Essay about Suicide in Hamlet

Based on the play of Hamlet by William Shakespeare, suicide is the most prevalent and important themes in Hamlet. Hamlet always asks himself for the reason to stay alive. Even though he always thinks that there is no reason for him to stay alive, however he always chooses to stay. The first reason Hamlet seems to contemplate suicide is because his life is contaminated by sins and revenge. The other reason he is thinking about suicide is because he is young and immature. Young adults usually look for escapes when they become angry with things. There are many instances where Hamlet contemplating suicide and he treats the idea of suicide morally, religiously, and aesthetically, with particular attention to Hamlet’s two important statements about suicide: the “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt” soliloquy (I.ii.129–158) and the “To be, or not to be” soliloquy (III.i.56–88).

Hamlet recognizes that suicide is a sin in the eyes of God, so consequently wishes that he could simply cease to exist. In doubting that life is worth all the hardships one must face, Hamlet briefly relishes in the concept of death, equating it to nothing more than a sleep wherein one can be rid of the “heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks” of physical life (III.i.70). Though immediately thereafter Hamlet acknowledges the startling unknown, and the fact that one does not know what comes after death. Hamlet feels a great deal of uncertainty, which surely enhances his overall frustration. Herein lies Hamlet’s reservations in regards to committing suicide: it is a sin, and the afterlife may prove to be more unpleasant than life itself.

In act 3 scene 1 of William Shakespeare “Hamlet” the main protagonist, Hamlet, recites a soliloquy “To be, or not to be.” Throughout his lines Hamlet explains the concept of suicide and why people choose to live long lives instead of ending their suffering. The main point he speaks on is the mystery of one’s afterlife, they never know for sure what happens when they die. For this reason, his speech does a good job highlighting the plays underlying themes of pervasiveness of death, and tragic dilemma, and tragic flaws.

“To be, or not to be: that is the question” (Shakespeare 3.1.56). Audiences know Shakespeare’s Hamlet as a play that contains frequent meditations on suicide, yet despite suicide’s obvious religious connections, audiences do not often consider how religion as a whole functions within the play. This lack of awareness partially results from the subtlety of many of Hamlet’s religious elements. Through his religious references and the resulting emphasis on the gravity of the sins of murder and suicide, Shakespeare clarifies the contradictory attitude given to these sins and illuminates that the characters practice religion inconsistently and hypocritically because their concern is ultimately for their reputation in a Christian world rather than truly for their religion.

Depression is the first emotion that begins to sway Hamlet’s outlook on how he should respond to his father’s murder. The first appearance of Hamlet shows his inner turmoil and depressive thought that if, “Too too solid flesh would melt/ Thaw and resolve itself into a dew,” meaning that Hamlet wishes that his flesh was not so solid that death was such a difficult result to come by (1.2.129-30). The use of the impersonal terms “melt” and “thaw” both allude to the thought that Hamlet views his body more as a vessel than his actual being. Hamlet continues his soliloquy by questioning God’s Commandment against suicide; for if there were no consequences, Hamlet would willingly leave this “stale” world (1.2.131-34). By viewing the world in such a negative way, Hamlet is changing his mental state and conscience from one that acknowledges possible consequences and avoids the sinful act of suicide to one where any consequence is ignored for the world itself is “an unweeded garden” (1.2.135). This change of outlook is seen in Hamlet’s aside when he says, “A little more than kin, and less than kind,” where he openly states his distaste in his uncle and now step-father Claudius (1.2.65). Hamlet held great respect for his father’s ability to hold the throne with such confidence, and, for him to see Denmark fall into a state

Hamlets contemplation of ending his life shows an inward conflict within himself. In his first soliloquy, he debates whether he should commit suicide. "To be, or not to be- / that is the question: / whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer/ the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, / or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing, end them" (3.1. lines 64-68 Shakespeare). He questions why he should live with all of this chaos but overcomes this internal conflict because he acknowledges that in his religion suicide is a sin. “O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, / Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, / or that the everlasting had not fixed His canon 'gainst (self-slaughter). O God! God!” (1.2. lines 133-136 Shakespeare). This soliloquy signifies the reality of Hamlet s internal conflict and also shows the reality of his external conflict with the society he is surrounded by. This declamation establishes

If his father, who was a great man, can be forgotten so quickly upon his death, then to Hamlet life seems rather pointless. In Hamlet’s soliloquy in act one scene two where he first contemplates suicide, Shakespeare begins his discourse with death. The notion of suicide is a major philosophical question – perhaps the greatest, as it argues between religious issues; “that the Everlasting had not fix'd his canon ‘gainst self-slaughter”, the boundaries between life and death, expressed through the boundaries between the physical and nonphysical, that he wishes that this “too solid flesh would melt”, but most significantly the point of life and the point of death, where all the “uses of this world” seem “weary, stale, flat and unprofitable”. There is an importance placed on death rites in this soliloquy, that Gertrude “followed my poor father’s body
” evoking imagery of a funerary procession, but Hamlet still feels that this was not enough, he feels especially that it was a deceit- that her tears were

In the play, Hamlet, Shakespeare leaves you wondering about death. Through the characters in the play, he reveals his own thoughts about death. Does Shakespeare portray a deep understanding of death in this play? The never-ending cycle of death and revenge is evident throughout the entire play.

When your back is against a wall and it seems that all hope is lost, do not give up. Because if you choose suicide, you will never live to see it get worse, however, you also pass up the chance to see life get better. Suicide is an important, recurring theme in William Shakespeare's, Hamlet, and it is a topic that Hamlet contemplates quite often throughout the play. Hamlet often goes back and forth between to be or not to be, but continues to believe that people although capable of suicide, choose to live. Hamlet is adamant that the unknown, the inconclusiveness of nobility, along with the sin attached to suicide is what ultimately keeps people from taking their own lives.

In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the protagonist, Hamlet is obsessed with the idea of death, and during the course of the play he contemplates death from numerous perspectives. He ponders the physical aspects of death, as seen with Yoricks's skull, his father's ghost, as well as the dead bodies in the cemetery. Hamlet also contemplates the spiritual aspects of the afterlife with his various soliloquies. Emotionally Hamlet is attached to death with the passing of his father and his lover Ophelia. Death surrounds Hamlet, and forces him to consider death from various points of view.

During the beginning of the story, Hamlet saw death as some sort of easy exit. This can be seen during his soliloquy when he stated, “No more; and by a sleep to say we end the heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks” (III. i. 68-69). Hamlet is saying that death is like a sleep that will end any hardships or problems. Despite his interpretation of death, he does not commit suicide because it would go against his beliefs being that suicide is a sin. The second reason stopping him from committing suicide was what he believed would happen after his death. He was afraid of what would occur after death, the afterlife was a mysterious “undiscovered country from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will and makes us rather bear those ills we have” (III.

Hamlet laments the thought of suicide but restrains himself from doing so due to the possibility of eternal suffering in the afterlife. Hamlet says, “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, Or that the Everlasting had not fixed, His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God!”. (Act 1 Scene 2) Hmalet wishes God had not made a law against suicide because Hmalet would rather die then live a life that feels like a garden that is not being taken care of. Hamlets most famous words, “To be or not To be” (Act 3 Scene 1), meaning is it better to be alive or dead. That is the question that has plagued mankind since the beginning. It either messes so much with a persons mind they give in and

In William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” the prince of Denmark embarks on a quest of revenge against his Uncle Claudius, the new king, for the assassination of his father. In the beginning, Hamlet was contemplating suicide with the news of his father’s sudden death and the quick marriage of his mother, Gertrude and Uncle Claudius, but decides not to by virtue of being a sin. In the play “Hamlet,” Shakespeare examines the role of suicide in morality and religion providing a new perception into how they affect each other, and how both belief guide characters ' motives.

as these lines relate back to the development of Ophelia’s character, as well as play an important role in the plot of the play, and a major conflict that is portrayed.

will.” ( III I, 179-181) The fear of what will happen after death deters him.