Theme Of Death In Hamlet

Death is a blatant and omnipresent theme in one of William Shakespeare 's most famous plays, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark; it also brings the entire play full circle. Whether Hamlet is contemplating or executing death through suicide or revenge, it creates a snowball effect that eventually results in the death of eight characters. Death is constantly engrossing Hamlet. Death plays a very significant role in the play. In fact, death is the serious subject that classifies the Shakespeare 's play as a tragedy. As a matter of fact, the protagonist 's, Hamlet, tragic flaw is the product of death and even leads to his own downfall. The play opens with the death of King Hamlet, who communicates with his son as a ghost in hopes he would avenge his murder. Prince Hamlet 's poorly executed plan to seek revenge on Claudius later becomes the cause of his tragic death. Death, the cause and effect of Hamlet’s revenge. If death is not occurring, it is often questioned by Hamlet. Hamlet is so overwhelmed with bereavement that he contemplates the idea of suicide. The audience first learns of his disturbance in Act 1, Scene 2 through Shakespeare 's well-constructed soliloquy. The descriptive metaphors used throughout the speech provide the audience with imagery, empathizing with Hamlet’s pain. His disgust towards Claudius is evident with the another metaphor and conceit, "things rank and gross in nature" describing Claudius, the "seed" as mentioned above, as bad