The Insanity Of Suicide In Josh Hirsh's Hamlet

After the ghost instructed Prince Hamlet on how to expose King Claudius, Hamlet goes through a period of inner turmoil. The ghost tells Hamlet to feign madness, in order to capture the opportunity to reveal Claudius’ true nature. The ghost reasons this and says that no one will believe Hamlet if he just says that Claudius is guilty. As Hamlet pretends to have gone insane, she falls in love with Ophelia, who is described to be a gentle, cordial person. Polonius, the father of Ophelia, sees Hamlet’s odd behavior, and forbids Ophelia from talking to Hamlet. She would report to her father anything Hamlet told her, so Hamlet cannot and does not confide in her. Hamlet is deeply hurt and wonders whether feigning insanity is worth losing Ophelia. Hamlet

Hamlet brings up complex questions about life and death, and what it means to live. Josh Hirsh’s book on this soliloquy, The “To be, or not to be’’ Speech: Evidence, Conventional Wisdom, and the Editing of Hamlet, addresses the idea of the Christian prohibition of suicide, although it isn't mentioned explicitly. Committing suicide was considered a sin to Catholic audiences because they believed no one can justify the intentional taking of an innocent human life. In fact, they strongly believed suicide would deprive society of the contribution and activity of an individual, and that it usurped the function of God. When Hamlet mentions the “dread of something after death,” an audience would most likely interpret that to mean going to hell. Gary B. Ferngren, the author of The Ethics of Suicide in the Renaissance and Reformation, wrote how 17th century Catholic beliefs included the view that suicide is “a violation of the sixth commandments and a sin that precludes repentance.” Suicide became a crime and was often punished additionally by confiscation of property and refusal of consecrated ground for burial of the