Death In Hamlet Analysis

William Shakespeare takes us through the life of Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark battling through the death of his father, and seeking revenge on the man who murdered him, in his tragedy that is, Hamlet. Shakespeare creates a world fixated on life versus death that is constantly questioning the possibilities of the afterlife and comparing it to their present circumstances. As death surrounds Denmark, the idea of suicide rises and becomes a significant theme that encourages characterization and plot development throughout the play. Hamlet, distraught by the death of his father and the recent marriage of his mother, Gertrude to his uncle, Claudius, begins contemplating whether suicide is the right choice for him in his situation. Death also takes over the mind of Ophelia, a beautiful young lady who Hamlet is in love with, when her father Polonius is murdered, leading to her madness and eventual suicide. The final suicide is the death of the entire royal circle caused by their own corrupt conflicts and actions. Shakespeare explores the idea of suicide as an important theme through the imagination and actions of his characters.

The most important and crucial ideas about suicide lies within the vulnerable prince himself. In Act I, Hamlet is approached by an apparition, claiming to be his deceased father, King Hamlet. During this encounter the ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius was the man who killed him and now he wants Hamlet to seek revenge for his murder. After enduring this horrifying scene, Gertrude and Claudius tell Hamlet to stay in Denmark instead of going to school, seemingly against his wishes. Subsequently was Hamlet’s first important soliloquy in which he thinks about suicide. “O that this too too solid flesh would melt/ Thaw...

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...lationship with Hamlet, seemingly takes her life without any hesitation attributable to her religion. The corrupt minds and actions of the royal family ultimately resulted in their own self-destruction and destruction of Denmark as a whole. Shakespeare creates this indirect suicide as a way to rid everyone of his or her vulnerabilities. He leaves it to the afterlife to distinguish between the good and the evil (Stockton). For all of them, death decides their fate. They leave behind their titles and their treasure and become equal. Coincidentally the characters are all Christian, all believing that suicide is a sin and though indirectly, it is their actions that lead to their demise, which creates speculation around what may happen to them in the afterlife. Shakespeare uses suicide as a way to explore each character and depict their commitment to their religion.