In her 1969 book, On Death and Dying, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross explores the behavioral changes of individuals that are dying and others who have faced the death of a loved one. It is in that book Kübler-Ross offers up the theory of the five stages of grief the mind undergoes with such traumatic events. Denial and isolation followed by anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. William Shakespeare in Hamlet shows [ how these stages of grief affect people] also shares the journey of a flawed prince tasked with revenge, [and how the stages of grief are almost a blockade for his revenge]. Contrary to what was described of Hamlet before the chain of unfortunate events, throughout the play, Hamlet goes from dreary to determined, mournful to resolute, …show more content…
Hamlet realizes that acting quickly and thinking things through doesn’t matter because human life all ends up the same. So, he starts to understand the meaning of life and accept how his fate ends, but he first realized when he was with the Gravedigger. Firstly, Hamlet started to understand how life roles its course when he saw Yorick’s skull. When the gravedigger showed him Yorick’s skull, Hamlet recognized that we all end up the same way no matter if we peacefully die or get murdered. This shows that this is when Hamlet first started to understand the meaning that life and why we should value and appreciate our lives. At this scene, it’s also when Hamlet decides to understand the mistakes that he has made and face the consequences, but not be afraid because that’s how his fate ended up to be. Secondly, Hamlet understands the value that life gives because he told Horatio not to kill himself. When Horatio admits that he’s, “more an antique Roman than a Dane” (V.II.360), Hamlet quickly tells Horatio, “if thou didst ever hold me in thy heart,/ Absent thee from felicity awhile/ And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain/ To tell my story” (V.II.367-370). Instead of letting Horatio kill himself, he says to postpone the happiness of death because he needs to tell people tell his story. When Hamlet tells this to Horatio, he’s giving Horatio an excuse to stay alive because he knows that life is valuable and just because it’s hard, it doesn’t mean they should end their life. This demonstrates Hamlet interpreting his own meaning of life because he want’s Horatio to tell his story, so that others can tell his story and so on. Hamlet’s meaning of life is to tell stories and live based on the stories we hear. Lastly, Hamlet understands that the people in the kingdom won’t know what to do without a leader. So, while Hamlet is dying, he says, , “But I do prophesy th’ election lights/
He has a choice to make, so he has to decide if living is worth living and if it is how he will deal with the situation that he has. Hamlet was conflicted he didn 't understand the value of his life in that exact moment. In Hamlets soliloquy the was thinking about the pro and cons of wether to end his life or deal with the problem that his dead father brought to him. He was starting to come to a decision when he’s thoughts were interrupted. This soliloquy brought to light the peoples that most people go through or think about.
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet struggles to cope with his late father’s death and his mother’s quick marriage. In Act 1, Scene 2, King Claudius, Queen Gertrude, and Hamlet are all introduced. Hamlet has just finished publicly speaking with his mom and the new king, and after he is interrupted by his good friend Horatio, who reveal the secret about King Hamlet’s ghost. Hamlet’s soliloquy is particularly crucial because it serves as his initial characterization, revealing the causes of his anguish. Hamlet’s grief is apparent to the audience, as he begins lamenting about the uselessness of life.
When applied correctly, soliloquies successfully allow the reader to experience characters in their most vulnerable state: within their own minds. Hamlet is no exception to this principle, as Shakespeare’s mastery of rhetoric in establishing the main character’s inner conflict provides depth and rawness to his complex character. In this well-known soliloquy, Shakespeare employs logos to acknowledge that death can be both a relief and nightmare due to natural human emotions; accordingly, Hamlet personifies a severe case of teenage depression by simultaneously wishing for an end to suffering yet remaining hesitant to act on his own thoughts due to his fear of the unknown. Throughout this passage, Hamlet attempts to rationalize ending his life over continuing to endure the painful reality of his existence. The parallelism in this particular soliloquy serves several rhetorical purposes, including the development of an implicit contrast between Hamlet’s mental state and the actual organization of his thoughts.
He allows for Hamlet to open up to him, so that we know what Hamlet is thinking (shakespeare-online.com). In this part of the play we truly see how much Horatio cares for his friend Hamlet. We also see how much faith Hamlet actually has for his friend Horatio. In this part of the play we see the ultimate demise of Hamlet. In Hamlet’s last minutes of life we see that Horatio puts Hamlet before himself.
Here Hamlet is seen discussing how he feels about his mother and uncle’s immorality by getting married after his father was only gone for a month. Later in the play, Hamlet still has these same good qualities, but with more bad and unredeemable qualities. He begins to turn cruel toward people in his life who care about him, like his mother and Ophelia. He also arranges the murder of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern without even the slightest apology. Hamlet tells Horatio in 5.2.45-47: “He should those bearers put to sudden death, Not shriving time allowed.”
We see his relation to death and how he is intrigued by it, in his soliloquy in Act one scene 2 he says the lines”o, that this too sullied flesh would melt” signifying his sense of wanting to disappear. The re-marriage of Gertrude with Claudius, his Uncle taking over as king instead of him, makes hamlet feel a
Perseverance means to me to keep on trying to do something despite the difficulty of how hard it is. And to stay spiritually strong and to never give up at anytime until you have reached your goal or your expectations. The 5 stages of grief are Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. I think everyone goes through at least 1 of the 5 stages of grief, because everyone has trials that they go through in their life.
Redemption, is the action, regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing debt. In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, redemption is a common focus for the protagonist Hamlet, followed by Old King Fortinbras’ son, Fortinbras, and Laertes. These ambitious men embark on a quest for truth and redemption because of the loss of their father’s. In spite of the fluctuations in their quest, their journey for truth and redemption is successful because Fortinbras, Laertes and Hamlet all avenge their fathers’ deaths. Through Active Reversal, Fortinbras’ quest was successful, by Laertes’ Fear of Betrayal his quest to kill Hamlet was successful.
Queen Gertrude teaches Hamlet a valuable lesson about death when she says “Thou know’st ‘tis common; all that lives must die, / Passing through nature to eternity” (1.2.74–75). She tells us that all we know is that we go from earthly existence back into the mysterious pace from whence we came. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet contemplates what happens when we die and what it means to die. Hamlet's point of view on death changes throughout the play. His views range from one side of the spectrum – contemplating the worth of life – to the other, which is death.
At the end of the play, Hamlet reaches his goal– avenges his father’s murder– and kills the king, but it costs his own life and life of many others. The last word of dying Hamlet to Horatio is “the rest is silence” (5.2.356) and by this, he may mean that he eventually found peace in death and became free of his
In regards to the meaning of life, Hamlet’s meaning for life is to seek justice. The whole play of Hamlet is centered around Hamlet’s quest for revenge against Claudius. In Hamlet’s famous “to be, or not to be” soliloquy, his
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, many themes are explored throughout the play. Themes such as deception, madness, death, and revenge were all part of the play. Shakespeare's plays often deal with the issue of death, which is usually expressed in a very dramatic manner and generally includes the death of the main character. Shakespeare conveys the idea of life as a never-ending cycle of death and retribution throughout the entire play. Shakespeare introduces the concept of death with the passing of King Hamlet, which leads Hamlet to seek vengeance through his numerous soliloquies that examine death from a variety of perspectives and ultimately result in a dramatic conclusion.
Hamlet has such faith in Horatio that he leaves him with one last request: to tell his story. The close bond between the two makes this possible because, being the one man who knows everything that happened, Horatio is the only one who can tell the story. The confidence Hamlet has in Horatio, even after death, is something only a father could have. The deep care the two have for each other is significantly proven in the final moments of Hamlet’s life. After discovering Hamlet is going to die, Horatio believes the next logical step would be to drink the poison.
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
In the soliloquy of “Value of Life” is a well written play, but the big issue in the play is he describes the negative side of life. He also tells the readers or audience what life means to him in his perspective. Hamlet shows his true emotions about life and what he feels. He somewhat encourages others about the option of committing suicide. I believe he does that is so that people can find a easy way out of rough times when life brings them.