"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"
-Marcellus
This quote is important because it is the first instance where a character addresses the conflict in the story. Although the conflict is not directly addressed, it still notifies the reader that the plot is developing and a problem will soon present itself.
The quote is uttered by a somewhat of a minor character which is probably done on purpose by Shakespeare to open up the play for the major characters. The scene that follows (almost immediately after the quote) involves the ghost of King Hamlet and Prince Hamlet who further move the plot by creating the scheme to expose the corrupt King Claudius for all of his wrong-doings. It is almost as if the plot was a small pebble on the top of a massive snowy hill and Marcellus' quote was the small nudge to get it rolling into the monstrous snowball it became.
Not only does the quote carry much meaning and purpose, it also has complex syntax and diction that contains even more significance. First off, the fact that Marcellus only says "something" and not a particular problem leaves a lot of space for the audience to picture what the story could unfold later on. Shakespeare was also very clever to have used the word "rotten" in the quote. Of course the figurative sense is aimed to mean that an element in the story is not as it should be, but there is also a very critical literal sense. The word "rot" originates as a Germanic word and refers to the decomposition of organic matter. By saying "something is rotten" there is a literal meaning that some sort of organic matter is decaying away. This of course refers to the body of King Hamlet, but the audience doesn't know the story behind that yet, which is what makes the quote so brilliant. The syntax of the sentence is also something to be analyzed as it is (like many of the sentences in the play) ordered unusually. "State" is meant as condition obviously, but there is a reason Shakespeare didn't put it, "Something about the state of Denmark is rotten." The original syntax of the quote casts a dark atmosphere on the play and sort of nudges the audience about the play being a tragedy.
