Chosen Question:
One of the key themes in Hamlet is suicide with two major characters giving audiences the opportunity to reflect on its implications to society. Hamlet reflects upon suicide in his famous soliloquies while Ophelia actually commits suicide. Using research from scholarly articles and books to support your argument, discuss Shakespeare’s treatment of the theme of suicide.
Introduction:
Themes have large implications for a play's outcome, a play in particular that this essay will be focusing on is William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The context written and the relevance in regards to a historical viewpoint will be discussed, also following this will be the characters themselves and how they affect the text itself and the plays final outcome. Further discussion on the play and its relevance will be brought forward in regards to today’s society vs. Elizabethan era and how they receive the text, how they handle the social theme of suicide and how it affected them, socially, mentally and physically.
The Context Hamlet was written and relevance (historical view point):
One major element of a play's outcome is the theme which is brought to the forefront, a successful play and a play in which the likes of William Shakespeare used to write made certain themes pivotal to the final outcome. One theme in particular; suicide pertains to the well-known play Hamlet. This play was seen as well beyond its time due to Shakespeare’s clever use of soliloquys he was able to engage with the audience and gain their empathy; something that had not yet been seen before within the theatre. It was said that ‘no work in the English literary canon has been so closely identified with the beginning of the modern age (Grazia) He remains constantly...
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... the following impacts upon other characters and the overall outcome of the play.
Works Cited
Baker, Susan. "Hamlet's Bloody Thoughts and the Illusion of inwardness." Comparative Drama (1987-1988): 303.
Camden, Carroll. "On Ophelia's Madness." Shakespeare Quarterly (1964): 247-255.
Dane, Gabrielle. "Reading Ophelia's Madness." Exemplaria (1998): 1-8.
Grazia, Margreta De. "Hamlet Before its Time." MLQ: Modern Language Quarterly, Volume 62, Number 4, December (December 2001): 355-360.
Petronella, Vincent F. Hamlet's "To Be or Not to Be" Soliloquy: Once More Unto the Breach. University of North Carolina Press, Janurary 1974.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. London: Harper Press, 2011.
Simmonds, W.G. Hamlet Conundrums. n.d. 25 04 2014 .
Zeil, Michael. "Suicide in pre-industrial England." Social History (2008): 1-16.
To continue on the subject of suicide, I will bring in some information from my last source, “Shakespeare’s Hamlet 1.2.35-38,” by Kathryn Walls. (Gather information from source and relate to the book).
Findlay, Alison. "Hamlet: A Document in Madness." New Essays on Hamlet. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and John Manning. New York: AMS Press, 1994. 189-205.
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is laden with tragedy from the start, and this adversity is reflected in the title character. Being informed of his father’s murder and the appalling circumstances surrounding the crime, Hamlet is given the emotionally taxing task of avenging his death. It is clear that having to complete this grim undertaking takes its toll on Hamlet emotionally. Beginning as a seemingly contemplative and sensitive character, we observe Hamlet grow increasingly depressed and deranged as the play wears on. Hamlet is so determined to make his father proud that he allows the job on hand to completely consume him. We realize that Hamlet has a tendency to mull and ponder excessively, which causes the notorious delays of action throughout the play. It is often during these periods of deep thought and reflection that we hear one of Hamlet’s famous soliloquies, which are obviously relative to Hamlet’s apprehensions and worries surrounding his current situation. The seven soliloquies throughout the play offer insight pertaining to the deteriorating mental state of Hamlet, and the circumstances which induce his decent into madness.
Mack, Maynard. “The World of Hamlet.” Twentieth Century Interpretations of Hamlet. Ed. David Bevington. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968.
Hamlet, a dispirited victim of unfortunate family circumstance, or a man plagued by a serious and debilitating mental illness? This is a topic that has intrigued literary and psychological critics alike for many years and has produced many interesting theories about Hamlet’s less than stable behavior throughout the length of the Shakespeare’s play. While the question of Hamlet’s sanity is debatable, his inability to act on his decisions and his constant depressed and agitated mood do inspire some curious questions about his methods and behavior towards other characters in the play. While it is true that the death of a loved one can propel any being into a state of grief and depression, Hamlet seems to exaggerate the situation of his father’s death by constantly bruiting and wearing “the trappings and suits of woe” (Shakespeare, 1.2. 89), and makes no real effort to move on as he seems content to wallow in his grief. What is even more fascinating is the way in which he treats the people who clearly care about him and want nothing more but the best for him. He constantly badgers the ones who are closest to him, and while he meticulously analyzes his every thought, his actions towards others are still rash and sometimes needlessly harsh. These complex characteristics of the man Hamlet, have baffled and mesmerized literary scholars and the general public alike for decades, sometimes making the play hard to comprehend and even frustrating for the audience at times. The frustration of relating to such a complex character however can be easily alleviated by perceiving Hamlet not just as a man weakened by a complicated domestic situation, but as a man tormented by what we know today to be Major depressive disorder.
Smith, Ray. "The Case of Hamlet's Lunacy." Smith's Hyper Hamlet. N.p., n.d. Web. . .
Although many different positions could be taken on writing an essay for this Shakespearian play, the author took it upon himself to write about Hamlet’s grief. His grief is obvious from the beginning of the play and he continues to grieve althroughout the play. Within his twenty-one-page essay, I chose this line to represent that I agree with his outlook on the play. “…his focus is on his grief and the profound impact in which the ghost has upon it. (Hamlet pg.18 paragraph 3)
Shakespeare, William. “Hamlet.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Kelly J. Mays. 11th ed. New York: Norton, 2013.1709-1804. Print.
Boklund, Gunnar. "Hamlet." Essays on Shakespeare. Ed. Gerald Chapman. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965.
Mack, Maynard. "The World of Hamlet." Yale Review. vol. 41 (1952) p. 502-23. Rpt. in Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996.
Mack, Maynard. "The World of Hamlet." Yale Review. vol. 41 (1952) p. 502-23. Rpt. in Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996.
Barnett, George L. “Hamlet’s Soliloquy.” Modern Language Quarterly 7.1 (1946): 57-59. Literary Reference Center. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is arguably one of the best plays known to English literature. It presents the protagonist, Hamlet, and his increasingly complex path through self discovery. His character is of an abnormally complex nature, the likes of which not often found in plays, and many different theses have been put forward about Hamlet's dynamic disposition. One such thesis is that Hamlet is a young man with an identity crisis living in a world of conflicting values.
Hamlet’s anger and grief- primarily stemming from his mother’s marriage to Claudius- brings him to thoughts of suicide, which only subside as a result of it being a mortal and religious sin. The fact that he wants to take his own life demonstrates a weakness in his character; a sense of cowarness, his decision not to kill himself because of religious beliefs shows that this weakness is balanced with some sense of morality. Such an obvious paradox is only one example of the inner conflict and turmoil that will eventually lead to Hamlet’s downfall.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragedy that revolves around three central themes. These themes are death, betrayal, and revenge. In order to both advance the plot and produce character motivations, Shakespeare uses a plethora of literary devices; including foreshadowing, imagery, symbolism, and indirect characterization. These devices have the additional effect of conveying a sense of suspense and danger, while also offering psychological insight into the characters’ minds.