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Hamlet Suicide Essay

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The Theme of Suicide in Hamlet “To be, or not to be”, is the antithesis by which Shakespeare has created a dilemma of whether to live on with all the injustice and cruelty existing in the world or to accept the consequences of ending the life that is given by God(Shakespeare, III, I, 57). Shakespeare has depicted the societal beliefs regarding committing suicide as a sin associated with religious beliefs. The moral attitudes of both Hamlet and Ophelia toward their suicidal actions have been represented as a devout and an ethical taboo, which ultimately prevented one of them from self-annihilation, yet encouraged the other to implement it.
Hamlet’s “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt” soliloquy became the first scene in which the idea …show more content…

Therefore, Hamlet hesitates to kill himself considering the consequences of societal opinions towards him, even with his mental crisis. “That flesh is heir to: ’tis a consummation. Devoutly to be wish’d”(Shakespeare, III, I, 64-65), wherein Hamlet devoutly wishes for consummation which reveals the final instance of all suffering that could be done by death, but also to reach religious completion by salvation to God.
Further, Hamlet analogizes death to an undiscovered country. “The undiscovere’d country, from whose bourn. No traveller returns, puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have. Than fly to others that we know not of?”(Shakespeare, III, I, 80-83). He states that only those who have experienced death can describe the afterlife, and those who are alive can just envisage it. Hence, how can we be assured that life after death is better since we are not aware of where we are going? The momentous soliloquy is accomplished when Ophelia is onstage. Shakespeare has concealed a message in this scene, Hamlet was a character who thought about ending his life but changed his mind with deeper contemplation; nevertheless, the story alters with Ophelia’s presence, and ultimately, she becomes nothing but death. The one who was a figure of vitality and cheerfulness ended her life by drowning herself in the river. The religious and societal discernment of the priests and others regarding Ophelia was the only remaining notion followed by her

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When applied correctly, soliloquies successfully allow the reader to experience characters in their most vulnerable state: within their own minds. Hamlet is no exception to this principle, as Shakespeare’s mastery of rhetoric in establishing the main character’s inner conflict provides depth and rawness to his complex character. In this well-known soliloquy, Shakespeare employs logos to acknowledge that death can be both a relief and nightmare due to natural human emotions; accordingly, Hamlet personifies a severe case of teenage depression by simultaneously wishing for an end to suffering yet remaining hesitant to act on his own thoughts due to his fear of the unknown.         Throughout this passage, Hamlet attempts to rationalize ending his life over continuing to endure the painful reality of his existence. The parallelism in this particular soliloquy serves several rhetorical purposes, including the development of an implicit contrast between Hamlet’s mental state and the actual organization of his thoughts.

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He comes to the conclusion that overthinking what happens after death makes people too cowardly to commit suicide. This means that, in this play, Ophelia was stronger than Hamlet because she found the courage to kill herself where he could

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The “To be or not to be” soliloquy is very pessimistic in nature, heightening Hamlet’s distressed mental state. Just as in every soliloquy, life is heavily examined by Hamlet, but in this particular speech, it is as if Hamlet has reached his final straw, mentally. At this point, Hamlet is questioning which option is nobler to “suffer the slings of and arrows of outrageous fortune, / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles / and, by opposing, end them” (3.1.66-67). Shortly after, the analytical Hamlet considers the pros and cons of suicide. On one hand, suicide is essentially an eternal session of sleep that would end all of life’s troubles making it “a consummation / Devoutly to be wished”.

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