Analysis of Hamlet by William Shakespeare

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Hamlet’s deadly grieving producing a fatal end
It is an innate human quality to fear death and what is to come; it is the fear of suffering and anguish. People typically grieve over the loss of a friend or loved one. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet’s obsessive thoughts about the deaths of others lead to his timely demise. The deaths of his father, Ophelia, and Polonius have different impacts on Hamlet’s state of mind. His father’s death invokes revengeful thoughts of killing the King. Ophelia’s death skews Hamlet’s vision of death. The death of Polonius shows the repercussions of Hamlet’s aggressive impulse. Clearly, Hamlet is fascinated by death throughout the play. Although this is deeply rooted in his character, his obsessive thoughts are a product of continuous grieving.
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet learns from a ghost of his father’s brutal murder. Hamlet weeps and plans to take action but doesn’t deliver. Instead he plots his revenge and waits for the perfect moment to avenge King Hamlet. The ghost of Hamlet’s father influences Hamlet to seek revenge who would otherwise contemplate the subject to death,
GHOST: Revenge his foul murder and most unnatural murder.
HAMLET: Murder?
GHOST: Murder is most foul, as in the best it is, /
But this is most foul, strange and unnatural.
HAMLET: Haste me to know’t; that I, with wings as swift /
As meditation or the thoughts of love, may sweep to my revenge (I, v, 25-31).

Notably, the ghost tells Hamlet to enact his revenge in the opening scenes of the play; he seems hesitant, as if he questions death for the first time. Hamlet wants to make sure that Claudius did in fact kill his father, so he sets up a play to re-enact the crime scene and to Hamlet’s content, Claudius disp...

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...death of him. Hamlet’s obsession and numerous contemplations about death sets himself in the undesired direction of suffering with the deaths of his father, Ophelia and Polonius, all whom he believed were undeserving. His will to continuously get himself into situations that inflict a great deal of emotional stress is astonishing, and his change in attitude about his indecisiveness about murder is not beneficial, rather it kills him in the end. Having a healthy fear of death is normal --one must realize death is unavoidable, while constant thought about death creates unhealthy anxiety. An overdose on death-related thoughts will derange the mind of the fear of basic fear of pain or suffering. The result of fearing death too much is over-amplifying stress in a normal situation. Staying at a level of awareness of death is healthy and can help one stay alive longer.

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