The Death Of Hamlet By William Shakespeare - 906 Words

Imagery is an integral part of literature. The protagonist, Hamlet, his mother Queen Gertrude and her husband King Claudius, along with Hamlet’s love interest Ophelia are all affected by human sin through the evocation of sickness and rot. Sin, the driving force of the play, impacts each character, decaying his or her mind, resulting in the emotional and physical demise of each character and the decay of the state of Denmark, which has become â€Å"rotten† after Claudius poisons his own brother and weds his sister-in-law. William Shakespeare’s tragic play Hamlet has explicit imagery evoking sickness, death, and decay. The use of death, rot, and sickness as images illustrate the sinful human nature of the characters and the corruption of Denmark. Death as an image in Hamlet is used to present both the effects of sinning on Hamlet and Denmark’s corruption. In the opening act, Hamlet speaks to Claudius and Gertrude regarding his melancholy attitude due to his father’s murder (which was committed by Claudius); when the King and Queen leave, Hamlet says in an aside that he wishes that God had not made suicide a sin. During his speech, Hamlet says that he wishes his â€Å"too sullied flesh would melt† meaning he wishes he could kill himself to get rid of his depression (1.2.133-134). This imagery of melting flesh is a representation of death that shows Hamlet’s pain. In addition, death imagery is seen during Laertes’s speech to Ophelia regarding his concerns about Hamlet’s intentions.Show MoreRelatedThe Death Of Hamlet By William Shakespeare1427 Words   |  6 Pagesa ghost, Denmark is on the verge of damage. Directly following King Hamlet s death, the widowed Queen, Gertrude, remarried Claudius, the King s brother. Prince Hamlet optically discerns the joining together of his mother and uncle as a hasty and incestuous act (Charles Boyce, 232). He then ascertains that Claudius is responsible for his fathe r s perfidious murder. His father s ghost asks Hamlet to avenge his death and Hamlet concurs. He plans very punctiliously, ascertaining that he doesn tRead MoreThe Death Of Hamlet By William Shakespeare Essay2134 Words   |  9 Pagesin return for a wrong; returning evil for evil, vengeance† (Webster Dictionary). This play introduces Hamlet, a prince who goes on the quest to take revenge on his uncle who killed his father and Hamlet won’t rest on until he gives his uncle the punishment for killing the king. But this quest for him to get his revenges has some consequences that could lead to many deaths including himself. Hamlet thirst for revenge clouds his judgements, which leads to drastic consequences. The feeling of revengeRead MoreThe Death Of Hamlet By William Shakespeare1522 Words   |  7 PagesThere are only a handful of experiences that everyone must practice, and one of the most provocative is death. For some, death is fearfully avoided, but for others, it is constantly sought after. Suicide is a topic that impacts all kinds of people, so much so that it is often addressed in literature. For real people and fictional characters such as Shakespeare’s Hamlet, prince of Denmark, thoughts of self-harm are brought about by overwhelming emotions that became almost too heavy to handle aloneRead MoreThe Death Of Hamlet By William Shakespeare1494 Words   |  6 Pageshappen to them. A prime example of this ideology is found in the play Hamlet. Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, was composed in 1601 following the death of Shakespeare’s son, Hamlet. The play focuses on the prince of Denmark, Hamlet, as he discovers the truth about his father s death and the ev ents that follow. Shortly after the death of Hamlet’s father, Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, marries Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius. Hamlet does not agree with the marriage of his mother and his uncle and he frequentlyRead More Death and Suicide in Hamlet by William Shakespeare1100 Words   |  5 Pages is one of the top leading causes of death worldwide. Every year, more than a million people commit suicide, successfully ending whatever feelings of despair, pressure, or suffering they felt when alive. Yet statistics show that the number of nonfatal suicide attempts exceeds that of actual completed suicides. Failed attempts of taking one’s own life reveal the deep, undermining uncertainties humans have about death. Such inquiries as to whether life or death is better stream into human perceptionRead MoreThe Death Of Hamlet By William Shakespeare1325 Words   |  6 PagesDeath is the Key One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel. This saying means that one awful person or event can infect others and cause them to change also. This can be seen in Hamlet, when King Hamlet dies in the beginning of the play. Hamlet, like any other Shakespearean tradgedy, contains a series betrayal and death. Hamlet seeks revenge when his deceased father’s ghost tells him that his uncle, Claudius, murdered him. Since Hamlet’s grief for his father was expressed more than any other characterRead MoreDeath Of Hamlet By William Shakespeare1114 Words   |  5 PagesThroughout Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the theme of death is thoroughly expressed through symbolism. Death, a primary element in Hamlet, taunts and dances around the characters preceding the death of Hamlet’s father. The symbols representing death become increasingly more prominent as the play progresses, they appear in both ironic and bold forms. The enigma that death poses drives key points in the plot of the play. Collectively, the symbols of death in Hamlet provoke and foreshadow this essential tragicRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Hamlet - Hamlet s Death1177 Words   |  5 PagesWilliam Shakespeare’s Hamlet has a multitude of not only characters, but also many different character scenarios going on as well. The play begins with us learning of the death of Hamlet’s father, King Hamlet, and the marriage of Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, to her now ex brother-in-law Claudius. We later discover that the now king, Claudius, killed his brother and are left to question if he and Gertrude had been having an affair the entire time and whether Gertrude had a hand in King Hamlet’s deathRead MoreDeath in William Shakespeare ´s Hamlet Essay585 Words   |  3 PagesIn the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet struggles with the abrupt death of his father at the hands of his uncle. It is in the very beginning of the play that Hamlet voices his opinion that death woul d be a peaceful release. But as the play progresses his attitude begins to slowly doubt the serenity in death. Hamlet had been surrounded by death but had yet to come face to face with it, escaping the lessons the world was trying to teach him. It is within Act 5 scene 1 that Hamlet has a directRead MoreThe Theme Of Death In Hamlet By William Shakespeare925 Words   |  4 PagesDeath can be defined as; the permanent and irreversible cessation of the vital functions that result in the end of one’s life. Death itself can have many different causes such as disease, old age or even something as gruesome as murder. In the Elizabethan era, it seems as though murder was commonly used to solve problems as in several of William Shakespeares plays, characters are killed so that more dominant characters can obtain what they truly desire. In William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet death