Preview

Death In Hamlet Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1249 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Death In Hamlet Essay
As we know death is a permanent thing. In Hamlet death has contributed to many thoughts and feelings for the characters. Death is the symbol and symbolized in many different ways and is seen as the recurring symbol throughout the whole novel.
The real definition of death is seen as a loss of someone, which is then is followed with thoughts and emotions. In Hamlet, it’s different, death is not seen as its true meaning or as many would see it as not living. In Hamlet, death was more a unique opportunity to reflect on the past and present negotiations between the living and the dead and because of this it has provided the biggest inspiration to this novel. During the writing of this novel the author in his own way used his own definition
…show more content…
For death was reflected in Hamlet as a tragedy because “Tragedy also becomes a possibility”(Fly). What this means is that tragedy is reflected in the novel many times , because just like tragedy, death is a time to grieve. In the novel “Death certainly played a decisive role in the definition of early modern identity”(Ghose). Death was seen as a start of a new idea for this Novel and also included tragedy that even some people may use to identify as. Death is reflected in the novel at the start with the death of Hamlet’s father and then later proceeds with the deaths of some of the main characters, such as Polonius and Ophelia(Knight). Then it continues with the ghost appearing throughout the whole novel, which is also another main symbol in the book. The novel uses death to reflect Hamlet because it includes his consciousness of death. For Hamlet the death of his father affected him greatly and even caused him to fake being insane, but that death didn't just stay in his mind but it spreaded and affected his inner soul as well . The main reflection of death, was basically what started it and that was the death of Old King Hamlet, followed with Ophelia's death just to list the main ones. These deaths are important because they show how someone self ambition and guilt is symbolized and how death is reflected as social class

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In fact, he opposes death and life as two states of being. For Hamlet, living is a passive state because humans are over thinking and are not capable to take a strict decision. Otherwise, death is an active state because killing oneself is a way of taking action. So he complained humans and himself because they are not so brave as they wish. According to what he claimed, death is something desirable because humanity is not influenced anymore by the fear of living.…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Within Hamlet the themes of death, disease, and decay are spread throughout the entire play. All are mentioned by Hamlet, the apparition and Horatio. All are described in great detail. These motifs reflect many of the characters inner struggles and views on life.…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In life there are various unpleasant and distressing situations that people have to go through, but do not like to face. One of them is death. Death is a fact of life. Regardless of how wonderful, kind-hearted, and modest or extremely horrible a person is, death is inevitable. Being a teenage girl, I know one of the things I do not like to think about is the death of my parents. It is unquestionably difficult to think about how someone can be taken away from this world in just a blink of an eye. In spite of how great one’s love is for another person, it does not stop a person from dying. That being said, one of the most painful facts of life that Hamlet went through was the death of his father. Although the play never truly introduced King Hamlet, it was so clear that the King and Prince had an exceptionally close relationship. Hamlet not only looked at King Hamlet as a fatherly figure, but as a role model and inspiration to those in Denmark. In addition, at the time, Hamlet did not even know how has father had died. There were many questions still waiting to be uncovered, but Prince Hamlet felt as if he had nothing. With his father not around, Hamlet feels as if he does not belong and is depressed for months. He wishes as if he could disappear and that the world is meaningless. “How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world!” (1364). Thinking life is featureless; Hamlet would highly consider killing himself if it was not a sin.…

    • 981 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Theme Of Death In Hamlet

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Hamlet contains many underlying themes that sum up the story in a simple phrase. The most visible theme in Hamlet is the mystery of death. The mystery of death is a thematic element in Hamlet because after his father’s death, Prince Hamlet himself becomes obsessed with death and the spiritual aftermath around it. Hamlet in turn is even visited by his father’s ghost which mysteriously tells him important information surrounding his death. “...and the devil hath power / T’ assume a pleasing shape” (2.2.561-562). The apparition that visited Hamlet is in the form of his father and it is mysterious yet pleasing that the devil himself would take this form. King Hamlet’s death was a mystery to the people of the kingdom. “I’ll have the grounds / More relative than this” (2.2.565-566). They did not know it was Claudius who killed him and the prince…

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet Death Analysis

    • 1258 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Throughout Hamlet, William Shakespeare’s eloquence and use of thematic imagery helps convey Hamlet’s state of mind as troubled and ambiguous, establishing him as a tragic hero whose feelings of death are nothing short of an enigma. From the opening scene with the ominous apparition to the brutality of the final scene, death is seemingly portrayed further than that of its simplistic physical nature. Hamlet’s thought provoking and introspective nature causes him to analyze death on different levels, ways that are much more profound. Hamlet’s acceptance of death is gradual but very much evident in the play, as his idle nature transitions to one of cowardice and eventually determination and resolve. As the reader is introduced to Hamlet,…

    • 1258 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Metaphor in Hamlet

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Another theme of the play is Hamlet's obsession with death and the afterlife, brought about by his father's untimely death and his own doubts concerning whether or not life is worth living. He metaphorically compares death to sleep,…

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gilgamesh Theme

    • 1801 Words
    • 8 Pages

    In each work, death creates change in the storyline and for the main characters. With this change, however, comes newfound strength for the main character. In Hamlet, prince Hamlet is changed forever after the death of his father and the visit with his father's ghost. He mourns the loss of his father as his mother remarries and Hamlet finds the ordeal to be troubling and devastating. Hamlet the Elder warns his son that he was murdered by Claudius and Queen Gertrude. Although stunned at first, young Hamlet faces his mother, angry and betrayed, and fights the new king and even his mother with new found determination. He finds strength in his father's words and is motivated to seek revenge. Hamlet's anger can be seen in this quote, taken from Act I, Scene II, "O God, God, how weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable, seem to me all the uses of this world! (298)." Here Hamlet is remembering the loss of his father and is overwhelmed with grief. Later in the play, Hamlet is filled with rage and speaks alone with his mother. When the Queen fears for her life, she calls out for help, alerting the hidden Polonius. In a fit of anger, Hamlet kills Polonius. When his mother comments on the bloody slaying of Polonius, Hamlet replies sarcastically saying, "A bloody deed- almost as bad as kill a king and marry with his brother" (298). It…

    • 1801 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet Flaws

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Although Hamlet and his thoughts might seem like the thoughts of sad teenager contemplating suicide, from his logical standpoint on to suicide to his ideas of human beings in death, Hamlet gives an interesting perspective on the physical idea of death and the logical part of suicide.…

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Jacob Grimm once wrote “I’m Death and I make sure everyone is equal.” There has long been this idea that death brings everyone to a common ground, and while one might not think of Hamlet’s message as one regarding the powerful equalizing effect of death, this line of reasoning is prevalent throughout the play. Death in Hamlet, is presented as a cycle, one that levels humanity. In a play where most of the characters die, death itself is therefore an underlying theme throughout the play, but some of the most interesting reflections on death happen in the scenes we least expect them to. In Hamlet’s discussion with the King after Polonius’s death, and in Hamlet’s conversation with the skull of the court jester, death and what happens after death,…

    • 1379 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet is an insane man, especially in his soliloquy. The theme of death expresses his insanity. Throughout Hamlet’s soliloquy he mentions items which relate to death. For example, “With a bare bodkin?” This shows that he suggests killing himself with a bare dagger. He also states “To die, to sleep- no more- and by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.” This simply means that Hamlet desires to end the suffering of his life. Therefore, this clearly shows that Hamlet is terribly insane because of the associations with death, which plays a major theme in Hamlet’s soliloquy.…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hamlet Act 5 Notes

    • 2848 Words
    • 12 Pages

    The gravediggers scene shows a great deal about the character of hamlet. Hamlet questions their frivolous nature when the joke about the dead. As they unearth skulls, hamlet ponders who they might have been and if they though highly of themselves and were pompous during their lifetimes. When one of the skulls is identified as Yorick, Hamlet becomes very thoughtful and ponders about life and death. He says no matter how high a person might be in life, in death, all are equal. Death is the great neutralizer making the king no greater than a pauper. This isn’t the first time Hamlet ponders life, its meaning and death. Most of his soliloquies get into these subjects such as the “To be or not to be” soliloquy. But this pondering at the sight of what seems to be Ophelia’s grave, shows what a deep thinker he is even in the midst of much personal turmoil, he is a man who thinks about man’s existence and its meaning. This pondering in the graveyard scene shows the audience that Hamlet isn’t terribly afraid of death, he is more curious than afraid. This brings out Hamlet’s intellectual curiosity and his speculative powers. He goes on to speculate that even Alexander the Great will have his corpse buried in the ground and decomposed and that nobility in life is cancelled out by death.…

    • 2848 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet Mortality Essay

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Hamlet Mortality and the will to do such spiteful actions are what prolongs such hate and calamity between characters, including their flaring emotions in this play. “Give every man thy ear , but few thy voice voice; take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment....for...sulphurous and tormenting flames must render up myself.” The ideology of going to Hell and burning for an eternity outweighs the person’s struggles or the various problems they may be facing. So focusing on their pain rather than death, they are controlled by emotions and unable to do the necessary actions to end their calamity. Hamlet refers to the concept that everyone rather go through their pain than die.…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Regardless of a person's age or literary preference it is undeniable that William Shakespeare had a flair for composing dramatic tragedies. Tragedy, when evident is a powerful underlining theme which portrays the qualities of the human capacity. In one of Shakespeare's most brilliant plays, Hamlet, tragedy is portrayed through the protagonist's constant contemplation of suicide. Shakespeare often alludes to powerful images of death by using pathos and bereavement in life to be inconsequential. In the play, Hamlet, William Shakespeare produces a tragedy which illustrates the suggestion of suicide and the imagery of death as solutions to problems through Ophelia's demise, the minor characters reflection upon death, and most importantly the protagonist Hamlet.…

    • 2469 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet is a wonderful tragedy, full of revenge, deceit, betrayal, and most importantly, death. Shakespeare's Hamlet takes place in England during the year 1602, under the reign of Elizibeth I in the country of Denmark. The theme of death in Hamlet follows a dark trail, often crossing paths with the themes of revenge and betrayal. Hamlet leads a troubled life, after his father dies, he seems to go mad, but is he just trying to hide his true feelings of his father's death? Did he react so much, that it seemed that he did not react at all?…

    • 386 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet on Death

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Death is perceived as different things according to different people. In William Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet,” the title character, Hamlet openly expresses his opinion of death through the various acts he commits and the things he says. The play follows the life of Prince Hamlet after his father’s death. Throughout the play, Hamlet devotes himself to avenging his father’s death and killing his ignoble uncle, but because he is very contemplative and fastidious, he delays his plan and falls into a sort of depression and madness. Hamlet openly shows a diverse opinion on what he believes death is. Hamlet believes death to be a sort of black hole that ends with nothingness; however he also believes that death is something to mourn and be saddened about.…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays