Suicide In Hamlet

The stress of one’s mortality is constantly questioned by the protagonist, Prince Hamlet, throughout Hamlet. Despite entertaining the idea of suicide in III.i., it was never really an option for Hamlet because Hamlet was scared off by “what dreams may come”; that is, his uncertainty of the afterlife made earthly suffering, a familiar agony, seem like the better option. Hamlet was able to at least articulate his earthly agony, whereas ghosts, devilish spirits, hell, and purgatory were foreign, frightening possibilities for Hamlet.

Throughout the first three acts of the play, the afterlife significantly impacts Hamlet and his decision in his III.i soliloquy. Afterlife first presents itself in I.i to an officer, Bernardo, and a watchman, Francisco.
In this soliloquy, Hamlet ponders a state of being alive versus being dead. He contemplates committing suicide to end his earthly suffering and hopes death would “end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.” Hamlet then relates death to sleep but is haunted by the thought of having bad dreams in this sleep. Therefore, he would rather “bear those ills we have,” because the afterlife is unknown and unexpected. Life is the only thing he knows, and Hamlet fears the unknown. Evil spirits, demons, hell, and purgatory are all bad dreams one may have throughout death and the only way to avoid them is by accepting life’s burdens. Throughout the entire soliloquy, suicide was never an option. Hamlet doesn’t discuss why he should kill himself or the pain he’s going through but rather explains humanity’s fear of the unexpected,
Whenever pain was present, Hamlet believed he could use death to release him from the torment of life instead of dealing with it like the rest of humanity. However, Hamlet is the same as every other human being and realized in his III.i soliloquy that a familiar agony, life, is more desirable than an unfamiliar one,