Metaphysics in "Hamlet"

Of all the plays by William Shakespeare, Hamlet deals the most with what lies beyond this terrestrial sphere. In the words of Michael Neil, "Hamlet [is] a prolonged meditation on death." It is a study of life beyond death, in the metaphysics of the eternal soul, the afterlife, and the eternal consequences of temporal causes. Characters in the play are obsessed by the afterlife. Hamlet 's fixation on suicide is possibly the most obvious example of this. In one of his soliloquies, he confesses his desire "that this too too sullied flesh would melt... Or that the Everlasting had not fix 'd/ His canon 'gainst self-slaughter" (I, ii, 129-32). These are not the ravings of a delusional man; at this point in the proceedings Hamlet is still sane. He really would kill himself if he did not believe that it was the unforgiveable sin. Later in the play, Hamlet reveals that he thinks a lot of people would end their own lives if they weren 't scared of eternal punishment when he says, "To die, to sleep/ To sleep- perchance to dream: ay, there 's the rub,/ For in that sleep of death what dreams may come/... Must give us pause... For who would bear the whips and scorns of time/... When he himself might his quietus make/ With a bare bodkin?" (III, i, 64-76). If not for the need to avenge his father, Hamlet might be dead already. All his focus in life has to do with death in some way, and in this sense, Harold Bloom 's statement that "We know the ethos of disinterestedness only because we know Hamlet." is true. Claudius too has an obsession with the afterlife. Unlike his nephew, the king shows a lack of regard for the state of his eternal soul. Even when he knows he needs to be forgiven, he is not willing to repent. He finds he cannot give up the rewards of his sin and is well aware that "Words without thoughts never to heaven go." (III, iii, 98). The king has sealed the Faustian bargain, and even more firmly secured his position as the detested villain of Hamlet. After this,

Bibliography: Neil, Michael. "Hamlet: A Modern Perspective." Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square Press Drama, 1992. (p. 323) Bloom, Harold. "An Essay by Harold Bloom." Hamlet by William Shakespeare. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003 (p. 232) Bradley, A.C. "Hamlet, Lecture 4", Shakespearean Tragedy. Third ed. Hong Kong: Macmillan Press Ltd. 1992. (p. 124) Watts, Cedric. "Introduction." Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Ed. Cedric Watts. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions, Ltd. 2002. (p. 13)