Theme Of Death In Hamlet

1. Death In Shakespeare's Hamlet it can be seen as a major theme, death. It drives the plot of the entire story from the beginning, with the ghost of the murdered king, to the ending with the majority of the royal family dying. Stephen Greenblatt talks of death in a suicide sense that Hamlet carries the entirety in the play. We see this in Greenblatt’s writing as “.. he discloses, in the first of his most famous soliloquies, a near-suicidal despair…” It is a smart conclusion because in Hamlet, you do see him often pondering death. Like in the play, Hamlet says “O that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d His canon ’gainst self-slaughter! O God! O God!(1.2.129-132)” This is the same soliloquy mentioned by Greenblatt about Hamlet’s wonder with death and suicide. This suicidal behavior and interest in death
The question of whether or not he Ghost of King Hamlet can be trusted, did Ophelia actually kill herself, or was it an accident, and is young Hamlet really insane, or is he faking, are all still being asked. Most of the play, Hamlet faces uncertainty. Did Claudius actually kill his father? Did his mother have anything to do with it? Can the Ghost of King Hamlet be trusted? The whole play that we see self doubt, it is rooted in the uncertainty that is brought up by these unanswered questions. It is seen in the text, while Hamlet has actors replay what he was told is how his father was murdered, he tries to decipher Claudius's behavior. This is seen in the play as Claudius says “Give me some light. Away!(3.2.275)” This is right after the play that Hamlet tries to trick the King with. At this point, hamlet is the most certain he's ever been, but he does not take the chance on killing the King while he has the chance. Uncertainty plagues the whole play and most of the play is Hamlet trying to make sense of all of