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Hamlet Suicide Analysis

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In the tragedy Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius and sister of Laertes. She is broken to the point of killing herself. Suicide is a very important motif, and has various roles throughout the play’s plot.
Suicide is first mentioned in act one scene two of Hamlet. Here, it serves the role of giving the reader insight into Hamlet as a character. An important trait of this play is that the protagonist’s thought are eloquently portrayed, presenting the reader with multiple perspectives on topics and rhetorical questions proving the difficulty of said topics. In his first soliloquy, this is made evident when Hamlet says, “O that this too too solid flesh would melt, / Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew! / Or that …show more content…

The tragedy of the entire last scene is the result of the royal family’s own corruption. Because of the clan’s death is caused by themselves, this play can be viewed as a single, paramount suicide of Denmark’s royalty. Examples of this include Gertrude’s adultery, Claudius’s hunger for power, and Polonius’s overbearingness. Gertrude contributes to the undoing of the clan by marrying Claudius, leading to the alienation of her son. In Hamlet’s first soliloquy, the lines, “...within a month- / Let me not think on’t! Frailty, thy name is woman!..” (I.II.151-152) present the effect that Gertrude’s remarriage has on Hamlet, leading to him withdrawing himself and plotting for the revenge of his father. The man she marries is also a factor in the family’s ruin. Claudius begins the events of the play by poisoning his brother and assuming the crown, taking Gertrude as his wife. In the end, it is he who encourages Laertes to kill Hamlet due to the fact that Claudius perceives Hamlet as a threat to his own reign, a plan which ended in disaster. Polonius also played a hand in the collapse of the clan by asserting so much dominance over Ophelia that she was driven mad when he died. Ophelia’s resulting suicide caused Laertes to post his blame on Hamlet, allowing him to be Claudius’s hand in killing

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Queen Gertrude is the Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother, the widow of Old Hamlet and the wife of Claudius, brother of her dead husband. Gertrude is ignorant and a woman who means no harm but because of her actions it contributes greatly to the terrible events that occur throughout the play. In this play there’s many conflicts, one of the first conflicts was when Gertrude married King Claudius two months after Old Hamlet’s death. Gertrude is ignorant because she’s not aware of anything happening. For example she’s not aware that King Hamlet’s murder was by his own brother Claudius, even though they were some hints out there to show that it was King Claudius who killed Old Hamlet.

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Hamlet has come to see his mother, Queen Gertrude, and ends up stabbing Lord Polonius, which ultimately leads to his death. Lord Polonius’ final words include “O, I am slain!” Even though this provides a slight amount of comic relief to the reader, it has a reverse effect on Ophelia’s mental state. Her father’s death seems to be the potent punch in this fight because she officially goes mad after this final event. This is apparent in Scene IV Act I, when Laertes has come back to visit his sister and check on her well being.

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732 Words | 3 Pages

Laertes believes Hamlet is to blame not only for his father’s death, but also for Ophelia’s death because the death of her father is ultimately what drove her to killing herself. Once Laertes returns, he asks King Claudius who is responsible for the death of his father and is informed that Hamlet is the one to blame. Ophelia enters and reveals to everyone that she has gone crazy and ends up killing herself. Hamlet returns to Denmark and is surprised to find out that Ophelia has died. Laertes and Hamlet start fighting at her burial service and Hamlet says he wants to be

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314 Words | 2 Pages

Also, Hamlet displays his anguish at the Queen for dishonouring his dead father since “Almost as bad, good mother, as killing a king and marrying his brother” (Shakespeare, pg. 121). In this statement, Hamlet expresses how, through the marriage to her husband’s murderer, Gertrude is a symbol of dishonor and damaging her relationship with the prince. Hamlet is disgusted by Gertrude’s actions and recognizes her not as his mother but the queen and wife of Claudius, the murderer. The respect revered by children to their mother is not evident between Hamlet and Gertrude. In Gertrude’s death scene, Hamlet screams to his mother “Wretched Queen, adieu!”

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1154 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the play Hamlet continues to act insane and even dies with the act continuing. Even after Hamlet gathers all the evidence that proves Claudius is the murder, Hamlet continues to behave in a strange way. When he mistakenly murders Polonius he does not react as a sane person would. This act enrages Laertes, who then wants to avenge his father’s death. Driven to madness by the murder of his father, Laertes, with the help of Claudius conspires to kill Hamlet.

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His desire for power leads him down a dark path. He murders his brother to become king and disguises his actions as an accidental death (1.5.41-53). He also marries King Hamlet’s wife, Gertrude, which causes turmoil in Hamlet’s life. He cannot fathom why his mother would remarry so quickly and even states that "a beast that wants discourse of reason / Would have mourned longer!” (1.2.154-155).

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1410 Words | 6 Pages

In the Tragedy of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, some of the most significant events are mental or psychological events that make the audience feel and have an emotional connection with the characters. Moreover, these significant events are categorized as new awakenings, discoveries, and changes in consciousness that set off a mental or psychological effect to the readers. The author, Shakespeare, gives these internal events to characters such as Ophelia, Gertrude, and Hamlet throughout the play to give the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax which associate with their external action. Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius and the sister of Laertes, who both tell her to stop seeing Hamlet. To Polonius, Ophelia is an eternal virgin who is going to be a

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1140 Words | 5 Pages

In the Tragedy of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, some of the most significant events are mental or psychological events that make the audience feel and have an emotional connection with the characters. These significant events can be awakenings, discoveries, and changes in consciousness that set off a mental or psychological effect to the readers. The author, Shakespeare, gives these internal events to characters such as Ophelia, Gertrude, and Hamlet throughout the play to give the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius and the sister of Laertes who both tell her to stop seeing Hamlet. To Polonius, Ophelia is an eternal virgin who is going to be a dutiful

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1533 Words | 7 Pages

Can people choose their fate, or are we all at the mercy of circumstance? In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the main character Hamlet shows that people are just a victim of circumstances. Hamlet was fine when his father was still alive; he only started going crazy when unexpected events in his life occurred such as; his father dying and his mother marrying his uncle. Hamlet is not to blame for his own downfall, how could he choose how his father dying would affect him. Hamlet is a Schizophrenic with the worst luck in the world.

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745 Words | 3 Pages

Ophelia’s death results from Hamlet's madness, his telling Ophelia that she needs to go to a nunnery, and Polonius's death. Hamlet telling Ophelia to go to a nunnery made Ophelia feel insecure. Especially when Hamlet told Ophelia that he would marry her just so she would sleep with him. Then, Hamlet comes back to Ophelia telling her that she needs to go to a nunnery. Which is basically calling Ophelia a whore, because a nunnery is like a whorehouse. Ophelia at this point felt very insecure about herself and she questioned her relationship with Hamlet.

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1313 Words | 6 Pages

Unaware of the role Hamlet is playing, Ophelia feels rejected and hurt. Eventually, Ophelia’s heartache, along with the death of her father, causes her to commit suicide. Next, Claudius and Gertrude’s role play affect their relationship with Hamlet. At the beginning of the play, Claudius takes on the role of a kind, just king; he seems to genuinely care for Hamlet. He often gives him fatherly advice, and shows affection for Hamlet in ways that an uncle would.

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1056 Words | 5 Pages

In act one Gertrude marries her dead husband 's brother Claudius, Hamlet is not very happy that his mother did this. Hamlet feels very betrayed by his own mother because she remarried so quickly. He feels as if this is an unforgivable

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In the beginning of the play Hamlet, the main character, is struggling with events that have taken place in his life. His Father has recently died and his Uncle has now married his Mother. With sorrow and pain, Hamlet tries to understand and unravel the aberrant events that have taken place with his family. The events have amended the way Hamlet views death. After his Father’s death, Hamlet questions the afterlife; whether it offers a “peaceful slumber” or an “everlasting nightmare”.

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Shakespeare used to make the structure of his plays with great skill by using exposition, tension and conclusion. Besides, his characters were a reflection of the society in which there were people of every condition. Words were very important for Shakespeare, therefore, through them he tried to bring the audience into the play by using soliloquies. I must recognize that in the book I have read, all the characteristics appear clearly. Analysis of the book “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” is set in the late Middle Ages, 14th.

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His father’s sudden death, and his mother’s quick remarry did not help his case. That being said, his emotions lead him to his insanity. Many people claim that Hamlet’s insanity is feigned, but his actions based on things that have happened in the past, prove otherwise. Very shortly after the tragic death of King Hamlet, Gertrude, his wife, immediately remarried to Claudius, making the mourning process quite uncomfortable for Hamlet. Hamlet 's act of stabbing Polonius through the curtain, which occurs almost casually in the middle of the tirade against Gertrude 's lust, seems only to increase his passionate desire to make her see her error in preferring Claudius to her first husband.

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