Hamlet, the play, asks many questions with multiple having many or no answers. One of such questions is the philosophical and political aspects of what “is” and what “seems”.
Shakespeare takes the philosophical aspect of ‘Hamlet’ and brings it down to two interests, physical and metaphysical. What constitutes as physical is something you can easily describe through characteristics, while metaphysical is something that goes beyond the characteristics. By bringing these two interests together, a philosophical aspect of ‘Hamlet’ has been produced.
Through close reading, there are many instances of both physical and metaphysical. For physical we can look at the actions of murder, the trumpet playing or even the funerals that take place in ‘Hamlet’. …show more content…
As readers we begin to question the very reality of the Ghost in this very scene and the previous scenes the Ghost has appeared in as well. One of such questions is that how come Hamlet is able to converse with the Ghost whereas Horatio was unable to do so? What this question further leads to is that if the physical appearance of the Ghost is even real or is it simply a metaphysical essence? One possible inference about Gertrude being unable to see the Ghost can be possibly related to her unfaithfulness to her previous husband. We can see this in Act 1, Scene 5 where the Ghost says to Hamlet about Claudius taking Gertrude and Gertrude …show more content…
But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison house. (I,V, 14-19)
This quote is particularly interesting in the metaphysical essence. We understand that the Ghost is on Earth during the night but during the day, he is in Hell and inside the “prison house” which is where he is confined for his crimes that he has done. This “prison house” can also be called a purgatory or simply a place between Heaven and Hell where the person is not fit for Hell or Heaven is placed to be cleansed in order to go to Heaven. This quote brings out the great metaphysical question about what happens and where you go after death. The belief of life after death is very much based off the religious system of Christianity which is what the characters are seen to practice. From the physical aspect of Christianity, the body is buried and given a funeral in order to give them a resting place for their physical body. Their metaphysical body, or the soul/spirit, goes to Heaven or Hell based on the judgement of God. However when the spirit is back on Earth as a physical figure, the physical and metaphysical embodiment of Christianity is changed as right now, the metaphysical and physical have
Shakespeare takes the philosophical aspect of ‘Hamlet’ and brings it down to two interests, physical and metaphysical. What constitutes as physical is something you can easily describe through characteristics, while metaphysical is something that goes beyond the characteristics. By bringing these two interests together, a philosophical aspect of ‘Hamlet’ has been produced.
Through close reading, there are many instances of both physical and metaphysical. For physical we can look at the actions of murder, the trumpet playing or even the funerals that take place in ‘Hamlet’. …show more content…
As readers we begin to question the very reality of the Ghost in this very scene and the previous scenes the Ghost has appeared in as well. One of such questions is that how come Hamlet is able to converse with the Ghost whereas Horatio was unable to do so? What this question further leads to is that if the physical appearance of the Ghost is even real or is it simply a metaphysical essence? One possible inference about Gertrude being unable to see the Ghost can be possibly related to her unfaithfulness to her previous husband. We can see this in Act 1, Scene 5 where the Ghost says to Hamlet about Claudius taking Gertrude and Gertrude …show more content…
But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison house. (I,V, 14-19)
This quote is particularly interesting in the metaphysical essence. We understand that the Ghost is on Earth during the night but during the day, he is in Hell and inside the “prison house” which is where he is confined for his crimes that he has done. This “prison house” can also be called a purgatory or simply a place between Heaven and Hell where the person is not fit for Hell or Heaven is placed to be cleansed in order to go to Heaven. This quote brings out the great metaphysical question about what happens and where you go after death. The belief of life after death is very much based off the religious system of Christianity which is what the characters are seen to practice. From the physical aspect of Christianity, the body is buried and given a funeral in order to give them a resting place for their physical body. Their metaphysical body, or the soul/spirit, goes to Heaven or Hell based on the judgement of God. However when the spirit is back on Earth as a physical figure, the physical and metaphysical embodiment of Christianity is changed as right now, the metaphysical and physical have