Hamlet Act 5 Scene 1

The gravediggers, following this philosophy, show Hamlet little respect when he asks who they are burying. Upon hearing the tongue-in-cheek response from the gravedigger, Hamlet is

”Thus conscience does not make cowards of us all;/ And thus the native hue of resolution/ Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought;/ And enterprises of great pith and moment,/ With this regard, their currents turn away,/ And lose the name of action.” Hamlet here combines some themes of this play: death and life, the connection between thought and action. In act five scene five, he goes into Claudius’ room to kill him. Like the last time he went to kill him, he was on his knees praying. Why send him to Heaven when he should go to Hell? His father wasn’t given a chance to repent his sins before he was murdered, so why should King Claudius? Hamlet thinks about this for a minute, and decides to wait for a more reasonable

" 'Death,' I said, 'any death but that of the pit!'...At length for my seared and

The gravedigger scene in act 5 scene 1 shows the most about how Hamlet feels about death. Hamlet refers to the skulls he finds belonging to other people and their past lives.

“There’s another. Why may not that be the/ skull of a lawyer? “ (5.1-100-101). He ponders between the physical characteristics and personalities of human life. He essentially thinks who he will be after he dies. After death, one essentially becomes nothing but dust, like the biblical saying, “from ashes to ashes, and dust to dust”. “To what base uses we may return, Horatio!” (5.1.209). Hamlet is often wondering about death, speaking about it, and thinking of the gory images of death. Thinking of it in such a matter, he appears sick. He refers to dead bodies being put in to everyday items.

In act 1 scene 2 of “Hamlet” the character Hamlet speaks his first soliloquy which reveals his innermost thoughts and feelings to the audience. In this soliloquy Hamlet’s unstable state of mind is evident as well as his feelings of despair about his father’s death and his disgust of his mother’s remarriage to his uncle Claudius. Hamlet’s hatred for his uncle is shown through harsh comparisons between Claudius and his late father. This soliloquy takes place after Claudius has begun his reign as king and has addressed the court for the first time but before Hamlet hears about the apparition that Horatio and the guards have seen. Hamlet’s character and personality are shown in this soliloquy through the use of classical imagery, diction and

In act 3 scene 1 of William Shakespeare “Hamlet” the main protagonist, Hamlet, recites a soliloquy “To be, or not to be.” Throughout his lines Hamlet explains the concept of suicide and why people choose to live long lives instead of ending their suffering. The main point he speaks on is the mystery of one’s afterlife, they never know for sure what happens when they die. For this reason, his speech does a good job highlighting the plays underlying themes of pervasiveness of death, and tragic dilemma, and tragic flaws.

“He had a bad chi or personal god, and evil fortune followed him to the grave , or rather to his death for he had no grave.”

6. “Even while he was speaking to O’Brien, when the meaning of the words had sunk in, a chilly shuddering feeling had taken possession of his body. He had the sensation of stepping into the dampness of a grave.”

In this quote, the old man explains that the extensive cemetery and various tombstones are false. Firstly, he points out that many of the tombstones that read “Here lies the body of..” have no actual body underneath because the individuals died at sea or in another country. In addition, every tombstone is engraved with the cheesy sentimental sayings that are common on gravestones which portray the people below as angelic, sacred beings. However, as the old man describes, many were far from sacred which increases the tombstone heresy. For instance, one gravestone claims that below lay the beloved son of his widowed mother when in reality, the mother and son hated each other. The old man goes on with his sermon to preach that many of these people were even fake Christians and not actual

Finally, the soliloquy creates an atmosphere of sadness, hatred and anger because Hamlet is grieving his father’s death but is also angry at his mother for marrying his uncle. He is clearly not satisfied with the world and calls it “an unweeded garden” (1.2.135) where all the evil things flourish. In addition, the atmosphere becomes very gloomy as Hamlet talks about his desire to end his life.

In the sixth soliloquy of Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, Hamlet finally begins to realize his procrastination. In this soliloquy we discover how Hamlet is purely a follower; he needs to compare himself to another person in order to realize his own flaws. This constitutes his madness as he is seemingly an intelligent man, as suggested by some of his previous soliloquies, but yet is unable to see his own wrongdoings until after it becomes too late. In his sudden realization, he confesses his procrastination and it all becomes clear that he was aware of it the whole time. It thus can be concluded that Hamlet has been fooling us, as all of his wise choices seem to come after some unusual circumstances and not solely from his intellect.

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

In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, it’s clear that the title character, Hamlet, has a relationship with death, that relationship is often misunderstood. Some see him merely as an agent of death, and others believe he retains a lust for it throughout the entire play, inspired by the tragedy he’s experienced. While these interpretations are partially true, they don’t hold true throughout the play. Hamlet has a disdain for the world which makes him desire nothing but to fade away in the beginning of the play, but he develops a respect for fate and the unknown aspects of the afterlife. This respect eventually manifests itself in an attitude of indifference towards death.

In Act III, scene I of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the thematic imagery, along with the symbolic use of syntax and diction that Shakespeare uses helps convey Hamlet’s state of mind as troubled and as having a painful view to life which, overall, is subtly expressed with weakness as he talked about death.