Name: Jessica
Instructor: Miss. Sully
Date: 4.17
Class: EN401-1
Analysis of rot and decay in Hamlet
William Shakespeare 's Hamlet has been considered the greatest tragedy in literature and drama.In Hamlet, William Shakespeare expresses both psychological and physical corruptions in this book making people have deep introspection.As we read about Hamlet, the background and atmosphere which the author Shakespeare create was rot and decay of the whole country. “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”(Shakespeare 1.1 - 4) . This was spoken by Marcellus shortly after Hamlet leaves to follow a ghost. Marcellus and Horatio both feel that Hamlet should not be left alone with the ghost. Hamlet’ s mother and his uncle Claudius got married
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To die,to sleep; No more; And by a sleep to say we end the heartache, and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to, it 's a consummation devoutly to be wished. (Act3 Scene 1 Line 64-71) The speech in Hamlet not only reveals the death but also spreading rot and decay. Hamlet is quite struggling about to live or to die. At the beginning of the play, he is grieved at his father’s death and his mother’s hasty marriage with his uncle. He decided not to die at last. It is very easy to see that Hamlet was crazy at that time. He talked about he wanted to relieve after death but there was still nightmare after death.After he finished his speech, he decided to live since he needs to finish his revenge. The whole speech we could feel death and painful. Compare to live and death, live is much more better than death for Hamlet. Shakespeare expressed his idea through Hamlet about the ultimate decision of his life. it 's such a literal image of what the whole play is about. Hamlet 's basic problem is whether he should live or kill himself. Hamlet is the prince of Denmark but he can not control himself; he crazily holding a knife and expresses his opinion that he was struggling weather to live or to die. A prince’s mission is to protect his people and manage his country but Hamlet acts as lunatic talking about death. However, Hamlet’s action represents his country which corrupting from inside to outside. “Heaven make thee free of it! I follow thee. I am dead, Horatio. Wretched queen, adieu! You that look pale and tremble at this chance” (Act 5 Scene2 354-366). The ending is a chaotic state. Hamlet killed Laertes with a poisonous sword and he died also because of the poisonous sword. Claudius and Gertrude died because of the poisonous wine. So does Hamlet. The royal family’s
He starts of using diction that is heavy to show why it is easier for him to choose death, only thinking of himself. He then compares death and sleep to share why it is easier to kill himself. “Thus conscience makes cowards of us all”. This alliteration emphasis Hamlets disappointment in himself. All of this goes together to create vivid diction that leads readers into Hamlet's mind.
According to Claudius, if he does not die with the sword by Laertes, he will die with poison. This is the last stage in Campbell’s Hero’s journey and it involves the hero going home with his reward. In Hamlet’s case, going home can mean death. He dies but not before he is at total peace and with a sense of satisfaction that he has avenged the death of his father and he has taken the crown from Claudius and given it to Prince Fortinbras according to his wish because he is going to die.
In the final scene Hamlet dies, but before he does he leaves some important words, “As thou 'rt a man, Give me the cup! Let go! By heaven, I 'll ha 't. Things standin thus unknow, shall I leave behind me! If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, Absent thee from
To die- to sleep- No more; and by a sleep to say we end the heartache. ”(ACT III scene i) In this quote we see Hamlet debate his own life and consider whether dying would be better than to
Hamlet is a powerful story of love, life, revenge, and death. The themes within the play are written to live on for eternity. It is difficult to fully and accurately represent a play as great as this one. The movie that we watched in class did not wholly represent the wonders and the magnitude of the themes within Shakespeare’s work.
Death is one of the most prominent themes in Hamlet, appearing in different forms. Shakespeare displays death through the suicide of Ophelia, Hamlet’s own thoughts and eventual suicide, and the murder of King Hamlet and Polonius. Hamlet displays suicidal tendencies throughout the play through his soliloquies. The first time that Hamlet contemplates committing suicide is when Gertrude and Claudius tell him that he has to stay in Denmark in Act one. “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, or that the Everlasting had not fixed his canon ‘gainst self-slaughter!
In the scene, Hamlet has just lost his father, and he's not sure how to handle it. Hes not sure wether or not revenge or suicide would be a better escape from the pain of losing his father. He argues that death is a “sleep” that brings an end
But we can see after he finds out about the truth, he is forced to act because of his morality beliefs. The battle in Hamlet’s tragedy occurs in a dynamic society that is created by opposing forces that contradict with each other and Hamlet is a philosophical prince who blames the court for impunity, injustice, and murder; and all of these problems prevents him from being a part of court’s social life and he becomes depressed. Hamlet’s deep depression effects on his behaviors until he even doesn’t act like prince and becomes mad. His madness effect on his judgment and makes him to become obsessed with the death; even he sees death as the only way to take revenge. We can see that Hamlet explores death in every facet of the play from many different angles and how he develops his definition of death from the materially to morality perspective.
With his father murdered, his mother’s marriage to the murder, and the looming attack on Denmark, Hamlet contemplates the merits of suicide, asking why people choose a life of suffering over death. He states “To be, or not to be? That is the question—Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And, by opposing, end them?” (3.1. 62–66). Hamlet wants to enter a peaceful sleep, leaving behind the struggles that are testing him.
In the “To be or not to be” soliloquy, Hamlet says, “To die, to sleep/ No more—and by a sleep to say we end/ The heartache and the thousand natural shocks/ That flesh/ is heir to—’tis a consummation/ Devoutly to be wished!”(3.1 61-64) Proving that he is so distraught about taking action against his uncle that he believes that death would be an easier alterative to losing his purity and innocence. He ultimately decides that suicide is not the answer, “With this regard their currents turn awry/ And lose the name of action,” (3.1 88-89) because he cannot take the uncertainty of the afterlife. This entire soliloquy also highlights Hamlets delayed action to his problems.
Hamlet was despairing to live in such disgusting family, so he wished to escape by dying. He failed, because he could not accept suicide morally. The idea of Hamlet about suicide and the common belief could by proven by the famous philosopher Plato. Plato showed in Laws that suicide was shameful and disgraceful; the perpetrator should be buried in an unmarked grave. (Plato.stanford.edu, 2018)
In his soliloquy, he is asking himself whether it is better to live or to die, which he is considering to commit suicide. Also, in the soliloquy, Hamlet states that “Who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscovered country from whose bourn No traveler returns, puzzles the will And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of?” (3.1.84-90). He explains that no one would like to live in an exhausting life, unless they don’t know what is going to happen after they die because they are afraid of what their after life is going to be. Both these quotes prove that the death symbol is always surrounded by Hamlet and he has a hard time to choose between life and
Shakespeare presents death as an inevitable act of life, noting that all that is living must eventually come to an end. Due to “Hamlet” being a Shakespearean tragedy, the theme of death recurs throughout the play. Additionally, Shakespeare can be seen as using revenge as the main motive of a character’s murder, which makes “Hamlet” a revenge tragedy. The tragic nature means that by the end of the play, majority of the characters would have died. In this case, many of the characters have died due to murder or suicide.
From suicidal to a longing for life, Hamlet’s perspective of death has changed dramatically throughout the play. In act five he, with such equanimity, finally accepts his inability to control the inevitable, for him it is best to be ready for death at anytime. The reader gets a glimpse of Hamlet’s new world view when he states “ There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will.” His belief in a divine force controlling everything has stopped him from analyzing every decision he makes. Emotionally, he is prepared for death, knowing it will come when God wants it to come, not Laertes, or Claudius.
Even his own mother thinks he was losing his mind. A normal person wouldn’t be taking request from the dead, especially when it comes to murder. Hamlet truly believes that this is his goal, to get vengeance for his father. That’s the only thing he thinks about. He then beginning to doubt the meaning of life, he thinks of death is something