Examples Of Ephemerality In Hamlet

In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet the audience is regularly confronted with the abstract notion that life is ephemeral. This notion is depicted through several scenes, during the confrontation between Hamlet and Laertes when the queen dies, the ‘to be or not to be’ soliluquoy and when Hamlet is conversing with the gravedigger. During these scenes William Shakespeare portrays themes that are still relevant to this day’s society.

During the Queen Gertrude’s death in Hamlet the reader is confronted with the notion that life is ephemeral and how swiftly it may change. The king has poisoned the wine to kill Hamlet, but the queen unknowingly drinks from it in a moment of festivity, thus leading to her unforeseen death. The ephemerality of life is apparent in this scene as a result of the queen dying before her time. The poisoned wine was supposed to kill Hamlet, but the queen drank from it, unknowingly killing herself in the process. The queen was not the one intended to die at the hands of the wine; it was a fault no one could have anticipated, least of all the queen herself. Her life was over so suddenly and unexpectedly it was plainly a moment to portray the ephemerality of life itself.

The ephemerality of life also becomes apparent amid ‘the to be or not be’ soliloquy.
Hamlet realizes that every person is equal when they are dead. Hamlet proclaims ‘’Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth to dust, the dust is dirt, of earth we make loam – and why of that loam, whereto he was converted, might they not stop a beer barrel?’’ In this specific quote Hamlet is talking of Alexander the Great, not Yorick , but he is holding Yorick’s skull while bestowing his woes upon the gravedigger. Hamlet realizes that it does not matter what you do or what you are during your life, everyone ends up as