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Death and Hamlet:
An Exploration of Shakespeare's Eternal Musings
Many who sit down to write a Hamlet essay will find that Shakespeare did not shy away from the big themes of life when writing The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. One of the major themes explored throughout the play is the mystery of death. While not exactly a light topic, any Hamlet essay writer will tell you that writing on the prince's musings about death are actually fairly enjoyable. After all, a Hamlet essay needs to be filled with vivid stories, strong ideas and ultimately, a robust argument. A great idea for a Hamlet essay is an exploration of the theme of death in the play.
After Hamlet's father dies, Hamlet is completely consumed with the notion of death, continually coming back to death as something which may provide the final answers for all of Hamlet's burning questions. Hamlet first confronts death, of course, in the death of his father. In mourning for his father's death he is confronted by his mother and Claudius who tell him to cheer up. Hamlet replies that he would cheer up if his father had not been dead for such a short while. Hamlet refuses to take off the clothes which signify that he is in mourning, and persists at remaining melancholy throughout the play. In the moments following Claudius and Gertrude's departure, Hamlet cries out 'O, that this too solid flesh would melt," signifying his desire to leave the horrible situation in which he has found himself. He realizes that he can do little to fix what has occurred, and that he knows too little to really do anything. Later on, we see Hamlet encounter the ghost of his dead father.
When Hamlet interacts with his father, he is told that his Uncle Claudius has murdered his father and that he must revenge his father's death. Given something to do, Hamlet begins to plot his strategy, yet, when he encounters Claudius in the chapel, he is entirely unable to kill him, confront him, or really do anything. It is only later on in the play, when Hamlet arranges for the players to guilt Claudius into admission of his murderous plot and then when Hamlet duels Laertes and kills Claudius, that Hamlet does anything substantial. One major question that any good Hamlet essay writer should explore is Hamlet's obsession with his own death.
Early on in the play, Hamlet wishes for death, and then later, reaching the famous, "To be or not to be" speech, he seriously contemplates suicide in order to escape the painful world in which he has found himself. Ophelia, of course, brings a suicide to completion, which only adds to Hamlet's suffering and confusion, and ultimately leads Hamlet to conclude that people who are afraid of what comes after death will refrain from committing suicide, but those who are not afraid, will commit suicide as the pain of life is too great. Certainly, Hamlet's musings on death suggest that Hamlet would die if only he would garner up the courage to kill himself or ask someone to kill him.
A great Hamlet essay is one that explores big themes in detailed, vivid ways. Writing about Hamlet's musings on death in a Hamlet essay is a strong way to start off on the right foot. The play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is filled with strong topics to write on in one's own Hamlet essay, and because of this, many writers can look forward to writing on Hamlet as even death is a fun topic to write about.
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