Pressley's View Of Suicide In Hamlet

Society views suicide as an unacceptable and cowardly measure in many different religions and societies. For those who take their own lives, much of society perceives their actions as a last resort escape from their troubles. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, suicide is a lingering cloud hovering over Hamlet. He constantly considers suicide and is contemplating it with himself. The play also reinforces a very specific image of death through the play, and suicide or death itself is an inviting temptation for Hamlet. Not only does Hamlet introduce the concept and image of death from the very beginning, but moreover it also remains a constant theme throughout the play

T - Truth may be uncomfortable, and upon hearing it can cause people to

Pressley believes that Hamlet absorbs himself in the consequences of taking his own life, and what it may mean for him in his next life, if he even has one. Assuming Hamlet is in Christian context, Hamlet has concerns with the effects of killing himself because of how his Christian beliefs condemns it. Hamlet believes that is one of the reasons that it is taking him so long to act on anything, the reason for his stalling and procrastination on the matters of suicide and murder of his uncle, King

Hamlet finds himself going mad over the course of the play, saying things he would not typically say, such as his consideration of suicide, and doing inexcusable things he would not normally do. For example, upon hearing a cry for help from behind the arras in his mother’s bedroom, he stabs through it with his sword, completely unaware of who or what may be behind the curtain. His blade pierces the arras, and punctures Pelonius, killing him. Hamlet assumes that Claudius is behind the curtain, but he is never certain. He impales the fabric anyways, and subsequently creates an even thicker atmosphere of death amongst the play. It is ironic, because Hamlet’s father’s death is what establishes the dark theme of death in Hamlet, but it is also what causes all of the unbearable amount of death that occurs throughout the play. The hesitancy that Hamlet demonstrates throughout the play culminates into all of the deaths that make the play retain the grim and dark theme of