’s success or failure in Hamlet. In the famous play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, family takes an enormous part in the failure in the main character, Hamlet. What is interesting about his family dynamic and the way his family affects Hamlet’s actions, is that it directly correlates to Emile Durkheim’s theory on structural functionalism. It is a theory that studies our social structure and culture, and how they work together and affect us. Durkheim suggests that our social system is made up of a bunch of different parts and when one of these components gets taken away, we suffer and go into normlessness- which Durkheim refers to as anomie. Anomie is an indication of a loss of our sense of values and rules of conduct, creating problems. In relation to the play Hamlet, we can establish a connection
In act 3 scene 4, Hamlet’s mother says to him, “Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.” (9) And he replies with a snarky remark claiming that Claudius is not his father at all, and that the one doing the real offending is her (Gertrude) to his father (Old Hamlet). “Mother, you have my father much offended.” 
(3.4.10) This quote proves to us how betrayed he feels by his uncle. Three scenes before these quotes, Hamlet presents his “to be, or not to be” soliloquy about suicide. “To be, or not to be: that is the question:
 Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
 The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, 
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles.” (3.1.57) He, again, is debating whether or not he should kill himself. This validates the theory that he is losing his mind due to his uncle’s actions, and essentially the robbing of his uncle entirely as a person that he once put his trust into. It affects Hamlet’s sense of values and rules of conduct- leaving him in a state of normlessness, pushing him even more off of the edge towards