ipl-logo

Life And Death In Hamlet's First Soliloquy '

945 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Hamlet's thoughts on death

“To be or not to be-that is the question”(3.1.64) Hamlet character is faced with the question of life or death through this whole work. All of the challenges he faces bring him back to this same question is death an easy escape route to this grim life on earth. Hamlet soon come to realize that death may not be as pleasant as he wishes it to be. After contemplating what the afterlife would be he is soon to perceive that there is so much that is unknown. Death could be the unthinkable, something so horrifying as being trapped in an endless nightmare. Hamlet 's fear of death hold him back keeping him stuck in a unsatisfying life. Eventually death becomes accepted and is no longer a problem, Hamlet would rather die than be know as a coward. This …show more content…

Hamlet is in mourning of the death of his father and he is devastated which draws him into pondering death. Hamlets understanding of death is certainly unclear from the beginning. He wishes to end his life in promise of better things, and being more pure. Until he starts to speculate about the gods seeing suicide as a sin. Once he realises he must suffer in this human world he turns his sorrow into anger towards his mother. He feels betrayed and as if there is no reason left to live. He sees his mother as weak and foolish for marrying his uncle Claudius only two months after his father 's death. Hamlet states: “Frailty thy name is woman!”(1.2.150). He knew how much his father loved his mother and is stunned at the fact she can marry someone so inferior. Hamlet states: “So excellent a king, that was to this/ Hyperion to a satyr”(1.2.143-144). This shows how little Hamlet actually thought of …show more content…

Where do we go? What is in the afterlife? Is this life on earth though miserable, better than the life after? These are all questions that Hamlet pounders in his mind. Hamlet 's first six words produce a balance “To be or not to be”(3.1.64). This balance is to live or to die. Death can be empowering just as life can be a lack of power. Hamlet eliminates the fear of the unknown that comes with death. Death is almost the perfect closure, but there 's a catch. Death is like a long sleep, but dreaming come with sleep and we can’t control our dreams. This shifts our thoughts and direction of thinking. Hamlet takes a moment to reconsider. If the life after death is unknown, and could be worse than life, then death is a very scary thought. Dying is like crossing a fine line from known to the unknown. One could get lost in such an unknown place, and shall never return. Hamlet makes it implied that there are indescribable horrors. “Thus conscience does make cowards of us all” (3.1.91). This sentence is probably one of the most important sentences in this soliloquy. According to god it is a sin to take one 's life and if that’s added to the unknown after death the fear becomes greatly

Show More
Related
457 Words | 2 Pages

He has a choice to make, so he has to decide if living is worth living and if it is how he will deal with the situation that he has. Hamlet was conflicted he didn 't understand the value of his life in that exact moment. In Hamlets soliloquy the was thinking about the pro and cons of wether to end his life or deal with the problem that his dead father brought to him. He was starting to come to a decision when he’s thoughts were interrupted. This soliloquy brought to light the peoples that most people go through or think about.

Read More
282 Words | 2 Pages

To die- to sleep- No more; and by a sleep to say we end the heartache. ”(ACT III scene i) In this quote we see Hamlet debate his own life and consider whether dying would be better than to

Read More
727 Words | 3 Pages

Hamlet pushing away others causes his descent into madness. As he slowly loses his sanity, the idea of death looks more and more appealing. Shakespeare shows this idea through Hamlet’s soliloquy: “To be, or not to be: that is the question” (Shakespeare, line 57). The fact that Shakespeare used a soliloquy in this scene shows how much Hamlet’s solitude has affected how he views his life. His thoughts of suicide race as he finds himself alone, separating himself from the betrayal in his family.

Read More
898 Words | 4 Pages

We see his relation to death and how he is intrigued by it, in his soliloquy in Act one scene 2 he says the lines”o, that this too sullied flesh would melt” signifying his sense of wanting to disappear. The re-marriage of Gertrude with Claudius, his Uncle taking over as king instead of him, makes hamlet feel a

Read More
221 Words | 1 Pages

In Hamlet's soliloquy in act 1 scene 2 of Hamlet by Shakespeare, the central idea is that life is not fair. This is first shown as the central idea when Hamlet says that he wants to commit suicide, but it is against his religion (lines 129-132). To him, life seems unfair because when he wants to do something, he is not allowed to. The central idea is further shown when Hamlet says that his father loved his mother so much "that he might not [allow] the winds of heaven [to] / visit her face too roughly" (lines 141-142), and his mother "would hand on him as if [an] increase of appetite had grown / by what it fed on" (lines 143-145), and his father dies (lines 148). Soon after, she remarries.

Read More
628 Words | 3 Pages

Like many things, Hamlet is intelligent and honorable, but his indecisiveness is the cause of his tragic downfall. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare portrays that Hamlet is very incapable of finishing the task at hand. Throughout the drama Hamlet faces many trials and tribulations due to his late father Hamlet, who was murderously killed by Claudius. His inability to kill Claudius and himself is one grand flaw of an epic hero. After King Hamlets passing, Hamlet entered an unknown state of mind that not only feared others for his wellbeing, but also feared himself.

Read More
1879 Words | 8 Pages

To add on to Hamlet’s stress is the possibility that something might lie “after death”(III.i.79). The fear that whatever comes after death is unknown is one of the many reasons Hamlet does not want to kill himself. Hamlet is sane because some people today still have a fear about how what comes after death is unknown. Hamlet’s behavior begins to change when they prepare to show the play that Hamlet wrote to everyone in the castle. Hamlet acts disrespectful towards his mother once again declining the seat she offered him and sitting next to Ophelia instead.

Read More
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

Read More
402 Words | 2 Pages

He is later disgusted by his mother’s quick remarriage to his uncle, Claudius, almost two months after the death of his father who was also his mother’s husband. After Hamlet’s conversation with his father’s ghost in which Hamlet was told that his father was murdered by Claudius, he became filled with even more grief because he has a difficult duty of killing his uncle in order to avenge his father’s death. This is seen in the “to be or not to be” soliloquy.

Read More
1533 Words | 7 Pages

Death is one of the most prominent themes in Hamlet, appearing in different forms. Shakespeare displays death through the suicide of Ophelia, Hamlet’s own thoughts and eventual suicide, and the murder of King Hamlet and Polonius. Hamlet displays suicidal tendencies throughout the play through his soliloquies. The first time that Hamlet contemplates committing suicide is when Gertrude and Claudius tell him that he has to stay in Denmark in Act one. “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, or that the Everlasting had not fixed his canon ‘gainst self-slaughter!

Read More
873 Words | 4 Pages

This quote reveals how all these things have affected Hamlet psychologically and emotionally. The death of King Hamlet has led the play toward more death themes, making this the most tragedy

Read More
1250 Words | 5 Pages

In the “To be or not to be” soliloquy, Hamlet says, “To die, to sleep/ No more—and by a sleep to say we end/ The heartache and the thousand natural shocks/ That flesh/ is heir to—’tis a consummation/ Devoutly to be wished!”(3.1 61-64) Proving that he is so distraught about taking action against his uncle that he believes that death would be an easier alterative to losing his purity and innocence. He ultimately decides that suicide is not the answer, “With this regard their currents turn awry/ And lose the name of action,” (3.1 88-89) because he cannot take the uncertainty of the afterlife. This entire soliloquy also highlights Hamlets delayed action to his problems.

Read More
1306 Words | 6 Pages

Shakespeare presents death as an inevitable act of life, noting that all that is living must eventually come to an end. Due to “Hamlet” being a Shakespearean tragedy, the theme of death recurs throughout the play. Additionally, Shakespeare can be seen as using revenge as the main motive of a character’s murder, which makes “Hamlet” a revenge tragedy. The tragic nature means that by the end of the play, majority of the characters would have died. In this case, many of the characters have died due to murder or suicide.

Read More
1156 Words | 5 Pages

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”.

Read More
847 Words | 4 Pages

In his soliloquy, he is asking himself whether it is better to live or to die, which he is considering to commit suicide. Also, in the soliloquy, Hamlet states that “Who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscovered country from whose bourn No traveler returns, puzzles the will And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of?” (3.1.84-90). He explains that no one would like to live in an exhausting life, unless they don’t know what is going to happen after they die because they are afraid of what their after life is going to be. Both these quotes prove that the death symbol is always surrounded by Hamlet and he has a hard time to choose between life and

Read More

More about Life And Death In Hamlet's First Soliloquy '

Related Topics

Open Document