There are only two scenes in Hamlet act 5 by William Shakespeare. Those two scenes are arguably the most famous in Shakespearean literature. It is filled with soliloquies, heartbreak, and death. Typical Shakespeare, right? During the first four acts of Hamlet, Hamlet has a crazy, wild, heartbroken attitude. But during the fifth act, he is calm and collected and knows exactly what he has to do to enact his revenge on his uncle. He has grown up and knows that everything is already planned out for him. Hamlet is changed in act 5 and he is ready for action. There are many factors that make act 5 contribute greatly to the success of Hamlet by William Shakespeare and they are death, love, and betrayal.
In the beginning of act one scene one in Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet finds out about the deaths of Yorick and Ophelia. Throughout the whole play, Hamlet has been feigning craziness around the king, queen, and his lover, Ophelia, in order to get more information about how his father’s death happened. By doing this, everyone thinks it’s because of Ophelia rejecting Hamlet’s love because her father told her to. Eventually, by the death of her father and Hamlet ignoring her, Ophelia starts to lose her mind. She suspiciously commits suicide by drowning and a funeral is to be held. Hamlet, recently back from England, suddenly realizes that his lover has died and it destroys him. Before all of that, Hamlet had just gone through a soliloquy involving Yorick, the jester of his father when Hamlet was little. The graveyard makes Hamlet more agreeable with death and that no one can escape it and he says in act 5:1 lines 179-181, “Now get you to my lady’s chamber and tell her, let her paint an inch think, to this favor she must come.” He i...
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...ct 5:2 lines 330, “The King – The King’s to blame.” Hamlet becomes enraged and stabs the king with the poisoned sword and forces the king to drink the poisoned drink that his mother had died from not to long before. Hamlet enacts his revenge, but with a price: his death.
Death, love, and the betrayal that finishes everyone off in act 5 of Hamlet by William Shakespeare are the factors that make it such a great act. Shakespeare captures the feeling of humor, fear, and love all in two scenes and they are the most memorable by people today. Hamlet’s attitude about death has changed. At the beginning, he was focused fully on himself, now his mental state seems to have changed since his father has died. He wants Laertes’ forgiveness because he is able to think sympathetically about others. The death of Ophelia was a wakeup call because now he knows that it is okay to die.
In act 3, Hamlet questions the unbearable pain of life and views death through the metaphor of sleep. "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" (3.1.64-68), details which bring up new thoughts about what happens in the after life. Thus, Hamlet contemplates suicide, but his lacking knowledge about what awaits him in the afterworld causes him to question what death will bring. For example he states, "The undiscovered country, from whose bourn / no traveler returns, puzzles the will / and makes us rather bear those ills we have / than fly to others that we know not of" (3.1.87-90), again revealing his growing concern with "Truth" and his need for certainty. Once again, death appears in act 4 with the suicide of Ophelia, the demand for Hamlet's execution and the gravedigger scene. All of these situations tie back with how death is all around Hamlet and feeds his obsession with it. Finally in act 5, Hamlet meets his own death, as his obsession to know leads to the death of himself.
Death, Decay and Disease in Hamlet Within ‘Hamlet’, Shakespeare makes a number of references to Denmark's degraded state due to the deceit that lies within. These references are made by Hamlet, Horatio as well as the apparition, thus enforcing the strong theme of death, decay and disease. As aforementioned, Hamlets makes a number of references to Denmark. Preceding the death of his father and the marriage of his mother, his mental state begins to fall into demise. Although he appears to not have much courage at first, his focus remains on avenging his father, whose murder is described as being "most foul." As noted in one of Hamlet's first soliloquies, his downward spiral has already begun and already he is contemplating suicide; "O that this too too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew (I, II, 130)" and "seems to me all the uses of this world.
To die, would be to abandon this garden suffocated by weeds. To take one's life, is to alleviate turmoil from the heart. Although extremely tempting, Hamlet cannot, therefore will not commit suicide. For he believes God "had… fixed / his canon 'gainst self-slaughter!" (line 131-132 p.166). With this in his mind he drags his burden deeper and deeper into a pit of agony. Inflicted upon him were the excruciatingly painful blows of his father's death and the incestuous marriage of his mother and uncle. Hamlet held his father with high esteem calling him an excellent king and Hyperion. He resents his "more than kin, and less than kind" (line 65 p.165) stepfather, exclaiming, "So excellent a king, that was, to this! / Hyperion to a satyr" (line 139-140 p. 166). He not only shows resentment towards his uncle, Claudius, but is also beset with anguish over his mother's hasty marriage, crying out, "She married O, most wicked speed, to post / with such dexterity to incestuous sheets! / It is not nor it cannot come to good: / But break, my heart" (line 166-169 p.167). Then, the spirit of King Hamlet visits Elsinor to reveal to his son, "the serpent that did sting thy father's life now wears his crown." (lines 39-40 p.172). The spirit asks, "If thou didst ever the dear father love -- revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. Hamlet must avenge his father's unnatural and horrible death! He swears to revenge but delays his vengeance missing opportunities one right after the other. In the Shakespearean play, Hamlet, the conflict comes from Hamlet's Christian and moral beliefs and his need to avenge his father's murder. Instead of storming into Claudius' room to kill him after hearin...
Projection of Grief and the Social Mores of Women William Shakespeare’s Hamlet explores the causes and effects of various manifestations of grief in the socially restricted court of Elsinore. Expectations within such court-oriented society demand its members to conform to the societal roles set for them, which challenges characters such as Hamlet, Laertes, and Ophelia as they react to extreme loss. Each character faces a distinctive form of melancholy, categorized by Robert Burton as “disposition[al],” “habitual,” and “gentlewoman[ly]” (Burton, 177-179). The form of grief each character experiences provides unique insight into the societal roles they have failed to fulfill. Their individual grievances are disproportionately projected onto the
...e tension from Ophelias death and the ever-increasing tension and complexity of the plot. It is also an important milestone for Hamlet as he comes in terms with the fact that death is the ultimate equalizer and later in the scene Hamlet imagines how that even Alexander the greats body would of turned into dust, which could have been used to make loam, and that loam could have been used to plug a beer-barrel. This readies Hamlet to die in the final scene, knowing the death is universal, equalizing and more importantly, that everyone dies.
Hamlet’s Concern with Death In Hamlet’s first soliloquy (ll. 1.2.129-159) , Shakespeare uses a biblical lexicon, apostrophes, and depictions of corporeal decay to show Hamlet’s preoccupation with the fate of a person after death.
After a death, we find ways of overcoming grief in this painful world. Some people binge eat their way out while others find the easy way out, which is suicide.In the play Hamlet, Shakespeare portrays mortality in the image of death and suicide.Shakespeare develops hamlet as a man who is sensitive and uncontrolled by his actions. Hamlet faces challenges that mess with his subconscious making him feel vulnerable to making decisions that will affect his life.We can say that Hamlet was very indecisive of living or not. He showed many signs of suicidal thoughts. Many can argue and say that Hamlet was depressed. Coming back home from school to attend his father's funeral in Denmark made him discover many things, such as, his mother Gertrude remarried to Hamlet's uncle Claudius who is the dead king's brother. To Hamlet he finds it loathsome for his
The basis of one 's mortality and the complications of life and death are talked about from the opening of Hamlet. In the mist of his father 's death, Hamlet is having a hard time not thinking about and considering the meaning of life and how life ends. Many questions emerge as the story progresses. There was so many question that Hamlet contemplated. He was constantly worrying that is he revenged on his fathers’ death then what would happen. He would ask himself questions like, what happens when and how you die? Do kings go to heaven? If I kill, will I go to heaven?
This encounter is essential to the plot, in that it provides for Hamlet's return from England and sets the stage for Hamlet's discovery of Ophelia's death. It brings Hamlet from the state in which he was able to easily arrange for the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to one in which he can feel deep sorrow at the loss of Ophelia. It further grants him a better perspective on the nature of death and on his own fate. Its sharp focus on death further serves to prepare the audience for the conclusion of the play. Up to this point, Hamlet has been an active agent in trying to fulfill his destiny as prescribed by his father's ghost. His actions were disorganized and his goal continually foiled. For example, his attempt to control the situation renders him incapable of killing Claudius when he is at prayer, since Hamlet wishes to manipulate the circumstances of Claudius' death so that he is "about some act that has no relish in't" (III, iv, 91-2). The lesson of the graveyard is that death is inevitable, not contrived. Having learned this lesson, Hamlet is a more passive agent of his own fate and the plot resolves itself. The ...
It also brought Hamlet to reality with Ophelia’s death, as he resumes discussions with Yoricks skull, he jokingly says “Now get you to my lady’s chamber and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come. Make her laugh at that.” (170) revealing how one wastes so much time putting make up on their face, to mask over the inevitable aging process; and how ones fate lies within the very ground we stand on at this moment, no matter how great one is. To further his terms with the death of Ophelia, he is shown the spot Ophelia will be buried in, a few plots away. Showing that her death, is and will be treated just as everyone else will. While the gravedigger tells hamlet much earlier in the play “"not for ever with they vailed lids/ Seek for thy noble father in the dust" (1.2.70-71) and reminded that "your father lost a father” in other words there is no time to mourn the dead, as death is much like a chain, and putting quite bluntly he expresses its best to really just move on. Shakespeare reveals this as a turning point for Hamlet, as he realizes the commonness of death, and the value of life itself, and begins to ponder about his own mortality and destined fate. While quite a morbid outlook on the matter, it does reveal truth to Hamlet, and forces Hamlet to take a more humorous toll on the matter
In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the protagonist, Hamlet is obsessed with the idea of death, and during the course of the play he contemplates death from numerous perspectives. He ponders the physical aspects of death, as seen with Yoricks's skull, his father's ghost, as well as the dead bodies in the cemetery. Hamlet also contemplates the spiritual aspects of the afterlife with his various soliloquies. Emotionally Hamlet is attached to death with the passing of his father and his lover Ophelia. Death surrounds Hamlet, and forces him to consider death from various points of view.
“So shall you hear of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts, of accidental judgements, casual slaughters, of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause”, (Hamlet, Act V, Scene 2, Lines 381-384). Horatio, best friend of Prince Hamlet, says this in the final lines of the play. He says this after Gertrude, Queen of Denmark, Hamlet, Claudius, King of Denmark, and Laertes, son of Polonius all die in the battle between Hamlet and Laertes. Hamlet, King of Denmark, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, former friends of Hamlet, Polonius, councillor to the King, and Ophelia, daughter of Polonius are also dead. Death is a very important theme in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
In his tragedy Hamlet, William Shakespeare explores and analyzes the concept of mortality and the inevitability of death through the development of Hamlet’s understanding and ideology regarding the purpose for living. Through Hamlet’s obsessive fascination in understanding the purpose for living and whether death is the answer, Shakespeare analyzes and interprets the meaning of different elements of mortality and death: The pain death causes to others, the fading of evidence of existence through death, and the reason for living. While due to the inevitable and unsolvable mystery of the uncertainty of death, as no being will ever empirically experience death and be able to tell the tale, Shakespeare offers an answer to the reason for living through an analysis of Hamlet’s development in understanding death.
...t his father and Ophelia are dead and he cannot accept the thought of his mother’s hasty marriage to his conniving and deceitful uncle. Hamlet regrets his previous actions which caused tremendous pain to Ophelia and her family. Just as his own family was destroyed by his uncle’s evil plans, Hamlet realizes that he caused the same pain and negativity on the family of the woman he loved.
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, suicide is treated differently on the aspects of religion, morals, and philosophical views. Suicide is the act of deliberately killing yourself in contrary to your own best interests. In today’s society suicide is highly looked down upon. But Shakespeare used suicide and violence in almost all of his most popular plays. Many of his tragedies used the element of suicide, some accomplished, others merely contemplated. Shakespeare used suicide as a dramatic device. A character’s suicide could promote a wide range of emotions: horror, condemnation to pity, and even respect. Some of his suicides could even take titles like the noble soldier, the violated woman, and star-crossed lovers. In Othello, Othello see suicide as the only escape from the pangs and misery of life. In The Rape of Lucrece, Lucrece kills herself after being raped because she cannot live with her shame. And in Romeo and Juliet, the two lovers could not find happiness if life, so death was perceived as a way that they could be united with each other. Shakespeare was dealing with a very controversial subject: Was it right to end life in order to escape the cruel and unjust world? In the time of the Renaissance, many things had an impact on suicide such as religion, morals, and aesthetic views.