Mortality In Hamlet

In his timeless tragedy, Hamlet, William Shakespeare unflinchingly illuminates both the perpetually driving force and sweet satisfaction that can accompany revenge through his candid exploration of human ambition and mortality in an effort to ultimately bring the reader to the realization that death is inevitable and in the end, we will all sucumb to the same grim reality of death. Act I of the play, begins with four guards who are the first to see the Ghost of the King and inform Hamlet resulting in him meeting his Father’s ghost and discovering the real cause of his father’s untimely demise. When the ghost reveals that it was actually Hamlet’s Uncle Claudius that killed him in order to steal his throne and wife, Hamlet is enraged and

Later, when a troupe of actors comes to the castle, Hamlet devizes a plan to prove Claudius’ guilt by having the actors reenact his murder in front of him. In the next Act, the actors begin the play. This, as Hamlet suspected, greatly angers Claudius. Queen Gertrude orders Hamlet to her room to discuss his recent behaviour, and Polonius takes this opportunity to hide behind a curtain and eavesdrop on their conversation. During their conversation, Gertrude comes to believe that Hamlet intends to murder her and she cries out, causing Polonius to also

Upon hearing Polonius’ cry, Hamlet rushes over and stabs Polonius through the curtain, believing that he is Claudius. When he finds that it is not actually Claudius that he has killed, but rather Polonius, Hamlet nonchalantly states how foolish he was for spying on their conversation. In Act IV, Hamlet is sent off to England where Claudius has plans for the English to kill him. When Ophelia’s brother Laertes comes back from France, he finds that not only has his father been killed, but also that his sister has gone mad, and he believes this all to be the fault of the royal court and he bursts into the room followed by a throng of followers who wish to make him king. Claudius seeing the rage of not only Laertes, but also the people backing him, decides to let himself be questioned. Claudius eventually convinces Laertes that his fathers murder is entirely Hamlets fault and when he receives word that Hamlet has escaped his death in England and will soon be returning to the court, he begins hatching a plan with Laertes to kill Hamlet. In the fifth and final act, Hamlet returns to Denmark to find his beloved Ophelia dead and proclaims his love for her at her funeral. In the next scene Hamlet and Laertes engage in a “friendly” sword duel, in which unbeknownst to Hamlet, is Claudius and Laertes plot to