How Does Shakespeare Use Death In Hamlet

Shakespeare uses Death and the Afterlife in Hamlet to serve many purposes: to provide a means of shaping and defining characters, determining them to be strong, fearful, etc.; to provide the major conflict in the play, an internal conflict that ultimately psychologically surpasses the breadth of the external conflict; and to present cerebral discourse on a recurring theme throughout all of Shakespeare’s works, playing on mankind’s inability to understand Death and what comes after. Death appears in Hamlet in one of two ways: murder, an act that, without repentance, could surely send a man to hell, or suicide, an act that deems the participant ineligible for salvation no matter what good deeds they might have done in life. This simple split of two grisly fates is relevant to the storyline of Hamlet; rather than dealing with the afterlife of pure, innocent people, Shakespeare delves into the insecurity sinners feel when faced with the inevitability of their own demise.
Suicide is famously pondered by our titular protagonist, whose soliloquy presents his own desire to “melt his skin away,” but his fear to commit suicide due to the repercussions of such an action: a straight path to hell (I, ii, 129-158).
His thoughts on suicide fulfill the three theses quite well: his meditations on death and the afterlife in regards to suicide show his character to be a thoughtful, but hesitant person, unwilling to take action against his personal demons and other characters; his problem with the uncertainty of the afterlife and the effect these thoughts have on him establish the major conflict of the play, as it overwhelms him and prevents him from resolving his issues; this presentation of fearful speculation into life after death is one of many Shakespearian analyses of death. Ophelia is also famously associated with suicide, as many readers can interpret her death as suicide or accidental drowning (IV, vii, 187-208).
Even the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death lends to the enigmatic nature of death and our inability as an audience to fathom it. Murder is also omnipresent, as the play is driven by vengeance for the murder of a beloved father, husband, and king. The initial murder drives the events of the play; one murder leads to the accidental murder of others, and the climactic sequence of murders: Polonius (III, IV), Gertrude (V, ii), Laertes (V, ii), Claudius (V, ii), and Hamlet (V, ii). This string of murder lends to the futility of Hamlet’s initial reservations about death, as he ultimately wanders into that “undiscovered country,” satisfying that morbid curiosity. The Afterlife is manifested in four ways: Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, and Worm-food. Heaven is for those who abide by the virtues and abstain from the seven deadly sins; as is the case with the majority of the characters in the play, very few are eligible for heaven by these criteria. Many appear to be hell-bound or condemned to limbo; limbo is the state in which souls are left to atone for their sins, as they are not worthy of heaven but have potential. King Hamlet’s fate is as such in the play, as Claudius killed his brother before he could repent. However, there is the possibility that all actions to prevent damnation could be futile, as Shakespeare presents the possibility of only decay after death. The most poignant example is seen when Hamlet and Horatio encounter Yorick’s bones in the grave; Hamlet ponders the fate of all men as they are buried and become a part of the dirt as all men like Alexander the Great, Caesar, and others (V, I, 179-188). The great mystery of what is to come ultimately reveals to audiences Shakespeare’s genius, as the play is a small part of a grand culmination of psychological and emotional awareness. As in many of his works, death and the afterlife are unknowable, but his various characters have varying responses: in the Tempest, Prospero says, “We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded by a sleep;” in Macbeth, the titular character says, “[Life] is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing” (V, v, 26-28). Even in his sonnets, Shakespeare presents an awareness of our fragile human insecurity: “And nothing gainst Time’s scythe can make defence save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence…” (Sonnet 12)
Limbo/Purgatory: A place where souls remain until the receive one of three things: redemption, revenge, or are forgiven. It is evident that Shakespeare uses the idea of purgatory when King Hamlet is discovered wondering around a guard tower by Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo (I.i.43-56). It is evident that Shakespeare uses the idea of purgatory when King Hamlet is discovered wondering around a guard tower by Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo (I.i.43-56). King Hamlet tells Hamlet that he is forced to remain in purgatory until Hamlet avenges his death by killing Claudius (I.v.1-91).