Analysis Of ' Shakespeare 's ' Hamlet '

Hamlet exhibits his insecurity toward death when he lingers on the phrase ' no traveler returns' from death. He is afraid of leaving his earthly life, showing his indecision towards what lies in the afterlife. This indecision carries over into his actions when trying to go through with Claudius' murder.  Hesitant to kill Claudius, Hamlets settles on making sure the ghost was correct in his accusation. By employing the players to dramatize the murder of King Hamlet Sr., Hamlet hides behind the façade of the play in order to accuse Claudius. By using the players as his medium for accusation, Hamlet again shows how timid he is to approach the subject of death and confront it face to face. It is seen by Claudius that Hamlet's 'madness' is a direct threat to his security, and Hamlet is shipped off to England. While traveling to his execution, Hamlet again slips out of deaths way before having to directly challenge it. Prior to Hamlet's 'kidnapping', he changes the letter to have it be his escorts execution. This is only appropriate, since Hamlet never is present to see their reaction to facing death, or is there is witness the ending of their lives. Again, Hamlet is able to allude death, by escaping the ship set sail for his execution.

Hamlet is strongly held by archetypes that can be revealed throughout the play. Death, itself, is a very strong archetype in the story exploring the social beliefs in that era; superstitions and societies loyalty to religion. Throughout the play, Hamlet experiences his main trifles over the concept of death. Reviewing the murder of his father and the task given to him to kill his uncle, Hamlet becomes fascinated with the idea of existence and afterlife.As a whole, Hamlet is primarily concerned with exploring the individual's relationship with death in which our fear of death comes from the notion that there must be something else, eliminating the fact that we can't ever know for sure if there is. This idea is explored in Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy, which questions the righteousness of life over death in moral terms. When Hamlet utters the pained question, “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” (Act 3, Scene 1 59-61) there is little doubt that he is thinking of death. Although he attempts to pose such a question in a rational and logical way, he is still left without an answer of whether the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” can be eliminated since life after death seems so uncertain. All of this mirrors aspects of human nature as man has always questioned the meaning of life and the events that occur after. Theoretically, one will never understand the full nature of our

Next, in one of the most famous soliloquies in the English language, Hamlet again contemplates the subject of suicide, but he does not do so on impulses of emotion. Instead, his contemplation is based on reason. “To be or not to be, that is the question: whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer outrageous fortune…or end them. To die, to sleep- no more- and by a sleep to say we end the heartache…’Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. For who would bear the whips and scorns of time…who would fardels bear, to grunt and sweat under a weary life, but that the dread of something after death, the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler

The afterlife plays a critical role, in key decisions made throughout the play Hamlet. This can be prominently seen in the character Hamlet, and the influence his dead father, has on him. As well as the influence that death itself holds over Hamlet, through ideas of suicide and the effect it will have over him, whether he will go to purgatory or heaven. Hamlet also suffers from a fear of the unknown, focused on by Shakespeare, through the themes of death, and what happens when we die. Through these ideas and themes found under the idea of death, Shakespeare creates a masterpiece in which death is both feared and adored, and the concept of the unknown has been ever present.

In the soliloquy “To be, or not to be: that is the question” spoken by Hamlet, he discusses his views on death (III.i.56). In this scene he is contemplating his thoughts on suicide, death, life, and the afterlife as he awaits his meeting with Claudius. He reflects on whether the afterlife will have the same problems as his current life. He also shares his thoughts on death in another scene where he is a graveyard. Hamlet basically says you die and become food for the worms and then you are nothing in these lines “Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returned into dust; the dust is earth; of earth we make loam” (5.i.209-211). He gives so many details on life and death, yet he is the one causing so many of the deaths that occur within the play. If it were not for him seeking revenge for his father’s death then so many of the events that

One of the most common fears is that of death. This fear does not often stem from the process itself, but rather the question of what occurs after. Do we begin living another life? Will that life be better or worse than the one we previously led? These questions are filled with uncertainty, and the impossibility of answering them produces distress. In Hamlet, Hamlet struggles with the challenge of answering such questions himself when he laments, “To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there’s the rub / For in that sleep of death what dreams may come / When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, / Must give us pause. There’s the respect / That makes calamity of so long life” (3.1.66-70). Within Shakespeare’s tragedy, the text signifies the fear of the unknown by exploring Hamlet’s uneasy contemplation of life after death.

Now that the pressure has been lifted, Hamlet has the opportunity to ponder death, something that has demanded his attention since his father's demise. In the famous soliloquy Hamlet attempts to discard the appearance of death to dissect the survival instinct of human beings. Why, when death appears to be the desired escape from "a sea of troubles," do human beings refuse to succumb? (III.1 ln 59) Hamlet quickly grasps the inherent fear of the unknown present in the human psyche. This display of insightquickly disappears once Hamlet again faces emotional pressure. He somewhat maintains his ability to separate reality and appearance, but his intense passions stunt his efforts to remain on a direct course to his goals.

Throughout Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the theme of death is thoroughly expressed through symbolism. Death, a primary element in Hamlet, taunts and dances around the characters preceding the death of Hamlet’s father. The symbols representing death become increasingly more prominent as the play progresses, they appear in both ironic and bold forms. The enigma that death poses drives key points in the plot of the play. Collectively, the symbols of death in Hamlet provoke and foreshadow this essential tragic theme.

It is clear that the death of his father and his mother 's remarriage has taken an enormous mental toll on him and that he desires death to free himself of the burden laid upon him by the ghost. He romanticizes it, saying that suicide is the brave and courageous option akin to “[taking] arms” against troubles. However, he can’t commit to the idea of death, saying “To sleep, perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub / For in that sleep of death what dreams may come” (III, i, 66-67). He craves death, which would allow him to escape all the “natural shock / that flesh is heir to” (III, i, 63-64) but the more he ponders it, the further he is from reaching a decision. Ironically, the argument within his mind about how he should free himself of the ghostly burden — murder, or death — is impeding him from carrying out any action on it. At the end of his most famous soliloquy, Hamlet hasn’t made any decisive choice and therefore is in limbo regarding death due to his overarching rationale. His inaction proves “[his] endless reasoning and hesitation and the way in which the energy of his resolutions evaporates in self-reproaches” (Morgan 259). Moreover, Hamlet tackles the decision of interpreting what is real and what is false when he questions the ghost’s true nature. At first, Hamlet is certain

Hamlet is aware of the mystery which death entails, and wonders what becomes of everyone after leaving behind current life. “The undiscovered country from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of?” The dread of the afterlife compels individuals to withstand the struggle of life rather than purposely venture to a place that no one knows anything about. The way Hamlet analyzes the various consequences of life and death offer great intel into his character. From this soliloquy, Hamlet is able to be seen in a different

Hamlet says, “[death is] the undiscovered country, from whose bourn no traveller returns” (III, I, 79-80). Hamlet saying no one returns from death is what adds to the elusiveness of it, Fundamentally, Hamlet is saying that nobody avidly takes their own life because nobody knows what comes after death, since nobody has ever returned. Also, since nobody is informed on the experience of the after life, it allows people to make assumptions that it must be terrible since people choose to live through all the pain and suffering they face. These factors combined create a large unknown that is unnerving to Hamlet and make him believe that that is why people continue to live. Suicide may just be too risky of an action and especially for those like Hamlet, who are meticulous and rational, the risk just might not be worth it.

In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the protagonist, Hamlet is obsessed with the idea of death, and during the course of the play he contemplates death from numerous perspectives. He ponders the physical aspects of death, as seen with Yoricks's skull, his father's ghost, as well as the dead bodies in the cemetery. Hamlet also contemplates the spiritual aspects of the afterlife with his various soliloquies. Emotionally Hamlet is attached to death with the passing of his father and his lover Ophelia. Death surrounds Hamlet, and forces him to consider death from various points of view.

The question of what is the purpose of life, leads to the thoughts towards death. Everyone has an understanding that life will eventually come to an end. One just never knows when that time can be. Yet, this knowledge makes us want to cherish every day of living. Cohen puts it so smoothly as he states, “Death is the shadow that gives shape to existence, urgency to love, brilliance to life.” Humanity often looks at death as a negative thing, but the very existence of it urges people to want to live a more full life. However, in Shakespeare's works the role of death is very apparent. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet Acts 4-5, the theme of death is shown through looking at countries in war, death being an equalizer, and Hamlet becoming less affected by the very idea of it.

Through this delivery, the audience hears a lot about his thoughts regarding life and death. Hamlet seems to think that dying ends all the suffering and heartache of living. Hamlet says, “To die, to sleep-- / No more--and by a sleep to say we end / The heartache” (Shakespeare III, i, 68-70). To him, death is freedom.

Death is a natural ending of one’s life journey. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, this theme is explored throughout the story, where the main character is a deeply troubled one and where the plot draws the audience into Hamlet’s speculations on death on multiple occasions. The question of mortality and existence is one that humanity has struggled with since the dawn of civilization, possibly even before; and it is this question that Hamlet is attempting to come to terms with following the passing of his father, King Hamlet. Shakespeare, using his unique literary style and theatrical story-telling, is not necessarily providing the readers with any answers but is rather taking everyone on the journey that every human travels when asking the question, “What is Death?”