Hamlet's View On Suicide

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At first hearing Hamlets words, one would think that his thoughts were contemplating the act of suicide to escape his duty. On the contrary, this view overlooks the facts of the situation and would contradict Hamlet’s own words. He has formed a plan to make the king betray himself. He has written the lines that he plans to use in his scheme, and is eager to initiate his experiment. Unfortunately, he has a period of time where he must wait for nightfall. His idle time causes him to reflect on thoughts of depression, and the thought recurs to him that death would be a relief. Any man would have the same thought in Hamlet’s circumstances. Those thoughts lead to the further reflection that everyone has the power of life or death in his own hands.

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