Essay On Parental Death In Hamlet

Parental Death in Hamlet Hamlet is the epitome of the tragic effects parental death has on adolescents. Improper grieving of the adolescent can result in mental illness and even suicide. The play adequately displays Hamlet, Ophelia, and Laertes’s inevitable response to their father’s deaths. Although it is a common occurrence to lose one’s father eventually, Hamlet’s grief for his father’s death greatly surpassed normality. Hamlet expresses, “Oh that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, or that the Everlasting had not fixed his canon ‘gainst self slaughter!” (Shakespeare 10). Hamlet progressively displays suicidal thoughts and a empty value on his life several times throughout the play. This behavior is a result of his father’s death and his mother’s hasty marriage which caused his to improperly mourn his father. Ophelia on the other hand, becomes crazed upon hearing of her father’s death. It is assumed that her mother died at childbirth, and Polonius was the only parental figure in her life. Her father’s untimely and unnatural death lead her to a deteriorated mental and emotional state. Ophelia eventually drowns after she fell into a river and made
no attempt to save herself (Shakespeare 100). Her death is directly related to her mental illness or possibly a suicide, both results of her father’s death. In comparison, Laertes becomes angry and seeks revenge for his father, which ultimately leads to his downfall. He does not exhibit depression or suicidal thoughts only normal feelings for a young man in this era.
Adolescents grieve in a unique way when compared to adults or children. Adolescence in itself is a complicated transition in a person’s life. Benjamin Garber describes adolescence as a period involves several depressive stages (102). It includes the task of becoming independent from parents and a search for identity. Amanda Keenan explains Freud’s idea of bereavement, which is the period of grief and mourning after a death. Once a loved object is lost that energy has to be transferred into another object (23). Keenan deciphers this conception in the adolescent development. During adolescence, a separation from parental objects unfolds naturally in order to become an adult. However, if the separation from a parental object becomes reality it can disrupt this process, yet its extent can be variable on other factors (Keenan 24). Therefore, the grief of an adolescent after parental death is sensitive and intense. This mourning period does not parallel other depressive states previously experienced in adolescence (Garber 102). “All psychoanalytic researchers in this field conclude that mourning in adolescence is especially complicated” (Keenan 26). During bereavement adolescents experience normal tendencies after experiencing a death such as anxiety, confusion, anger, and depression. However they are unpredictable and acting out is expected. This is due to the fact that they tend to suppress their emotions, which is unique to adolescents in this regard (Garber 112). The developmental phase can be severely obstructed if an adolescent cannot mourn for the dead parent properly (Keenan 25). As previously mentioned, when mourning it is necessary to transfer the energy from the parental object into another. Strong relationships are essential for a successful mourning process. Overinvestment in other relationships is a coping mechanism (Garber 113). Samuel Marwit and Sandra Carusa explain that adolescents have a facilitated mourning processes if family and friends take over the role of the lost parent. They studied adults who experienced parental loss at adolescence by parental death or divorce. Data revealed that the subjects who experience parental death rated the best support and helpfulness came from the surviving parent, unlike those who experienced parental divorce (247). Parents are important relationships that can help an adolescent mourn. “Parents may be particularly important for providing the stable, caring relationships that are a central component of belonging” (Timmons et al. 809). Communication is the major reason why strong and loving relationships during the adolescent’s mourning period. In the study conducted by Marwit and Carusa, the subjects rated that the "opportunity to ventilate feelings, expressing concern, and reaffirming a supportive presence" were significantly helpful (249). Without these coping facilitations, adolescents might result in unresolved mourning. When the grieving process is obstructed, it might alter or delay development. This is caused by the reversal of healthy coping strategies, like the lack of stable relationships and communication. Miller summarizes Freud’s idea that a person gone through the mourning process properly, there ego will be free. This means that they will end with a healthy emotional and mental state (232). However, a person that has had an unresolved mourning period can exhibit damage to mental health. Mourning can be dangerous because it can lead to “delinquency, alcoholism, drug addiction and suicide” (Miller 236). It can lead to mental illness that requires professional help. Suicidal thoughts or actions are just one consequence. According to Timmons et al, suicidal behavior is linked to parental loss (814). This triggers a sensation of loneliness and if there is a lack of supportive relationships, it can hinder the process of mourning leaving it unresolved and lastly causing suicide attempts and action. Because the consequences can be detrimental, it is important to properly cope and handle grief. Additionally, the extent of effects arising from unresolved mourning are variable in adolescents. Li et al, conducted a study in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden to analyze the effects that parental death in early life has on mortality rates. They hypothesized that parental death would increase mortality risks. The results showed that those who experienced parental death between 6 months to 18 years of age had an overall 50% higher mortality risk. However, individuals whose parent had died of unnatural cause exhibited an 84% increased mortality risk (Li et al. 6). Other important variables include sex and age. According to Richard Hader, females are significantly more depressed after parental death than males. Also, younger the person the level of depression is higher (++) Based on the findings and conclusion of experts on parental death it is crucial for an adolescent to mourn their dead parent adequately.
Hamlet would not have experienced suicidal thoughts had his mother provided care and a stable relationship. Other solutions would have been allowing Hamlet to go to Wittenberg, where his peers could have allowed him to talk about his feelings, or a continued relationship with Ophelia. Similarly, Ophelia needed a strong relationship to help her mourn her father’s death. Since she had a complicated relationship with Hamlet and Laertes was far in France, the only true relationship Ophelia had was with her father. Losing a central parental figure is especially hard on a female adolescent, she needed help from someone to overcome this
obstacle.