Death seems to be the only thing guaranteed in life. Even though we know death is an inevitable psychologically traumatic event, nothing can prepare those who are left behind. After a loved one’s passing, it can affect a person physically, psychologically, and socially. Multiple cases of these effects can be found in the tragedy Hamlet, like how Ophelia and Hamlet find their own ways to grieve. In this drama, Shakespeare uses the effects of death and the moral deterioration of his characters to enhance the atmosphere of the play.
After numerous interactions between Hamlet and the ghost, the ghost reveals that he is Hamlet’s father. The ghost also reveals that his death was no accident and was murdered by his brother Claudius and should be revenged. These events challenged Hamlet and cast’s a burden to his moral faith. Hamlet decides to not act quickly with his plans of revenge considering there was no evidence to prove that Claudius killed his
Hamlet feels betrayed by his mother and feels like he can 't trust anyone. Shakespeare gives Hamlet these struggles in the play to amplify the mental and psychological events that make the reader feel bad about what all happened to Hamlet. Hamlet eventually kills Claudius like his father told him to, but only did it after his mother, Gertrude, drank the poison that Claudius meant to give Hamlet. This is a result of external action from all the sorrows that was building up in Hamlet’s life. This brings us to our next character, Gertrude, Claudius’s wife and Hamlets
Death is in everyone's lives, and it is especially in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In the play, death is a prominent theme. The attitude towards of death in Hamlet is different throughout all aspects of Denmark and may be caused by a multitude of events . Although for Hamlet, throughout the beginning, middle and end of the play, the chaos level in Denmark directly affects his attitude towards death. Denmark is filled with chaos in the beginning of the play, and in return makes Hamlet's attitude towards death overwhelmingly negative.
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).
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
He wants his revenge to be is only focus, and in the process some innocent people end up dying. In Hamlet, there is a lot of death and contemplations between life and death. Because of this prominent aspect in the play, the mystery of death becomes on of the main themes seen throughout the play. Through Hamlet’s questions of what happens to the soul after death, the importance in confessions before
It also leads to a downfall of almost every character in the play. This act of murder causes Hamlet to die, and everyone else around him, including his mother and uncle. The entire play, readers continuously a theme of revenge due to this one action. Hamlet seeks revenge on his uncle for killing his father. In Act 5, the tension rests when Hamlet and Claudius are both eliminated.
New discoveries lead to new awakenings and a constant change in consciousness. Shakespeare goes back and forth on the topics of death, love, and revenge. Hamlet is having a difficult time choosing between life or death, not only for himself, but for others as well. Discoveries such as finding out his father's ghost has appeared and new awakenings such as realizing he needs to murder to succeed in honoring his father, are points that are expanded upon throughout the play,
King Hamlet’s ghost in Hamlet plays a very significant role in Shakespeare’s play even though he only appears briefly in the very beginning and two other times throughout the play. King Hamlet’s ghost furthers the play in many ways. He affects action by setting the play in motion, he affects the theme of revenge, and he helps develop other characters, specifically his son, Hamlet. He sets the play in motion by causing the wheels to spin inside of Prince Hamlet’s head, the ghost is the whole reason for Hamlet trying to extract revenge upon his murderous Uncle Claudius who is now the King of Denmark. The ghost affects the theme of revenge by causing Young Hamlet to be seized by vengeance, the whole play turns into a story of Prince Hamlet trying to avenge his father’s wrongful death.