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Grief In Shakespeare's Hamlet Still Relevant Today

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The play Hamlet by Shakespeare has been popular among audiences since the 1600s, and is still relevant today. The play is about a grieving son and his quest to avenge his father’s death. At the beginning of the story, Hamlet’s father has just been killed, and he appears to Hamlet in ghost form and tells him that his uncle is responsible for poisoning him. In the meantime, Hamlet’s mother has married her husband’s brother and knows nothing of his murderous act. Hamlet must find a way to get revenge on his uncle without harming the people he loves. In the end, not many will get out alive, thus showing us the themes of madness, grief, mortality, and revenge (Shmoop Editorial Team). Even though Hamlet was written 400 years ago, its themes and messages are very relevant in today’s society. …show more content…

Hamlet grieves the death of his father and the stages of his grief are very evident in his actions throughout the play. In the beginning, Hamlet is angry at everyone and everything because his father is gone. He is very vengeful and wants his father’s murderer to suffer. By the end of the play; however, Hamlet seems to accept death for what it is and he is not angry or afraid anymore. Grief is relevant to modern times because anyone who has lost a loved one has experienced it. Grief was felt just as strongly in the 1600s as it is today. The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance (Ross, Kessler). Every person who loses someone they loves goes through these stages at various time lengths and intensity levels. Like Hamlet in the play, grieving people often act based upon the grief that they are feeling. Their actions greatly reflect the emotions they are

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