Hamlet's Change in Philosophy

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragic play about murder, betrayal, revenge, madness, and moral corruption. It touches upon philosophical ideas such as existentialism and relativism. Prince Hamlet frequently questions the meaning of life and the degrading of morals as he agonizes over his father’s murder, his mother’s incestuous infidelity, and what he should or shouldn’t do about it. At first, he is just depressed; still mourning the loss of his father as his mother marries his uncle. After he learns about the treachery of his uncle and the adultery of his mother, his already negative countenance declines further. He struggles with the task of killing Claudius, feeling burdened about having been asked to find a solution to a situation that was

Hamlet’s determination and addiction for revenge is confirmed when he is willing to sacrifice his entrance to heaven by separating from his values and beliefs. Initially, Hamlet wishes “that this too too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!” He is contemplating suicide as a result of his father’s death and his mother’s haste in remarrying to his father’s brother, Claudius. However, Hamlet brushes off this idea as an option by saying, “Or that the Everlasting had not fixed his canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! Oh, God, God” This portrays the religious beliefs of Hamlet at the time. He wishes suicide was not a sin. However, since it is, he cannot commit it. Similarly, Hamlet also shows his beliefs and values when the Ghost shares his story and then commands Hamlet to avenge his death.

In Hamlet, Hamlet knows that he must avenge the death of his father, but he is too indecisive, too self-doubting, to carry this out until he has no choice. His failings cause his downfall, and he exhibits some of the most basic human reactions and emotions.

Religion plays a factor in Hamlet's decision to commit this action but later does not find it helpful

In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses various characters to demonstrate the concept of passion versus reason. He uses his story to show the readers that passion and reason can both exist, but it is necessary to find a balance between the two. As evident in Prince Hamlet’s life, an overabundance of passion can be harmful to oneself and to others. Throughout the play, he faces an internal battle: he must choose between rationality and sentiment. This task becomes especially hard, however, when the ghost of Hamlet’s father comes back from the grave to share the horrible story of his murder. The late King has been poisoned and replaced by his own brother, Claudius, and, driven by sorrow and agony, Prince Hamlet decides to get revenge. Hamlet’s plan is to kill Claudius. This idea seems extreme. However, it is reasonable that the Prince would act irrationally as a coping strategy. In times of loss, especially after the loss of a parent, it is normal to experience overwhelming thoughts and sometimes “emotional issues” arise (“Adult Death of a Parent).

Hamlet’s preoccupation with the afterlife will eventually lead to his own death. Hamlet makes no secret of his grief over his father’s passing and, after speaking with his ghost, his resentment of his uncle, Claudius (1.5.25). Though his focal point shifted, he

When Rip returns to the village he discovers it has changed. Rip found out when he was gone that his wife was dead. Rip's daughter, son and some villagers knew who he was and he is accepted by the others. The village also looks different from before by new builds stand in place of old ones and the Yankee hotel is where the old Dutch inn was. The people also have change to concerned citizens from phlegmatic burghers. The village has drastically changed so since this has happen Rip thinks life has passed without

In Shakespeare’s great tragedy, Hamlet loses his innocence and ignorance to the reality and finality of death by witnessing the powerlessness of the person once they have

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet’s views on death change because he is forced to adapt to the new underlying circumstances. That being the case, Hamlet experiences conflict within himself as new information that is presented to him forces him to adapt and accept the reality of those circumstances. Hamlet is forced to grow as a character in his viewpoints as death and because he had royalty status, he was protected from death as opposed to a commoner. As a result, he sees death first as an escape from his reality, then, to question which is better death or being alive, finally, he reaches the state where he finally accepts the fact that he unable to control the circumstances regarding death because it is already predetermined by God.

"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-and by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to-'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished!" (Shakespeare 53)." At this point Hamlet is questioning whether he should live or die and whether it would be better to live his life in agony or end it and in turn end the pain. He is troubled that if he were to take his own life he would end up not in purgatory but in hell because taking one’s life was considered to be an unforgiveable sin. It is unfortunate that Hamlet is in a place in his life where he thinks killing himself would perhaps be more of an option than living under the circumstances, which surround him. Hamlet decides that he does not want to risk eternal peace in heaven for peace he may find while on earth in a difficult situation.

Since no man of aught he leaves knows, what is ’t to leave betimes? Let be”. Hamlet knows that his story isn’t exactly going to have a “happily ever after”. He also knows that death is inevitable and there is no escaping it. He references the "fall of the sparrow", which is indeed comes from a scripture in the bible. Matthew 10; verse 29 avows: "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” This has been interpreted that God is the deciding factor of life or death to every single living being on this earth. He has full control of our destiny, and whether we perish now or later, he is the one who decides our fate. Hamlet knows he cannot avoid death and just accepts this datum by act

Not only this, but Hamlet makes it clear that he would willingly give up his life at that point. This reinforces the idea that the Prince considers death a release; the solution to all of his troubles. At this point, it is clear to the audience that Hamlet regards death in a positive, almost welcoming manner. In his eyes, it will restore the natural order of things to their predetermined equilibrium. One of the most famous lines of the play, and probably in all of English literature, is from Hamlet’s third soliloquy. "To be, or not to be: that is the question,” Hamlet asks himself, before launching into a full-blown internal clash over life and death. He considers suicide; it would offer him release from everything wrong in his life. However, he is finally scared of death. He doesn’t know whether God will accept him, or even what awaits him in the world beyond his own. Despite the fear of death displayed by many characters in this play, Hamlet still provides a calmly accepting, even welcoming view of death.

This monologue also reflects Hamlet’s own inner desires. He is not just questioning dead for mankind in general but for himself. His previous opinion was that killing yourself is bad because it is not permitted by god and therefore it is a sin. This idea prevented him from killing himself and joining his father. Now that he is weighed down with many problems and struggles such as his father’s death he is again thinking of if he can kill himself and then be freed of all of the troubles that are currently bothering him and making his life so difficult at the moment. By this point in time Hamlet has thrown away the idea that dying is bad because god says it is instead he starts to believe that it is much easier to just rid yourself of all of the troubles that life gives you then power through them. In Samuel West’s version of Hamlet he says “I’m sure plenty of people doubted the existence of God as much in 1600 as they did in 2001- certainly Hamlet himself, it seems to me, would do so”(West,42/43). This supports the idea that while at the beginning of the play Hamlet says the reason why he cannot kill himself is because god forbids it and now he thinks otherwise and does not consult religion at all. Hamlet is assuming that through the act of killing yourself or getting killed a person will be freed of all of their misfortunes that they have encountered during their

Following the King’s action in response to the play, Hamlet has the perfect opportunity to avenge his father’s death yet he chooses not to which is the first act of delaying his goal. King Claudius storms off into a room in the castle where he says,

Hamlet is one of the most influential and time-withstanding plays of all time. Created by William Shakespeare, Hamlet dabbles with the concepts of deceit, revenge, and death. Hamlet, the protagonist in Hamlet, is confronted with the challenge of taking part in revenge for his father’s death, but he often finds himself lacking in taking action. Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philosopher, accounts this lack of action for something far deeper than what lies on the surface. He construes that Hamlet is burdened with the knowledge that death triumphs over all being. What kills Hamlet’s action is knowing that what lies in everyone’s path is death and that since we all die there is no point in correcting your earthly state, in Hamlet’s case: getting revenge. This explanation for Hamlet’s delay, however, is not fully represented throughout the play. Hamlet has his bouts of hope and prevalently believes in taking revenge. However, it’s in his subconscious that Nietzsche’s statement holds true. Hamlet, fueled by his cynicism, slowly finds himself falling deeper into this state of depression throughout the play. The farther he falls down this rabbit hole, the clearer his understandings shine through from the beginning of the play.