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The Mystery Of Death In Hamlet

2157 Words9 Pages

Petar Antovski
Professor Matthew Hotsinpiller
English 2
19 July 2015
The Mystery of Death
Ideas, beliefs and myths pertaining to the mystery of death imbue the eternal story of Hamlet, a work of literature art that can to this day urge its every reader to question their own faith and spirituality. From the beginning we are catapulted into a world where the limits between life and death are blurred, where the worlds of the living and the dead are joined. After all, one of the first characters to appear is the ghost of Old Hamlet. Even in the opening scene Shakespeare establishes a certain fascination with the dead. Although Horatio, Bernardo and Marcellus are frightened by the appearance of the ghost, their curiosity and a longing to discover …show more content…

It is not only his presence, but also his words that suggest the idea of death, as the Ghost gives the account of his murder - ‘Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole with juice of cursed hebenon in a vial, and in the porches of my ears did pour the leperous distilment, whose effect holds such an enmity with blood of man that swift as quicksilver it courses through the natural gates and alleys of the body, and with a sudden vigour it doth posset and curd, like eager droppings into milk, the thin and wholesome blood. So did it mine, and a most instant tetter bark’d about, most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust all my smooth body.’ Not only does Hamlet have to plan his revenge, but he must also deal with his ideas about death. Old Hamlet’s murder begins the theme of death in “Hamlet”. Hamlet’s vow to avenge his father’s murder and consequent plot to kill Claudius ultimately leads to the deaths of his future father-in-law Polonius, his bride to be Ophelia, his mother Queen Gertrude, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Claudius, Laertes and Hamlet …show more content…

Despite all of this they still ended up reduced to dust just like Yorick. Thanks to this epiphany Hamlet was finally rid of his fear of death and also made him realize the pointlessness of life. Even though death was still shrouded in mystery for him, he at least did not fear it anymore as he realized that it is inevitable and that every man has to face it. This experience, which was closely followed by fighting on top of a corpse, made him undersand that no matter what a man accomplishes in his life, death would ultimately be victorious. There is no man more powerful than

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