The Tragedy Of Hamlet Prince Of Denmark
The Tragedy Of Hamlet: Prince Of Denmark
In Shakespeare’s early 17th century work of The Tragedy of Hamlet: Prince of Denmark, the universal and fundamental idea of death is adequately expressed throughout this revenge drama. Using death as a theme emphasizes Shakespeare’s plot and point of whether the consequences of moral corruption surrounding death are justified by the relationship of thoughts, motives, and actions.
What is death? Death is the inevitable conclusion to everyone’s life story. It doesn’t discriminate based on race, color, sex, physical attributes, etc., it doesn’t feel pity or remorse and it comes to us all. From the mightiest king to the loneliest peasant, no one excluded from death’s icy grip. It is a natural fact of life that is either rejected or accepted. Death being the main theme of Hamlet, a stronger connection is achieved between the readers and Hamlet than another drama excluding death. The simple reason being that death is not only a part of the Hamlet’s set of circumstances but also part of the real world, thus linking the reader to the atmosphere of Shakespeare’s drama by having experiencing death themselves in one form or another at some point in their lives. Death usually creates unwanted and unexpected situations to others that leave them with little options and a burden on their shoulders as it did to Hamlet who actively disapproved of the moral state of affairs he was thrown into with the discovery of his father’s true death.
The cycle of death is a never-ending spiral that travels in basically two directions, up or down (depending on your religion). And everything else is in one way or more is chained to this spiral. This is perfectly demonstrated as the entire plot of Hamlet revolves around the murder of King Hamlet and the moral contemplations of, his son, Prince Hamlet’s dilemma of resolving his inner struggle by directly causing the death of Claudius or that of his own. The consideration of young Hamlet taking his own life is thoroughly explained by his famous suicide soliloquy (SparkNotes) “To be or not to be,” (III. i 58-90) where he takes a logically powerful stand point on whether the consequences of suicide outweigh the benefits or if there are any consequences at all in accepting death by your own hands. During his soliloquy, Hamlet refers to several of the supporting themes of this...