In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the main protagonist, Prince Hamlet, is tangled with the theme of death. During the play, he presents how his life is surrounded with death after his father, King Hamlet, dies. Death theme is the most occurring theme Shakespeare writes about in his plays, which most of his plays have a very dramatic death ending and involve the death of the main protagonist. Throughout the play, Shakespeare presents the idea of life, which is the never ending cycle of revenge and death. Shakespeare starts the death theme with the death of King Hamlet, which stimulates Hamlet to seek for revenge with his various soliloquies considering death from various points of view and certainly leads to a dramatic ending.
He says that it was a “…Murther most foul.” These words cause Hamlet to feel the desire seek revenge. He wants to know the true story of his father’s death and then he will speedily exact the revenge his father’s ghost
The play starts with the death of Hamlet’s father and throughout the story, Hamlet thinks about killing those who murdered his father. Through Shakespeare’s words, “To be, or not to be,” it is clear that death is inevitable to the characters in the play (Shakespeare). We see the characters dying and being buried, for instance, Ophelia and Polonius. Moreover, the theme of death is present in the play when Hamlet plans the death of Guildenstern and Rosencrantz. Therefore, the theme of death is apparent in Hamlet from the beginning of the play to the final
Shakespeare’s Macbeth centers around the character Macbeth who, after assassinating the Scottish king Duncan, takes that title for himself. The play depicts the following effects on Macbeth’s personality and outlook on life as he slowly detaches from reality and is driven mad. In Macbeth the images of sleep are repeatedly employed in close connection to death—both as specific events in the play, and as a theme used throughout. During the course of the play the images of sleep evolve with the tone of the play and change as the play progresses and become darker with certain events that occur. The processes of sleep and death, which are similar both physiologically and spiritually, reflect each other throughout the play and provide a symbolic aspect to its morbidity.
Ophelia’s death is used to cause a rise in the emotions felt by the audience that understands the heartbreak of Ophelia’s death, the reason she died, and the way it had an impact on Hamlet. Despite the differences in the stories, they are very similar. Not only did the uncle murder his brother in both stories, but the sons, wives and lovers were all nearly identical. Both Hamlet and Simba were looking for revenge for their fathers’ deaths; the king’s brother took reign; the lovers were left depressed and sorrowful. On the other hand, Mufasa was casted through most of the movie and king Hamlet had already been murdered for two months before the story began; Hamlet’s mother married his uncle, Simba’s did not; Ophelia committed suicide from depression, Nala did
Murder and death are the driving forces to one character’s motives. In The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare, a play about a young prince, Hamlet, whose father is murdered prior and the trials of confirming who the killer is, go wary after a play sparks the new King’s attention. Hamlet is in and out of a grievous time trying to understand his father’s death while not a single soul mourns the loss. Power is what consumes King Claudius as he plots for Hamlet’s death with unexpected deaths to follow. Hamlet is consistently perceived as insane for trying to grief his father and avenge him.
In my opinion, Hamlet’s procrastination led to his downfall and death, as well as the deaths of many others in the play. If Hamlet had believed his father’s ghost when he told him that Claudius had murdered him and acted on his revenge immediately, Hamlet would have been able to catch Claudius off guard before things got out of hand. If Hamlet had done so, he would have had the ability to prevent all of the other needless deaths. In conclusion, the word of his father’s ghost should have been enough for Hamlet to act and carry out the revenge for his father which can be called as a
In the famous play Hamlet, by Shakespeare, Hamlet devises various plans to avenge his father’s death. Throughout these several scenes, Hamlet causes the suffering, as well as, the death of many others, who do not have anything to do with King Hamlet’s murder. However the murderer of his father is killed, Hamlet was not justified in killing so many innocent people along the way. First of all, the ghost of Hamlet’s father, King Hamlet, tells Hamlet within his first appearance as a ghost to avenge his death by killing his murderer, Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius, but to leave Queen Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, out of it. He informs Hamlet that killing Claudius would be appropriate and with reason, considering the previous circumstances in which led to how King Hamlet ended up a ghost, but harming Gertrude would be unacceptable, as she is innocent and has not done any wrong, besides agreeing to engage in an incestuous marriage, that is.
Another example is during Hamlet confrontation with the ghost when he says “wings as swift, As meditation or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge” (I.iv.35-37). Eagerly, Hamlet describes how he wants the ghost to tell him his story so he can kill King Hamlet’s murderer faster than people fall in love; the ghost is even speaks of how aspiring he is. This helps convey how yearning and anxious Hamlet is for getting revenge; his main goal and the climax of the book is him killing Claudius. Based on Hamlet and his actions throughout the book, his intent and objective is retribution for his
Hamlet’s Internal Dilemma: When Do I Kill My Uncle? When murder is the subject of one’s contemplation, decision-making can be difficult. In the passage “Now might I do it pat, now he is praying … This physic but prolongs thy sickly days” (III. iii. 77-100) of his play, Hamlet, William Shakespeare depicts Hamlet, following Claudius’s revelation of his guilt, as he is faced with the opportunity to kill his father’s murderer while he prays.