Hamlet's Last Soliloquy

If we all die, does it matter when, or who killed us? The idea of death is one that isn’t talked about often in today’s society, with suicide being even more taboo. In Shakespeare's Hamlet the main character Hamlet contemplates suicide for almost the entire play, even the most famous line from the play is an ode to suicide: “To be, or not to be” is instantly recognizable by most. Although some may not know the origins of the quote, the soliloquy spoken by Hamlet has huge implications in the story and gives the reader a vital life lesson: Death isn’t a solution to the problems in life. In the soliloquy Hamlet is going back and forth on whether suicide is the right answer for him. Hamlet’s inner struggle with how to deal with his problems has

Hamlet is trying to convince himself that being dead is better than being alive. After declaring how awful life is, Hamlet then goes on to share that all the abuse from the system and the people who head it makes life utterly unbearable. He specifically calls out the awful construct of the legal system, and the constant abuse of power and authority(3.1.70) In this instance he is referring to Claudius and his use of manipulation to get himself to the throne. Immediately after, Hamlet has his final fall, before he is able to restore himself back into a stable state, “When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin?” He is so close to commiting to his desires, that he has a final pity question, why live in a world you know will mistreat you when he could end it all so easily with a knife. He is extremely fed up with the world and awful he has been treated, he is wondering what he did to deserve the awfulness that has happened to him recently, he had to drop out of college, and his father died by the vengeance of a jealous friend. He has had no control over his life at the moment, and the choice to kill himself would be the one thing in his life that he is able to