Comparing The Five Stages Of Grief And Loss In Hamlet

Grief is a painful emotion that people experience through troubling times in life, such as losing a loved one. Swiss psychiatrist, Elisabeth Kubler Ross, introduced the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, in the year of 1969. She explains that there is no correct way or time to grieve; the stages are used to familiarize people with the aspects of grief and grieving. Grief can over take someone’s life and lead to a negative downfall, such as Hamlet experiences in Hamlet, written by Williams Shakespeare. He undergoes a variety of barriers throughout the novel, such as his father is murdered, which leads to his downfall-death. Although Hamlet grieves, the denial stage is not present in the novel as it

Since the start of time, and the preceding generations, death has impacted people and the way they act. A sudden, or even an expected death of a loved one, takes a toll on a person. It’s human nature for people to process and want to make sense of death and the loss it leaves behind. The five stages of grief reflect this process of dealing with the loss of a loved one. Through these stage of grieving, people can get lost either searching for answers or trying to get past it. In Hamlet, William Shakespeare depicts the role human nature plays in the striving for answers and justice surrounding death. Even though Hamlet was written early in the seventeenth century, the depiction of death and human nature still rings true today; people and

Dearest friends, family and the people of Denmark. We gather here today to mourn the loss of the noble prince, loyal son and true friend, Prince Hamlet. But we are not here only to mourn, but to reminisce the times we have spent with him, both the good and the bad and to remember him as the person he was. Prince Hamlet did not live a very fortunate, on the contrary his final weeks were filled with a tragedy none of us should have to bear, but he lived his life to the full and I am sure that he has, in some way touched the lives of all of us here today.

Simba and Hamlet, the main protagonists of The Lion King and Hamlet, can represent both the exiled child and tragic hero archetypes. In The Lion King Simba was compelled to leave his homeland because he was led to believe he had killed his own father. In Hamlet, Hamlet was forced to leave by his uncle’s order. Likewise in The Lion King Simba’s leave was also influenced by his uncle’s action. Unlike Simba’s unawareness of his uncle’s role in his father’s death, Hamlet is fully aware of his father’s killer being his uncle. As of the beginning of Hamlet, he meets his father’s ghost who asks Hamlet for vengeance, as the ghost leaves he says “Adieu adieu Hamlet remember me”. This scene can be compared to when Simba also meets his father’s ghost, who says to Simba as he leaves “Remember who you are”. Simba’s father appears more concerned about Simba’s state of mind and convinces him to return to The Pride Lands, whereas Hamlet’s father shows little concern for Hamlet and wants to be remembered and avenged. Hamlet is older and spends less time than Simba in exile whereas Simba spends a few years exiled without a care, which is shown in the song Hakuna Matata. After his father’s influence, Simba returns. Upon both of their returns, a fight occurs. Hamlet kills his uncle and is also killed himself whereas in The Lion King Simba doesn’t actually kill scar but says to him “Run away Scar...Run. Run away and never return.” however Scar pounces on Simba and their duel begins, in the end, Simba throws Scar off a cliff leaving him to the hyenas. Hamlet and Simba both represent the exiled child and tragic by being forced to leave their homeland and to kill, fight their own uncles to save their homeland. The Lion King’s ending was altered to have almost no death to make the film

Theorists like Lindemann claim that there are five phases that are normal to go through in grieving: somatic disturbance, preoccupation with the deceased, guilt, hostility or anger, and difficulty with everyday tasks. Kubler-Ross identified the commonly recognized and accepted stages of grief

When we first meet Hamlet, he is dressed all in black and conveys all the “moods, forms and shapes of grief”. This depression is caused by his father’s recent death. Gertrude, his mother and

It is not an uncommon occurrence for a person to attend a funeral in their lifetime. They will experience the heavy feeling in their heart, hear the moaning and crying, and observe all the grief-stricken people, wiping tear-stained cheeks and wearing depressing, dark colors. Each person in this scene is attempting to comprehend what they have lost. Loss, whether physical or mental, can dismantle a person. The bonds and connections that people forge with each other defines their existence and gives them the drive to continue living, but when these bonds are broken the brain cannot cope with the detachment. A person is particularly vulnerable in this state and will do anything to replace the gaping hole that lingers in their life. In the novel The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski and the Shakespearean play Hamlet, two women are put through various kinds of loss. While these women--Trudy and Gertrude--appear weak, they willingly accept the enchantments of Claude and Claudius only after enduring hardships which skew their judgments, revealing the effect of trauma and depression when a relationship is lost.

Hamlet and Simba both have deceased fathers and once the two are informed that their

Hamlet, a Shakespearean character, constantly struggles in a battle with his mind. He leads a very trying life that becomes too much for him to handle. Hamlet experiences hardships so horrible and they affect him so greatly that he is unable escape his dispirited mood. In speaking what he feels, Hamlet reveals his many symptoms of depression, a psychological disorder. While others can move on with life, Hamlet remains in the past. People do not understand his behavior and some just assume he is insane. However, Hamlet is not insane. He only pretends to be mad. Because Hamlet never receives treatment for his disorder, it only gets worse and eventually contributes to his death.

Hamlet begins play by breaking bonds with his family. The death of his father, the former king of Denmark, leaves Hamlet in a state of depression. During Gertrude’s, Hamlet’s mother, and Claudius's, the new king and Hamlet’s paternal uncle, wedding ceremony, Hamlet is the only one wearing “nighted colour” (1.2.68), which are clothes for mourning. He isolates himself from the joys of everyone and instead chooses to wallow in his own dark world, with his initial grief for his father being the catalyst for his descent into isolation. Hamlet begin to have hopes to commit “self-slaughter” (1.2.132) as he is frustrated with his life in its current state. Hamlet is rejecting his family as it is, instead lamenting on his father, to the point where he contemplates suicide. By isolating himself from the land of the living, Hamlet believes he does not have a purpose anymore. When his mother comments on Hamlet seeming sad during the ceremony, Hamlet replies that he “know not ‘seems’” (1.2.76), commenting on his mother’s use of the seem and saying that his depression is not an act, but genuine. His mother notices that “His father’s death and our o’er-hasty marriage” (2.2.57) could be the cause of his emerging familial isolation and regrets to not have been able to do anything to help her son. Having seemingly lost his purpose in life, Hamlet begins his isolation by removing himself from his family.

"’Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, / nor customary suits of solemn black / [ . . . ] but I have that within which passeth show; / these but the trappings and the suits of woe” (Shakespeare 1.2.76-73, 85-86) says Hamlet when confronted about his way of grieving over his father’s recent death. Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is a remarkable tale that is centered on the idea of death and grief. While death is a universal occurrence, meaning every person will deal with it, how we grieve after a loss is completely individual. To look at a formula of grief, most turn to the five stages of grief developed by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, a psychiatrist, who studied the topic in her book On Death and Dying. This model consists of denial, anger,

Hamlet is explaining his grief and his anger towards both his family and his father's passing. He is not happy with all the events that occurred after his father's passing. His mother, Gertrude, marrying his uncle, Claudius. He does not express his anger towards his uncle but explains that the people surrounding him are false of their being. We do not only see the betrayal from Hamlet’s family but we also see it from his close friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Hamlet is called many things including crazy, or mad, however one thing rarely looked at is his current situation. Just two months ago, King Hamlet was killed. Hamlet looked up to his father more than he looked up to anyone else. His mother is now remarrying her husband's brother, Hamlet's uncle, and ignores the dangerous relationship growing between her son and new husband. Hamlet is not crazy, instead he is grieving the loss of the man he loves more than anyone else, and during this time is left isolated and alone.

On the other hand, in Disney's The Lion King, Simba's father is killed after he falls from a cliff into a herd of antelope. Simba falls into a deep depression after Scar twists things around and convinces Simba that he is the one responsible for Mufasa's death. Simba can not deal with what has happened and Simba exiles himself where he meets a warthog and meerkat, named Timon and Pumbaa, and develops a carefree lifestyle with them. Later on in the story, as an adult, Simba returns to the Pride Lands to reclaim the throne from Scar.

In Hamlet, there is a lot of drama and madness that takes place and it seems to never end. These themes recur throughout the entire play. The play is about a young a boy named Hamlet, who is around the age of 16 or 17 and is the prince of Denmark. Hamlet’s father is the King and he adores him more than anything in the world along with his mother, the queen. He was raised mostly by his mother, Gertrude, and because of that Hamlet is close with her and would do anything to protect her life.