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Custom Essays: The Effects Of Loss In Hamlet And Rabbit Hole

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The Effects of Loss. One of the traits that separate humanity from other animals is our intelligence. Human’s actions and feelings have many complexities, even in comparison to other organisms. Therefore, humans can have very different responses to certain experiences. Loss is an experience that everybody has or will have to go through. However, not everybody reacts to loss, or grieves the same way. This is the complexity of emotion. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince Hamlet tries to get revenge on his step-father, Claudius, for killing his real father and for taking both his throne and his wife. Whereas in the movie Rabbit Hole, Becca and Howie are mourning the death of their 4 year-old son Danny. Although both situations are very different, …show more content…

Hamlet’s father was poisoned by his step-father and uncle, the same man who goes on to take over his life. Becca loses her 4 year-old son because he chases their dog into the street. Hamlet “grieves” by acting insane in order to take revenge on the King. Becca “grieves” by lashing out and trying to move on too hastefully. Although these two situations are extremely different, they both come with a heavy toll to their relationships. Hamlet’s fake madness begins to spread its roots and actually turn him mad. After Hamlet was found “mad,” Polonius decides to eavesdrop on a conversation between Hamlet and his mother, which ends up in Hamlet stabbing him through a tapestry. When confronted about this, he claims that he “is of the faction that is wronged; his madness is poor Hamlet’s enemy” (V.II. pg.273, 252-253). The death of Polonius pushes the first domino of a chain that results in the death of girlfriend Ophelia, his mother, Laertes, and the King. He exacts revenge on the King but at what cost? Ophelia commits suicide after the death of Hamlet as she knew him, then her father. Laertes tries to poison Hamlet but gets poisoned himself, and the Queen drinks a …show more content…

To further explain, when Hamlet learns about the true means of his father’s death, and as the plot thickens, he starts to contemplate suicide. In the famous “To Be or Not To Be” speech, Hamlet fights with himself on the value of life, and if it is worth all the hardship he is facing. He believes that living life is suffering “The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”(III.I. 127. 66). The mental anguish that Hamlet feels from holding such heavy burdens, without enough time to properly grieve, is so severe that he considers suicide as a good way out. This very depressing view on life has been induced due to the negative effects of loss. Becca has also experienced the deterioration of her mental health. On their way to a party, Becca tells Howie that she has been talking to realtors about selling their house in order to “move on” and stop seeing marks and signs left by Danny. Howie fights this saying he likes seeing signs of his deceased son, but ultimately gets countered by an outburst from Becca. “That’s because you don’t have to sit there and stare at them all day. You get to go to work. You get to escape!” (Lindsay-Abaire 40). It is obvious that Becca is still mourning her passed son. However, it seems that she feels trapped within her house. As a woman with no job, staring at the signs of her dead son in her home all day is driving her insane. Then when her husband

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