Mortality In Shakespeare's Hamlet-To Be Or Not To Be

“To be, or not to be: that is the question” Mortality plays a crucial role in Hamlet. From the very beginning of the play, Hamlet, grieving his father’s abrupt death and facing his mother’s quick remarriage to his uncle, ponders about life and death. To make matters worse, Hamlet’s love, Ophelia, broke his heart, which takes Hamlet deeper into his depression. All the outside forces almost breaks Hamlet over the edge, as in Act III, Scene I, Hamlet considers committing suicide. Hamlet starts one of the most famous soliloquies of all time with, “To be, or not to be: that is the question:” (Shakespeare 53). Hamlet questions whether he should continue to live or not. Hamlet is facing many problems in his life and life in general, the only escape from everything is to sleep, to die. With sleep, all of the world’s problems disappear, “To die; to sleep; No

Close attention to mental health is needed, because about 60% of suicides are associated with mood disorders such as bipolar disorder (Apter, Bertolote, and Mann). According to “Suicide Prevention Strategies: A Systematic Review”, “Suicide prevention is possible because up to 83% of suicides have had contact with a primary care physician within a year of their death and up to 66% within a month”. Not only that, the general public is becoming more aware of recognizing suicide risks and where to seek help, through educational campaigns.

Hamlet’s big problem is that he keeps his problems to himself. He could’ve relied on his best friend Horatio, but instead he kept all his struggles bottled up inside. Hamlet also could’ve resolved the Ophelia situation if he would just talk to her. Instead, Hamlet messed with her and made this worse for both of them. Hamlet was clearly depressed about the death of his father, and his mother marrying his uncle just a few months later. Those factors added along with heartbreak, made Hamlet contemplate