The Ignorance of Death in Hamlet
The abstractness of death creates infinite interpretations. Because of this, many lines of reality can occur; all caused by a seemingly insignificant action or choice. To control the world in which one lives, one needs an understanding of death and its most prevalent aspects in a situation. Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, showcases death in the form of the physical self and the conscious self. However, Hamlet is unable to understand this concept, thus triggering an unstoppable thread of death throughout the play.
The consciousness or self of a person can be manifested as a spirit; such as King Hamlet. Although he experiences a physical death, his self still lives on. The encounter with King Hamlet’s spirit bemuses Hamlet. The confusion that the spirit causes indicates Hamlet’s lack of knowledge regarding the
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Hamlet, written when theology was commonplace, influences the play itself. When Claudius is praying, he is repenting his sins. Hamlet understood that if Claudius repented his crimes, his murder would be unwarranted, thus not delivering Claudius’ self to purgatory. Therefore, Hamlet waited until Claudius committed a crime, such as poisoning Gertrude. This argument is understandable, however when Hamlet’s plan is ordered like the above, it causes a shift in focus from killing the self to killing the physical. When he does not kill Claudius, he is fixated on killing the self. As time progresses and his revenge plan keeps being interrupted, his focus shifts to conducive physical demise. When one aspect of death is focused on more, several repercussions follow, yet Hamlet does not change his methods. This proves his ignorance when referring to the identification of the underlying factors and the impacts of the components of