Fashionable. Inaudible. Addiction. Disheartened. Eventful. These words all have one thing in common, besides each being part of our daily vernacular. They come from the same source. William Shakespeare is credited with inventing over 1700 of the words currently in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. His heralded wordplay and command of language spawned a myriad of famous sonnets and plays, none more famous than his magnus opus, Hamlet. This play follows the tribulations of the titular hero, Prince Hamlet of Elsinore, as he plots revenge against his Uncle for the murder of his father, the King. In this piece, Shakespeare weaves an intriguing drama propelled by strong diction and compelling character development to advance deep themes such as mortality. …show more content…
Hamlet berates them for their flippant attitude towards death: “That skull had a tongue in it, and could sing once: / how the knave jowls it to the ground, as if it were / Cain’s jaw bone, that did the first murder! / … / this ass / now o’er-reaches; one that would circumvent God, / might it not?” (MLA HERE). In Hamlet’s comments, Shakespeare deftly incorporates a biblical allusion to Cain to show the contempt with which the gravedigger handles the skull. This indicates the worker has little respect for death. Shakespeare uses Hamlet’s reaction here to bring up the theme of mortality. He pens Hamlet to say that the gravedigger is “circumventing God” with his actions. This illustrates Hamlet’s internal progression to a humanist perception of death. Hamlet evolves as a character here, with his perspective on mortality changing. At the play’s start, he views mortality as a triviality, but by this point he sees it as an important concept that demands reverence. Hamlet continues to speculate as to the identity of the disrespected dead, saying, “a courtier / … / This might / be my lord such-a-one, that praised my lord” (MLA). Hamlet says the skull could be that of a courtier, similar to the ones that greet him everyday. This statement establishes a personal, emotional tie between Hamlet and the concept of mortality. Shakespeare employs pathos in Hamlet’s dialogue …show more content…
Did these bones cost no more the breeding, / but to play at loggats with 'em? Mine ache to think on't” (MLA). Shakespeare uses the personification of “Lady Worm” to reference the idea that everyone ends up in the same place, buried in the earth and being decomposed by worms. Hamlet shows progression in his view of mortality by his response to the idea of Lady Worm. He is uncomfortable thinking about the nihilistic subject. This shows great mental development from Hamlet’s earlier stages in the play, when he was suicidal and put little interest or value on life. Shakespeare pens the gravedigger’s response to Hamlet’s musings in a way that reflects the common sentiments of his time. The humanist influences on the way that Hamlet perceives death are lost on the worker, who continues to go about his duties: “A pick-axe, and a spade, a spade, / For and a shrouding sheet: / O, a pit of clay for to be made / For such a guest is meet” (MLA). Shakespeare conveys the gravedigger’s lack of interest in the discussion by making him casually sing a song about burial in
It could be perhaps argued that Hamlet's state of mind which has become debased, but this is until Horatio claims, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark (I, IV, 90)." The notion of festering carrion being a metaphor for King Hamlets death epitomizes this notion. The ghost furthers this idea by stating at the moment of his death, his skin became "Most lazar-like with vile and loathsome crust all my smooth body (I, V, 72)." This attempts the elucidate on the feeling of death almost like becoming like a leper before death finally takes its toll.
From the appearance of the Ghost at the start of the play to its bloody conclusion, Hamlet is pervaded with the notion of death. What better site for a comic interlude than a graveyard? However, this scene is not merely a bit of comic relief. Hamlet's encounter with the gravedigger serves as a forum for Shakespeare to elaborate on the nature of death and as a turning point in Hamlet's character. The structure and changing mood of the encounter serve to move Hamlet and the audience closer to the realization that death is inevitable and universal.
One of the first things which a reader learns about Hamlet is that he uses words with startling agility. He plays on words that sound alike, or nearly alike:
The court of Denmark is full of hungry ears, listening for news of the king’s death, how he died, scandalous gossip of the newly wedded Claudius and Gertrude, eavesdropping on conversations, catching whispered secrets, and sometimes lies. Such open ears in the court offer easy access for words, truthful or not, to slither into the mind and sake seed inside unsuspecting listeners. In fact, spoken words in Hamlet are apt to find their way into unguarded ears and have great effects upon characters in the play. Shakespeare uses prominent imagery of ears to illustrate words’ powerful influence on the actions and emotions of a person.
In Hamlet, William Shakespeare presents the main character Hamlet as a man who is fixated on death. Shakespeare uses this obsession to explore both Hamlet's desire for revenge and his need for assurance. In the process, Shakespeare directs Hamlet to reflect on basic principles such as justice and truth by offering many examples of Hamlet's compulsive behavior; as thoughts of death are never far from his mind. It is apparent that Hamlet is haunted by his father's death. When Hamlet encounters the ghost of his father, their conversation raises all kinds of unthinkable questions, for example murder by a brother, unfaithful mother, that triggers Hamlet's obsession. He feels compelled to determine the reliability of the ghost's statements so that he can determine how he must act. Ultimately, it is his obsession with death that leads to Hamlet avenging the death of his father by killing Claudius.
In order to “catch the conscience of the king” (2.2.584) he devises a play paralleling the events he believed led up to his father’s death. His indecisiveness is the factor that inhibits him acting, therefore finding out that his Uncle is truly guilty, he is able to justify his exploit. This critical point of recognition is what calls Hamlet to action, and prior to his death, can find peace in the knowledge that it truly was the “murderous, damnèd Dane” (5.2.326) who killed his father. Another instance of recognition Hamlet has is in the gravedigger scene, where he meditates on the fact that all humans are mortal and comes to the realization that he too, will eventually be the “quintessence of dust” (2.2.304). This self-knowledge prior to his death has caused him to understand that there is a “special providence in the fall of a sparrow” (5.2.207-208), meaning every death has a purpose coming from the heavens, and his purpose is to restore order to the realm.
It also brought Hamlet to reality with Ophelia’s death, as he resumes discussions with Yoricks skull, he jokingly says “Now get you to my lady’s chamber and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come. Make her laugh at that.” (170) revealing how one wastes so much time putting make up on their face, to mask over the inevitable aging process; and how ones fate lies within the very ground we stand on at this moment, no matter how great one is. To further his terms with the death of Ophelia, he is shown the spot Ophelia will be buried in, a few plots away. Showing that her death, is and will be treated just as everyone else will. While the gravedigger tells hamlet much earlier in the play “"not for ever with they vailed lids/ Seek for thy noble father in the dust" (1.2.70-71) and reminded that "your father lost a father” in other words there is no time to mourn the dead, as death is much like a chain, and putting quite bluntly he expresses its best to really just move on. Shakespeare reveals this as a turning point for Hamlet, as he realizes the commonness of death, and the value of life itself, and begins to ponder about his own mortality and destined fate. While quite a morbid outlook on the matter, it does reveal truth to Hamlet, and forces Hamlet to take a more humorous toll on the matter
When buried six feet down, without a coffin, an unembalmed corpse normally takes eight to twelve years to decompose to a skeleton. On that note “There is something rotten in the state of Denmark” (I.iv.90). Within Hamlet, Shakespeare makes a number of references to Denmark’s forever fading state due to the insane amount of rot and decay taking place. Hamlet is a play about a hurting son trying to seek revenge on his father’s death, but unlike many others he has difficultly taking action. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet the motif of rot and decay is revealed when Hamlet talks about maggots on a lifeless dog (II.ii.185), when Hamlet states worms are the emperor of all diets (IV.iii.26), and when he holds a skull of a deceased person and talks about who it could be. (V.i.74).
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragic play about murder, betrayal, revenge, madness, and moral corruption. It touches upon philosophical ideas such as existentialism and relativism. Prince Hamlet frequently questions the meaning of life and the degrading of morals as he agonizes over his father’s murder, his mother’s incestuous infidelity, and what he should or shouldn’t do about it. At first, he is just depressed; still mourning the loss of his father as his mother marries his uncle. After he learns about the treachery of his uncle and the adultery of his mother, his already negative countenance declines further. He struggles with the task of killing Claudius, feeling burdened about having been asked to find a solution to a situation that was forced upon him.Death is something he struggles with as an abstract idea and as relative to himself. He is able to reconcile with the idea of death and reality eventually.
Death threads its way through the entirety of Hamlet, from the opening scene’s confrontation with a dead man’s ghost to the blood bath of the final scene, which occurs as a result of the disruption of the natural order of Denmark. Hamlet is a man with suicidal tendencies which goes against his Christian beliefs as he is focused on the past rather than the future, which causes him to fall into the trap of inaction on his path of revenge. Hamlet’s moral dilemma stems from the ghost’s appearance as “a spirit of health or a goblin damned”, making Hamlet decide whether it brings with...
After a death, we find ways to overcome grief in this painful world. Some people binge eat their way out while others find the easy way out, which is suicide. In the play Hamlet, Shakespeare portrays mortality in the image of death and suicide. Shakespeare develops Hamlet as a man who is sensitive and uncontrolled by his actions. Hamlet faces challenges that mess with his subconscious, making him feel vulnerable to making decisions that will affect his life.
In his tragedy Hamlet, William Shakespeare explores and analyzes the concept of mortality and the inevitability of death through the development of Hamlet’s understanding and ideology regarding the purpose for living. Through Hamlet’s obsessive fascination in understanding the purpose for living and whether death is the answer, Shakespeare analyzes and interprets the meaning of different elements of mortality and death: The pain death causes to others, the fading of evidence of existence through death, and the reason for living. While due to the inevitable and unsolvable mystery of the uncertainty of death, as no being will ever empirically experience death and be able to tell the tale, Shakespeare offers an answer to the reason for living through an analysis of Hamlet’s development in understanding death.
One soon realizes that this later turns into anger and spite. This is seen by how Hamlet became extremely mournful after the loss of his father and goes on to say that “Tis not alone my inky cloak good mother. But I have that within which passes show, these but the trappings and suits of woe” [I, ii, 90]. He has a dark emotion trapped in his being that he expresses through his apparel. Hamlet is feeling a deep depression due to his father’s death, but it is not until he speaks with the ghost of his father that his emotions escalate. King Hamlet’s ghost goes on to say that “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown” [I, v, 47]. This making Hamlet’s heart clench, he allows his emotions to escalate even further causing a sense of hopelessness in the world around him. Due to Claudius’ ambitious killing of the King, Hamlet feels the loss rather deeply but is now faced with a new emotion. He feels anger and resentment towards the smiling, damned villain and now has to decide whether it is just to avenge his father’s
Hamlet is one of the most often-performed and studied plays in the English language. The story might have been merely a melodramatic play about murder and revenge, butWilliam Shakespeare imbued his drama with a sensitivity and reflectivity that still fascinates audiences four hundred years after it was first performed. Hamlet is no ordinary young man, raging at the death of his father and the hasty marriage of his mother and his uncle. Hamlet is cursed with an introspective nature; he cannot decide whether to turn his anger outward or in on himself. The audience sees a young man who would be happiest back at his university, contemplating remote philosophical matters of life and death. Instead, Hamlet is forced to engage death on a visceral level, as an unwelcome and unfathomable figure in his life. He cannot ignore thoughts of death, nor can he grieve and get on with his life, as most people do. He is a melancholy man, and he can see only darkness in his future—if, indeed, he is to have a future at all. Throughout the play, and particularly in his two most famous soliloquies, Hamlet struggles with the competing compulsions to avenge his father’s death or to embrace his own. Hamlet is a man caught in a moral dilemma, and his inability to reach a resolution condemns himself and nearly everyone close to him.
Next, when the two men are talking, one tells the other a riddle. This act provides comic relief in a serious situation to cut down the sternness of the play. Then, when Hamlet and Horatio show up, Hamlet is trying to figure out who they are digging the grave for. One gravedigger then bickers with Hamlet about who it is for, and makes a joke that the grave is for himself (“Hamlet”). This shows the difference in their roles in society as Hamlet and gravedigger talk to each other.