Christian Suicide And Suicide In Shakespeare's Hamlet

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Suicide in Hamlet The Christian belief is that suicide is a mortal sin and will retract your chances of eternal rest in heaven. Most Christians choose life through the hardships in life because of this belief and other reasons. Family and friends are often motivators during low points in life to keep going on. Losing people who are close to you makes it challenging to stay positive and see the light at the end of the dark tunnel. Hamlet has back and forth feelings about suicide, he understands it and is tempted, but he stands by his Christian beliefs. Some Christians believe you cannot redeem yourself after suicide because it is stated in the bible you are incapable of praying after death, but it is also believed that once you’ve committed …show more content…

The word suicide was not even introduced to the English language until after Shakespeare died. There was a reoccurrence of suicidal characters throughout the play writer’s works. If a person killed themselves in those times their loved ones would not be seen as victims of the suicide, but would often try to cover up the suicide and pay people off who saw the body. This is important to the play when the gravediggers are discussing if Ophelia’s burial should be acquiesced. Comparing the way the gravediggers talk about Ophelia’s controversial death and the way people talk about suicide today, you can see many differences, but at the same time not much has changed. Suicide awareness is a massive issue today and has an immense about of attention which differs from Shakespearian times. Still the mindset of suicide being a wrong and selfish act is very apparent. When Hamlet first speaks of suicide, it is not to be taken seriously. He makes his claims in a rampage making it seem like his remarks were made just out of anger. It takes time for his character to develop in front of the reader to realize when he talks of suicide he is seriously taking it into consideration. He relates to why other people might kill themselves. When he is calm and collected he still speaks of his desires to end it all. He comes to the conclusion that he would rather suffer through life to contain his place in heaven. Ophelia on the other

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