Essay on Suicide in Hamlet - 1624 Words

In William Shakespeares Hamlet, suicide is an important and continuous theme throughout the play. Hamlet is the main character who contemplates the thought of suicide many different times throughout the play, since the murder of his father. Hamlet weighs the advantages of leaving his miserable life with the living, for possibly a better but unknown life with the dead. Hamlet seriously contemplates suicide, but decides against it, mainly because it is a mortal sin against God. Hamlet continues to say that most of humanity would commit suicide and escape the hardships of life, but do not because they are unsure of what awaits them in the after life. Hamlet throughout the play is continually tormented by his fathers death and his†¦show more content†¦Hamlet continues on and almost complains on the state of the world, calling it stale, flat, and unprofitable, showing how truly miserable he is. Hamlet considers suicide as a possible option of escape from his life in a pain ful world, but feels as though religion is preventing him from doing so. Hamlet then provides us with the roots for his pain and the reason for his contemplation of suicide. Hamlet is is troubled by his mothers marriage to Claudius, but especially how quickly the two were married after his fathers death. He continues to express his dislike and hatred for Claudius calling him a satyr, while praising his father and saying how excellent of a king his father was. In one of the final lines of the soliloquy Hamlet comments on how the marriage is a bad omen for Denmark, It is not, nor it cannot come to good, (I. ii. 163). For the first time we are introduced to the idea of suicide which will continue to present itself as the play develops. When Hamlet is set up and spied on by Claudius and Polonius, he examines the moral aspect of suicide in a painful world. He opens his soliloquy with asking a simple question, To be, or not to be:that is the question: (III. i. 58), that is, wheth er to live or to die. He then begins to question whether it is nobler to suffer life and the, slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, (III. i. 66), or to take ones life and end ones suffering. He compares death to sleep and at first thinks thatShow MoreRelatedThe Significance of Suicide in Hamlet1525 Words   |  7 PagesThe Significance of Suicide in Hamlet The concept of suicide is one that is greatly contemplated and discussed by Hamlet and other characters in William Shakespeares play. It can be seen through two of Hamlets soliloquies and his overall demeanor throughout the play. Hamlet has many issues that he must deal with such as the death of his father and the marriage of his uncle and mother. 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