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The theme of death in Hamlet by Shakespeare
Examine the significance of hamlet soliloques
Death of hamlet
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What happens after somebody dies? Do their legacies live on or does it dissipate? Do they go to heaven or to hell? In Hamlet, by Shakespeare the Title character delves into these questions in the tragedy. In the play, Hamlet explores multiple questions for what happens after death. According to Hamlet, heaven, hell, and purgatory do exist and is dependent on what one does in the real life, but what one does on the earth does not affect their legacy.
Before the ghost comes and tells him that Claudius has killed him and that he is stuck in purgatory Hamlet is depressed about his fathers death. After a ceremony celebrating Claudius and Gertrude, the new king and queen of Denmark, Hamlet is alone and speaks his first soliloquy. In addition, at this point in the play it is known that Hamlet is not acting and is sincere. In his first monologue he says, “O that this sullied flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew”(Act 1 scene 2 line 129-130). Here he is suicidal because his father is dead, his uncle has taken over the crown, and his mother has abandoned him. To respond to this Hamlet would like to “resolve … into a dew” or kill himself. Soon after Hamlet mentions, “Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His cannon ‘gainst self-slaughter”(Act 1 scene 2 line 131-132). Hamlet does not know for a fact if the afterlife exists, until after the ghost of his father appears, but he believes that the act of killing himself will cause him to go to hell.
More than halfway through the play, after the play “Mousetrap”, Hamlet’s plan to see if Claudius killed his father has worked. After Claudius stops the play he retreats to his chapel. While on his way to talk to his mother Hamlet sees him in the Chapel praying. Hamlet considers k...
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...d it is the living that has to suffer the most. So death, as long as it is not suicide, is not that bad to Hamlet. Throughout the play he seems to not care, as seen by him killing Polonius and toying with the body. However, he has a definitive view that his actions affected if he would go to heaven or hell and would not affect what would happen after death. Hamlet seems to believe this philosophy until the end when he utters his last words, “The rest is silence” (Act 5 scene 2 line 341). Hamlets last words are a powerful irony. First he supporting his previous claim that legacy dies once one has reached the afterlife. It also hints that he has avenged his father and he will “rest in silence” and he will as well. It is also ironic because the entire play Hamlet talks and talks, but all that talking leads to a silent rest, similar to Yorick and Alexander the Great.
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
In the beginning of the play, Hamlet's father comes to him as a ghost from the grave. He tells Hamlet of his uncle's betrayal of him and tells Hamlet that he must kill Claudius to set things right. Through this event, Hamlet...
From past experiences in ones life, whether it be the death of a long aged gold fish to a deceased elder, one knows the pain and suffering that goes on afterwards. For one to finally move on and continue life without a tear in their eyes may take a while, yet having that immense step means to put the emotions aside and live life. Hamlet's father was murdered, and he soon sees his mother move on so quickly and marries his uncle, to continue being the queen. Hamlet's love for his father does not fade away within a two month span like his mother; he refuses to accept the fact that his father was killed, instead of a natural death. Because of this, Hamlet does not know what to do with his life. He mentions "O, that this too too sallied flesh would melt,/ Or that the Everlasting had not fixed/ His canon `against self-slaughter" (129-132). Immediately does Hamlet questions the existence of his own life, as he feels the need to melt and disappear, ultimately referring to suicide. The problem we face...
...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.
In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet struggles with the abrupt death of his father at the hands of his uncle. It is in the very beginning of the play that Hamlet voices his opinion that death would be a peaceful release. But as the play progresses his attitude begins to slowly doubt the serenity in death. Hamlet had been surrounded by death but had yet to come face to face with it, escaping the lessons the world was trying to teach him. It is within Act 5 scene 1 that Hamlet has a direct confrontation with death, manifested primarily through the discovery of Yorick’s skull, a dear friend from his green world childhood. It is through this experience that Hamlet realizes that death is the true equalizer, that all men are the same in death, stripped of all power and position, and that he too will crumble into dust.
“The very conveyances of his lands will scarcely lie in this box, and must th’ inheritor himself have no more, ha?” Hamlet’s realization in 5.1.88 is one of great weight and resulted in more deep thought on the concept of death. Throughout Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” the subject is deeply considered and consistent breakthroughs and new realizations are revealed through Hamlet’s character. The primary evolution of Hamlet’s understanding stands with the coping, dealing with the finality of death, conflicts with morality and revenge in its intimate relationship with death as it applies to Hamlet.
...lationship with Hamlet, seemingly takes her life without any hesitation attributable to her religion. The corrupt minds and actions of the royal family ultimately resulted in their own self-destruction and destruction of Denmark as a whole. Shakespeare creates this indirect suicide as a way to rid everyone of his or her vulnerabilities. He leaves it to the afterlife to distinguish between the good and the evil (Stockton). For all of them, death decides their fate. They leave behind their titles and their treasure and become equal. Coincidentally the characters are all Christian, all believing that suicide is a sin and though indirectly, it is their actions that lead to their demise, which creates speculation around what may happen to them in the afterlife. Shakespeare uses suicide as a way to explore each character and depict their commitment to their religion.
The first scene of Hamlet has Bernardo, Marcellus, and Horatio, trying to exchange words with the apparition of King Hamlet. Placing an apparition in the play immediately suggests that those who die continue on to some sort of afterlife and even have the privilege of returning to the materialistic world as a spirit. This represents the spiritual and blissful view of death. This view is continually portrayed when Claudius laments the death of his brother
“Our sense of self, our sense of humor, our ability to think ahead — gone within the first 10 to 20 seconds” (Shaw, 2017). The afterlife has been questioned so much, especially throughout the thoughts of religion. “Theories abound from logical to irrational, yet there is no concrete evidence about the afterlife.” (Shaw, 2017). The idea of their being an afterlife maybe hard to grasp because it is based on having faith. Due to this, hoping there is a heavenly estate after death is not wrong but there is no significant evidence to supports this idea. Therefore, what waits after death maybe neither heaven nor hell due to the varies influential factors that can contribute to the idea of the afterlife.
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.
The main character, Hamlet, is a character that is not true to others, nor to himself. When the Ghost of his father tells him he was murdered by Claudius, Hamlet doubts the truth. He does not trust the ghost of his father, so has to find a way to prove it. Deciding on how to prove or disprove the Ghost, Hamlet predicts: “The play’s the thing / Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King” (2.2, 616-17). Because he distrusts the Ghost, Hamlet is not true to his father. However, when his plan proves to him that the Ghost’s words are true, Hamlet still does not act; he still cannot avenge his father’s murder. Hamlet decides not to kill Claudius, using the fact that he is praying as an excuse. Hamlet does not want Claudius’s soul to go to heaven, therefore he decides not to kill him, explaining: “A villain kills my father, and for that, I, his sole son, do the same villain send to heaven” (3.3, 76-78). However, after trying to pray, the King claims that his prayers were not heard: “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. / Words without thoughts never to heaven go” (3.3, 97-8). Therefore, had Hamlet chosen to kill Claudius at that time, his soul would have gone to Hell. Hamlet uses God as an excuse for not acting. He is not true and is lying to himself, because he wants to kill Claudius, yet does not.
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.
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...
Shakespeare shows the ideology of death internalizing within Hamlet first with Hamlet’s emotions following the death of Old Hamlet. In the scene in which Hamlet is introduced, Hamlet is portrayed as an embodiment of death, dressed in “suits of a solemn black”(1.2.81) and has “dejected havior of the visage”(1.2.84). Hamlet’s physical representation as death signifies his lack of desire to continue living himself, being detached and discontent with the world around him. Hamlet, in his first soliloquy, opens by stating, “Sullied flesh would melt/Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,/ Or that the Everlasting had not fixed/His canon ‘gainst Self Slaughter!”(1.2.133-135). This is significant, as it shows Hamlet’s full willingness to commit suicide and end Hamlet’s internal pain, if not for suicide being a sin under religion. The reason for Hamlet’s desire for death and his dis...
Death is a controversial topic that most people in society tend to avoid. Death is often difficult to talk about regarding people. People often tend to lean towards having insight and control on everything in this world. Death is one thing that people cannot have control over or do not completely understand. Death often results in sadness for friends and love ones who wont see that person anymore. Death in a sense is unclear to individuals sense there is no scientific proof to understand what happens when a person dies. There are various beliefs of what happens when a person dies, according to different cultures. Some have a stance as seeing death as termination from existence. Others have a stance on death as leaving one world and having a portal to another life. In a sense comparing these to beliefs death is either real or not real. Philosophically death would be examined through human reasoning. Personally, I believe that when you die physically your spirit man goes to either Heaven or Hell, depending on belief in Jesus. My stance is based on the Christian stance on how you will spend eternity in one place or another. Even though there is no evidence of what happens when you die, when you die you either go to heaven or hell because the Bible and Christian faith have a firm belief in this doctrine. An individual also has a spirit that is eternal.