Hamlet's Attitude Towards Death Research Paper

1061 Words3 Pages

The Unspoken Inevitability Of Death We’re all going to die right? Then why is it that we fear death so much? In William Shakespeare’s well-known tragic play, Hamlet, the reader views Hamlet’s attitude towards death evolve. Shakespeare proves that Hamlet’s attitude towards death develops throughout the play; he starts off desiring death, then is fearful of death, and finally is confident about death. Firstly, Shakespeare proves that Hamlet’s attitude towards death changes throughout the play because he starts off desiring death. The play begins with the ghost of Hamlet’s father visiting the courtyard while Bernardo and Horatio are there (1.1) Bernardo is the first to notice the ghost, and exclaims “In the same figure, like the King that’s …show more content…

This is first seen in Act 5, when Hamlet’s impulsive attitude takes over him which results in the murder of Polonius. Hamlet stabs the carpet Polonius was hiding behind thinking it was Claudius. Hamlet feels no guilt from this action, “Thou wretched, intruding fool farewell” (3.5.33). Shakespeare included this quote to reveal Hamlet’s new impulsive attitude which causes Hamlet to feel more confident and comfortable with death. Another incident which intensifies Hamlet’s new view on death was his encounter with the gravediggers (5.1) Shakespeare reveals that Hamlet undergoes a type of epiphany when he sees the gravediggers brushing off skulls, he proclaims “Alexander died, Alexander was buried/ Alexander returned into dust, the dust is earth” (5.1.203-204). Shakespeare uses the Alexander the Great reference as a form to portray Hamlet’s new realization towards death. Once Hamlet realizes that everyone dies and everyone ends up in the same place no matter how important they were Hamlet gets a new sudden confidence towards death once he realizes this. As the play comes to an end Shakespeare reveals Hamlet’s matured, confident view on death. Shakespeare shows this through Hamlet’s conversation with Horatio. It is clear when Hamlet says, “If it be now, ’tis not to come, if it be not to come, it will be now/ If it be not now, yet it will come/ The readiness is all” (5.2.511-513). Here, Hamlet finds a new acceptance for death and it’s uncertainty, due to the fact that death is inevitable. After all the events Hamlet has undergone he is so familiar with death that by now, it no longer scares him. He was come to terms with the thought. By the end of the play, Hamlet’s whole perspective of death has evolved immensely from the beginning of the

Show More
Related

  • Death, Decay and Disease in Hamlet

    655 Words  | 2 Pages

    Death, Decay and Disease in Hamlet   Within ‘Hamlet’, Shakespeare makes a number of references to Denmark's degraded state due to the deceit that lies within. These references are made by Hamlet, Horatio as well as the apparition, thus enforcing the strong theme of death, decay and disease.  As aforementioned, Hamlets makes a number of references to Denmark. Preceding the death of his father and the marriage of his mother, his mental state begins to fall into demise. Although he appears to not have much courage at first, his focus remains on avenging his father, whose murder is described as being "most foul." As noted in one of  Hamlet's first soliloquies, his downward spiral has already begun and already he is  contemplating suicide; "O that this too too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew (I, II, 130)" and "seems to me all the uses of this world.

    Read More

  • Life And Death In Brave New World Essay

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the beginning of the play Hamlet's view of death is mournful but, as the play continues he begins to think of death as this incredibly terrifying concept, this is clear when he states “To die,to sleep-- to sleep, perchance to dream […] But that the dread of something after death, The undiscovered country of whose bourn” (Shakespeare III i

    Read More

  • Hamlet Literary Analysis - Stages of Grief

    1300 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...r. Hamlet speaks to Horatio quietly, almost serenely, with the unexultant calm which characterizes the end of the long, inner struggle of grief. He has looked at the face of death in his father’s ghost, he has now endured death and loss in all the human beings he has loved, and he now accepts those losses as an inevitable part of his own condition. “He states, “The readiness is all” suggesting what is perhaps the last and most difficult task of mourning, his own readiness to die” (Bloom 135). Hamlet recognizes and accepts his own death.

    Read More

  • Preoccupation Of Death In Hamlet Analysis

    1120 Words  | 3 Pages

    As mentioned frequently throughout the play, Claudius assassinates Old Hamlet with the coward’s weapon of poison for both political and envious reasons. As such, Old Hamlet appears in the form of a ghostly spirit to inform his son that the only way for him to have a sorrowless and restored soul is if Hamlet were to murder the newly reigning king in the name of justful retaliation: “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder… but know, thou noble youth,/the serpent that did sting thy father’s life/now wears his crown. (1.5.25,38-40) Relevant to this comment, Old Hamlet portrays the ramification of his death as “unnatural”, insinuating that the action was heinous. Furthermore, Old Hamlet goes on to describe Claudius as an “Incestuous, adulterous animal. With his clever/with witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts/o wicked wit and gifts, that have the power/so to seduce!” (1.5.42-45) Evidently, the ghost has a sheer hatred towards Claudius for his foolish wrongdoings. Because of this, the spirit asks Hamlet to murder Claudius, as doing so would mean that Claudius would have to experience the same everlasting grief and suffering. Hamlet listens to his father, and later fulfills this mission towards the end of the play. Consequently, this is why there is a preoccupation with death throughout Hamlet, as the actions demonstrated by Claudius

    Read More

  • Analysis of the Tone of the To Be or Not to Be Soliloquy in Hamlet

    644 Words  | 2 Pages

    To begin with, Hamlet starts off his speech asking, “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer/ The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune/ Or to take arms against a sea of troubles/ And by opposing end them” (Shakespeare 3.1.57-60). He wonders if he would be more noble if he took his own life and end his sorrows than if he continued to endure him. This question shows the pain and grief that Hamlet has experienced since the death of his father. According to Ophelia, later in Act 3 Scene 1, she reveals that Hamlet was once the obvious successor to the throne since he was charismatic and admired by the people. Clearly, in this part of the play, he is suicidal, and he is uncertain about many of the big decisions in his life. This extreme change in Hamlet’s behaviors makes the audience worry about Hamlet’s mental health. Is his feigned madness transforming into true insanity? However, his comparison to death and sleep suggests that Hamlet is in a state of reflection and learning. Hamlet’s analogy between death and sleep is the musings of an ordinary man who wonders what happens to a soul once its body dies. Just as no one knows what dreams they will experience when they lay in bed, no knows what they will experience when their body is finally laid in a grave.

    Read More

  • Mortality in "Hamlet"

    579 Words  | 2 Pages

    “So shall you hear of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts, of accidental judgements, casual slaughters, of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause”, (Hamlet, Act V, Scene 2, Lines 381-384). Horatio, best friend of Prince Hamlet, says this in the final lines of the play. He says this after Gertrude, Queen of Denmark, Hamlet, Claudius, King of Denmark, and Laertes, son of Polonius all die in the battle between Hamlet and Laertes. Hamlet, King of Denmark, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, former friends of Hamlet, Polonius, councillor to the King, and Ophelia, daughter of Polonius are also dead. Death is a very important theme in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

    Read More

  • Fear Of Life After Death In Hamlet's Soliloquy '

    579 Words  | 2 Pages

    The fear of life after death is a major obstacle for Hamlet represented in his soliloquy found in Act 3, Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Shakespeare uses Hamlet's soliloquy to clue the readers in on Hamlets emotional state by using connotations and painting images to set the tone; thus, helping to further the understanding of Hamlet's rambling thoughts, and how they contribute to his fear of life after death.

    Read More

  • Hamlets Obsession with Death

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    In act 3, Hamlet questions the unbearable pain of life and views death through the metaphor of sleep. "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 / and, by opposing end them. To die, to sleep / no more" (3.1.64-68), details which bring up new thoughts about what happens in the after life. Thus, Hamlet contemplates suicide, but his lacking knowledge about what awaits him in the afterworld causes him to question what death will bring. For example he states, "The undiscovered country, from whose bourn / no traveler returns, puzzles the will / and makes us rather bear those ills we have / than fly to others that we know not of" (3.1.87-90), again revealing his growing concern with "Truth" and his need for certainty. Once again, death appears in act 4 with the suicide of Ophelia, the demand for Hamlet's execution and the gravedigger scene. All of these situations tie back with how death is all around Hamlet and feeds his obsession with it. Finally in act 5, Hamlet meets his own death, as his obsession to know leads to the death of himself.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Life And Death In Hamlet

    1174 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Hamlet 's mind the idea of dying is not what scares him. It is the uncertainty of what the afterlife is that frightens Hamlet away from the actual act, even though he 's infatuated with how to kill himself and get to the other side. The point in the story that is really a turning point for Hamlet occurs in the graveyard scene (Act V) Before; Hamlet has been horrified and shocked. When he sees Yorick 's skull there, which is someone Hamlet loved and

    Read More

  • Social and Psychological Influences on Hamlet

    772 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamlet’s psychological influence demonstrates his dread of both death and life.  In Hamlet’s famous soliloquy, “To be or not to be” (3.1.64), he refers the “be” to life and further asks “whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” (3.1.65.66).  By this, Hamlet is asking himself the question of whether to live or die.

    Read More

  • Hamlet: The Bewildering Human Condition

    1242 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Turning Point In Hamlet

    1039 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hamlets mindset of dying isn’t so bad, its uncertainty of the afterlife that scars Hamlet away from suicide, even though he is obsessed with the notion. He is very depressed though out the play. Making it emotionally hard for him during these times with his mother marrying his uncle and not giving the time to grief and take time to find someone else thing for his mother to go straight to his father’s brother. The main turning point occurs in the graveyard Act V. When Hamlet sees someone he respected and loved names Yorkins Skull he knows there is a difference between death and between people and that part hit him very hard because though out that point in the play Hamlet looks at life differently.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Passion And Reason In Hamlet

    1020 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the whole kingdom celebrates Claudius’ wedding and subsequent coronation, Hamlet walks around in dark clothes talking about death. He is still mourning his father’s sudden death. He sees his life as holding a low value because no one else is mourning his father, his uncle took away his right to the throne, his uncle married his mother, and both Claudius and Gertrude are trying to tell him how to live his life. Hamlet contemplates suicide, but fears the afterlife that the ghost has described. He imagines death being as easy as falling asleep. The ghost, however, convinces Hamlet that it is not his own life that he should be taking, but rather Claudius’. As soon as Hamlet accepts the ghost’s words, he throws away reason and gives in to passion. It is passion that drives him to stab Polonius who is hiding behind the curtain. Passion drives him to manipulate the players to tell a story that parallels his father’s death. He passionately mourns Ophelia when he finds her grave and passionately struggles with Laertes in the final battle. Hamlet’s passion and its control over his life directly or indirectly results in the death of at least five people and destroys the kingdom of

    Read More

  • To Be or Not to Be: Hamlet

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tragic death plays a really big role in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Hamlet often considers death in many different perspectives, and definitely obsesses with the idea more so after his fathers’ death. Hamlet’s soliloquy is one of the most famous in literature, “To be or not to be, that is the question…” Hamlet’s dilemma is the pain of life that he must endure or the uncertainty of death. From the beginning of the play to the very last scene, the fascination between life and death plays a role throughout. Hamlet is troubled through the play after realizing that his uncle was the one who murdered his father and is now married to his mother. He wants to avenge Hamlet Sr. death and kill Claudius but feels that killing himself would be an easier resolution. After the death of his murdered father and appearance at his funeral, Hamlet will not leave anywhere without making the statement of his all black attire on the inside and out. The turn of events throughout the play only help the reader understand the debt of each character and their specific role to Hamlet and to the story in regards to life and death.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Mortality in Hamlet by William Shakespeare

    2189 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Hamlet's Attitude Towards Death Research Paper

Open Document