The Theme Of Death In Hamlet

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The theme of death is abundant throughout William Shakespeare play “Hamlet”, and even more evident in Laurence Olivier’s movie Hamlet. At the start of both the play and the movie there two soldiers Bernardo and Marcellus along with Horatio (Hamlets friend) who see a ghostly figure. In the movie this scene is portrayed as very dark, and cold, and is a similar scene throughout the movie. The next person to die is Lord Chamberlin Polonius, who was killed by Hamlet. The deaths continue with Ophelia’s (Hamlets true love) suicide. Then in a remarkable sword fight that lead to Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude and Laertes all dying from poison. William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet in a time when people were unsure about death, the afterlife and Shakespeare did …show more content…

Hamlet first shows this fear when he contemplates killing Claudius while he prayed. In this scene Claudius had just pretty much admitted to killing Hamlets father with his reaction to the “play within the play” hosted by Hamlet. The King overcome with either guilt or fear heads straight for the altar where a statue of Jesus is at the center of this altar and begins to pray. Hamlet appears behind him ready to strike him dead with his sword, decides not to kill him. Hamlet decided not revenge his father’s death and kill his Uncle because he was praying and Hamlet thought that if he killed him then, his Uncle would go to heaven and Hamlet did not want his murderous Uncle to go to …show more content…

That is the question.” This maybe a famous quote from Hamlet but it was Hamlet’s fear of death and what happens to a person’s soul if you commit suicide. In the Catholic religion, a person who commits suicide does not receive rights or allowed to be buried on holy grounds, and they are not admitted into heaven. You see this in the play at Ophelia’s burial, the priest does not given you rights or certain blessings. This again goes back to the fear the English had, what happens at the time of their death, if there are not rights or blessing how would they get into heaven.
Conclusion
My analysis of Hamlet’s fascination and fear of death has led me to think that William Shakespeare created this play for the people of England. The play was used as a podium that allowed for the concerns of the common English people to be seen and heard. It is not a coincident that Hamlet was written after the Reformation. It is not a coincident that the fears that Hamlet had of death could have been eased with Catholic traditions. Finally it is not a coincident that they all die in the end of the play, because in the end the Catholic traditions died in

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