Why Hamlet Needs To Die Essay -- Literary Analysis

Hamlet's view of death morphs through the course of the play as he is faced with various problems and troubles that force him to deal with life differently. This holds particular significance for a modern audience who, unlike the predominately Christian audiences of Shakespeare's time, contains an assortment of perspectives on the subject. For the majority of the play, Hamlet yearns for death, but there are different tones to his yearning as he confronts death in different circumstances; from his encounter with his father's ghost to the discovery of his beloved Ophelia dead in the ground, Hamlet feels an irrepressible urge to end his life. There are obstacles that get in his way, both internal and external, and Shakespeare's play is an account of Hamlet's struggle with them. When we first meet Hamlet, he is moping around Elsinore Castle on account of his father's recent death and his mother's more recent marriage to his uncle. In the first act of the play, it has been two months since King Hamlet was laid in the ground—a fairly short time ago in terms of grief, but not so long that family members could not conceivably begin their lives again, as Hamlet's mother has done in marrying her late husband's brother. Hamlet is still in mourning clothes, is wholly fixated on the loss of his father, and is positively mortified and revolted by his mother's apparent indifference. In the play's first conversation between Hamlet and his newlywed parents, they chide him for his "obstinate condolement" for his father (1.2.93). They believe that "Hamlet's long mourning for his father is against not only the rule of nature, grace, or grace, but also heaven" (Hassel 612). Thinking of death makes Hamlet an unpleasant person for the newlywe... ...zlw4MBx3Rc3yxAK4i00QEjo#v=onepage&q=&f=false>. Gottschalk, Paul. "Hamlet and the Scanning of Revenge." Shakespeare Quarterly, 24.2 (1973): 155-170. JSTOR Database. 13 Nov. 2009 . Hassel, Chris, Jr. "Hamlet's 'Too, Too Solid Flesh." The Sixteenth Century Journal, 25.3 (1994): 609-622. JSTOR Database. 13 Nov. 2009 . Russell, John. "Dust and Divinity: Hamlet's Fractured World." Hamlet and Narcissus. Cranbury, N.J.: Associated University Presses, 1995. 39-50. Rpt. in Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Michelle Lee. Vol. 92. Detroit: Gale, 2005. 39-50. Literature Resource Center. Gale. 14 Nov. 2009 . Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. The Bedford Introduction to Drama. Ed. Jacobus, Lee A. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009. 340-393.