Hamlet Suicide Dbq

"What is the value of life?” When you are asked this question most people will start to think about their accomplishments, their families, what they have done, and sometimes people simply do not know how to answer this question.

In the beginning of William Shakespeare’s introspective play, Hamlet’s first soliloquy finds him as a more melancholic and more desperate character. He faced conflicts involving himself, the people around him, and his environment–how the events that have occurred in his surroundings negatively influenced his character. In Act 1, after enduring an unpleasant encounter at his mother and Claudius’ court, then being asked by his parents not to resume his studies in Wittenberg and rather stay in Denmark, Hamlet starts to have his suicidal thoughts for the very first time. For Hamlet, existence itself is a burden; he desires for his flesh to ‘melt’ and wishes that God had not made ‘self-slaughter’ a sin. Hamlet, then characterizes the world as “weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable.” (1; 5) Claiming that suicidal is the only alternative way out of a painful world but it is however forbidden by his religion. In a quote from the text, “O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason, Would have mourn’d longer,—married with mine uncle, My father’s brother; but no more like my father”, (1; 21-24) Hamlet describes his intense disgust at Gertrude’s decision of marrying Claudius, her vastly inferior former brother-in-law. As matter of fact, this is specifically

After King Hamlets passing, Hamlet entered an unknown state of mind that not only feared others for his wellbeing, but also feared himself. Hamlet no longer wanted to live in this life despair and pain. Another illustration of his indecisiveness is during the play when he had a clear chance to avenge his father by killing Claudius but choose not to do so, because he thought that Claudius was repenting for his

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! Oh God, God” (I.ii.129-132). Hamlet went on a rant to himself about how mad he was that his mother married his uncle so soon after his father’s death and he thought about ending his life. He later goes on to say how suicide is a sin, which is another thing to fuel his anger; but it does not stop him from killing himself in act

When Hamlet meets with the ghost King Hamlet in the opening scene, he realizes that his father is murdered by Claudius. From Act I scene 5, the ghost King Hamlet is asking Hamlet to seek for revenge, “So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear” (1.5.12). By knowing this, Hamlet starts the revenge for his father and sets the tone of the entire play where death, revenge, murder, and suicide become the symbols of the whole play, and leads to the deaths of almost all the characters, including Claudius, Laertes, Polonius, Ophelia, Queen Gertrude, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Hamlet himself. Also, because of his father’s death and his mother’s quick marriage with Claudius, Hamlet has the idea of committing suicide. From Act I scene 2, "O, that this too sullied flesh would melt,Thaw, and resolve itself to dew" (1.2.133-134). This quote reveals how all these things have affected Hamlet psychologically and emotionally. The death of King Hamlet has led the play toward more death themes, making this the most tragedy

William Shakespeare tells the tale of a troubled man in his masterpiece, Hamlet. Imagine your beloved father dying and your mother marrying his brother shortly after. You’re left to grieve on your own. Instead of consoling you, your mother and uncle have a wedding and begin to share the same bed. This is what Hamlet suffers through in the play. He is depressed and suicidal as indicated in his infamous quote, “To be, or not to be: that is the question.” (3.1.57). However, while many may choose to carry on after the death of a loved one, Hamlet chose to hold on to his sorrow and pretended to be mad so he can know the truth behind his father’s death. Hamlet’s tragic life is not the cause for his madness. Hamlet drives himself to the brink of insanity

Throughout the play, Hamlet has various points where he is confronted with suicidal thoughts or attempts. Throughout Hamlet’s first soliloquy “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, / Thaw resolve itself into a dew, / Or that the Everlasting had not fixed/ His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! Oh God, God!” Hamlet discusses his first suicidal thought, which shows Hamlets degree of depression. In this soliloquy, Hamlet is complaining that he cannot commit suicide and he wishes that his physical state (body) would melt away. During this scene in the play, Hamlet is still grieving his father’s death and controlling his rage towards Gertrude’s incestuous marriage to Claudius, Hamlet wishes to die himself and is having thoughts about suicide due to his melancholy state. Depression is the first symptom of dissociative identity disorder that causes or alters an individual’s personality. Audiences can observe that Hamlet is traumatized from his father’s death, which is causing his mental state to worsen. This can be expressed when Gertrude tells Claudius “Mas as the sea and the wind when both contend/ Which is the mightier. In this lawless fit, / Behind the arras hearing something stir, / Whips out his rapier, cries, “A rat, a rat!” / And in this brainish apprehension kills/ The unseen good old man.” Due to his actions, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude believes that her son has completely lost his mental stability and Claudius believes Hamlet is a “wild” threat to everyone and decides that Hamlet will leave to England. The depression is deepening within Hamlet and the dissociation is numbing his normal feelings causing a wide range of personalities to

As suicide is related to death, so it also related to mortality and afterlife. So, the issue of suicide which related to mortality and afterlife is the significant role in this play. Afterlife is exist for people who believe in God and these types of people have their own religion and belief. The reason the play of Hamlet is treating suicide religiously is firstly because it was written on 16th century in England where this time was the time of religion be the main source of anxiety and violence. A new kind of religious thinking is introduced by the Protestant Reformation to the English people. However, the way of Protestant and Catholics saw the important issues of life and death were still confusing to people at this time. The cause of most of the trouble throughout the play facing by Hamlet as well as the other character is because of Hamlet’s constant indecision. Hamlet is losing his courage due to the incident of his father is dead then his mother remarried too quickly. His mother’s new husband is his father’s brother which then these incident leads him to some consternation. This is because he is a young man who is sensitive to the issues of life, death and the afterlife. In his first soliloquy, Hamlet

Hamlet, after being left alone in the hall, begins to argue with himself about whether “To be or not to be?”(III.i.57). Hamlet discusses the topic on whether he should end his life or keep on living. Throughout Hamlet’s soliloquy he comes up with reasons to support each side of his argument. Hamlet’s sanity is still intact at the moment because if someone who had lost their sanity began to contemplate killing themselves they would commit the act right away without even thinking. In addition, Hamlet manages to list reasons on whether he should go through with killing himself or not which an insane person would not do. To add on to Hamlet’s stress is the possibility that something might lie “after death”(III.i.79). The fear that whatever comes after death is unknown is one of the many reasons Hamlet does not want to kill himself. Hamlet is sane because some people today still have a fear about how what comes after death is unknown. Hamlet’s behavior begins to change when they prepare to show the play that Hamlet wrote to everyone in the castle. Hamlet acts disrespectful towards his mother once again declining the seat she offered him and sitting next to Ophelia instead. He talks about how his mother looked cheerful within “two hours” of his father 's death clearly still angered from his mother’s speedy marriage

Throughout the play, suicide is mention by Hamlet and the suicide that he mentions is something that is related with death and decay. The prime idea of this play is about a mystery of death which then causes revenge. This prime idea then lead every single action of Hamlet throughout the play as, his action mostly is in order to seek revenge for the death of his death father, King of Denmark. Hamlet’s father appears to Hamlet as a ghost and tells him that he was murdered by Claudius. The death of his father really weighs Hamlet and it make Hamlet into a spiral of depression in which lead him to contemplate suicide. Basically, death and decay are two words which give an imagery about something that is rotten, become not existing anymore, and smelly. The theme suicides in this play, is symbolize by death and decay in its storyline and most of the action

Within the play Hamlet a variety of events occur that could have psychological effects on a person. Hamlet clearly demonstrated signs of depression which could be linked to several events within the play, but can most likely be traced back to one event in particular. Many of the outburst can be due to losing his father while still at a young age. Although Hamlet is not a very young child, he is only entering the adult world. Many of the things he is experiencing, such as depression, manic episodes, and delusions can all be related back to the loss of his father. At times Hamlet is contemplating committing suicide to escape from the pain that he is feeling. Hamlet simply states, “to be, or not to be,” questioning whether he should continue to live or simply kill himself with the use of a dagger (Shakespeare 53). Throughout the play Hamlet expresses many emotions that can be linked back to his father’s death.

Hamlet’s hesitant nature is well presented in the play. For one, Hamlet cannot bring forth the strength to end his own life; his indecision of whether or not to commit suicide plagues him for more than half the play.

Suicide is a reoccuring theme in Hamlet. Since this is a theme that affects all characters to a certain degree, it is interesting to see how the idea of suicide is treated both morally, religiously and aesthetically. This essay will mostly be based on Hamlet´s own soliloquies, considering their relevance to the theme, but Queen Gertrude´s treatment of Ophelia´s death is also worth a mention.

Hamlet’s ability to overthink situations or decisions makes him conclude that committing suicide might be the easy way out of his indecisiveness. Hamlet overthinks every problem that is happening. He overthinks so much that he cannot make up his decision about what to do with the problem. The cluelessness that is going on within his mind makes him lose his mental status, life and the love of his life. Hamlets actions are hypnotized by his thoughts: “Thus Conscience does make cowards of us all, And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pitch and moment, With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action” (3.1.85-90). Since Hamlet is not able to make up his own decisions he must take the orders from a ghost he meets which is the spirit of his father. Hamlet also knows he cannot make his decisions

In this scene, Hamlet expresses his total dissatisfaction with the life he lives. The world Hamlet lives in is full of pain and suffering, something he wishes he could simply put an end to. He looks to suicide as a potential, promising option. He states, “O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew.” However, the life Hamlet lives is the life of Christianity. Under the beliefs of Christianity, if one goes through with the act of suicide, they are bound to eternity in hell and it is for this reason that Hamlet wishes suicide wasn’t a sin, as is shown when he says, “Or that the Everlasting had not fixed his canon ‘gainst self-slaughter!” As a result of this belief of existence that Hamlet has lived by, he reluctantly refrains from taking his own life. Although, this urge to end his own life and the reluctance he displays when deciding not to also shows the beginning of the