The Cruel Nature Of Death In Shakespeare's Hamlet

Improved Essays
One of the most iconic moments from Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a scene where Hamlet stands in graveyard, gazing into a skull. Symbolically, this represents a moment where life is only temporary and how death can come at any moment. This is because Hamlet leaves the graveyard and is killed hours later in the fencing match. While this scene is used partially for comedic effect, with the gravedigger’s conversation, the later scenes segue into Shakespeare’s primary motive to explain the cruel nature.
Key dialogue from this graveyard scene indicates humanity’s vulnerability to death, regardless of power or status. For example, Hamlet struggles with facing the reality of Yorick 's death and understanding how someone “of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy”(5.1.191-192) could be reduced to a lonely, empty skull. Hamlet, in bemusement, questions Yorick, “Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on roar”(5.1.196-198). Shakespeare also
…show more content…
The fencing scene shows how human vices are often to blame for tragedies involving death. When Fortinbras enters with his army, it appears that four members of royalty, Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, and Laertes, are pointlessly murdered. However, upon further inspection, each character’s death has him/herself to blame. Hamlet’s hunger for vengeance and impulsive nature, Claudius’ lust for power, Gertrude’s gullible nature, and Laertes love for his sister all led to their own demise. In this fencing scene, Laertes duels Hamlet and wounds himself with the poisoned blade. Laertes lays dying and reveals to Hamlet, “The treacherous instrument is in hand, unbated and envenomed. The foul practice Hath turned itself on me. Lo, here I lie, Never to rise again”(5.2.347-350). Although Laertes killed Hamlet, Polonius’ murderer, he did so at the cost of his own

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Hamlet's Value Of Life

    • 382 Words
    • 2 Pages

    People will never know the true definition of the value of life because each and every person has different perspectives. For example, Hamlet, a pessimist by nature,chose to contemplate suicide due to the overwhelming pain in his life, while Ebert and Jobs had much more positive outlooks on their lives despite their devastating predicaments. All three men have something valuable to offer to the discussion regarding the value of life. Hamlet, a human being that loathes life and scrutinizes suicide, questions life after death. Hamlet evaluates the pros and cons of life and death as he struggles after the killing of his father, and the loss of his dear Ophelia.…

    • 382 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the play Hamlet discovers that death is the ultimate end and our choices can’t change the fact that in the end we die. During his soliloquy with York’s skull Hamlet says ‘Poor Yorick, I knew him Horatio.’ This scene makes Hamlet remember all of Yorick’s charms and gestures, then he realizes that they are in the grave with him. Hamlet realizes that Yorick is dead but he is remembered as an individual extremely happy and was not living with fear. Yorick made the same decision as the gravedigger, that is to live life happy and without regrets and fear.…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In this scene, Hamlet and Horatio return from England as two gravediggers are excavating a grave for Ophelia. The death of a person is in no way comedic, but the gravediggers bring in “unexpected brief laughter in a tragic world of melancholic feeling” to make the scene less depressing (Chergui 13). They bring in laughter by singing songs, telling jokes about the death of Ophelia, and using clever words to mess with Hamlet’s mind. The gravediggers elude to a woman dying, but do not blatantly tell Hamlet whom it is, which drives Hamlet crazy. Symbolism is shown particularly in this scene when the gravediggers are tossing skulls out of the grave.…

    • 1124 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Another external conflict in Hamlet is between Hamlet and Laertes. As soon as Laertes hears of his father's unfortunate death he storms the castle with some followers to get his revenge on whoever he finds has killed his father. At first Laertes is quick to blame king Claudius for his father's murder but Claudius calms him enough to let him know that he was not guilty of the act. Instead, Claudius tells him that Hamlet is the one who killed Polonius, arranges a fencing match between Hamlet and Laertes. While Hamlet and Laertes are fighting, the king put poison in a cup and Laertes put poison on his sworn, to be able to kill Hamlet in a way that will seem like an accident to the audience.…

    • 150 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The archetypes found in Hamlet. Hamlet is the perfect specimen for examining while looking for different archetypes. It is a work with many different archetypes incased in the writing. From the seasons to death this play is full to the brim with archetypes. Some are a bit harder to distinguish than others such as the Garden of Eden archetype.…

    • 1225 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hamlet has a tragic flaw of procrastination that delays his chances of killing Claudius. While investigating the death of his father, Hamlet kills his true love’s father and angers her brother. This leads to Hamlet’s downfall when he asks to fence Hamlet with the intent to kill him. The fencing match sets off a chain reaction of deaths around the room killing…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Why Is Hamlet Inevitable

    • 726 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The idea that death is inevitable is one of the main meanings of the play that Shakespeare tried to convey to the audience. This can be shown through the various metaphors that were created and expanded upon during the play or by the overwhelming display of death near the end of the play in which nearly the entire cast is massacred. The concept of death in Hamlet is one that is closely tied to Hamlet in which almost every character he knows, including himself, is killed or has died by the end of the play. This is where the sympathy for Hamlet, someone who kills many people throughout the play, is found. Death surrounds him, taking himself and everyone he knows.…

    • 726 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A motif in literature is the classic war between a passion and responsibility. There are many different emotions and drives that may conflict with a character’s moral duty in literary works such as: a personal cause, a love, a desire for revenge, or a determination to redress a wrong. In Hamlet a tragic play by William Shakespeare, Hamlet is in a war between his desire for revenge against the man who murdered his father, and his responsibility as a prince to do the right thing. This war has a negative effect on Hamlet because it slowly turns his façade of being mad into a reality. This conflict is significant because it expands on the works theme of how Hamlet’s constant confusion, along with his inability to act on his desire for revenge ultimately…

    • 1020 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The theme of suicide can be found in many aspects of society such as literature as well as the daily life of people. In Hamlet, Shakespeare explores the theme of suicide through Hamlet’s life and the way that Hamlet deals with the problems that he encounters. The theme of suicide is significant in Hamlet because it greatly influences Hamlet’s thoughts and interactions with other characters. The theme of suicide is created through the experiences that Hamlet faces while he deals with the issues in his life. The decision whether to commit suicide or to live is based on one’s environment, perspective, and current emotions.…

    • 1842 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Bodies In Hamlet

    • 387 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A man stabbed through a curtin, people “playing” with bones in a graveyard, a room full of dead bodies, sounds like a horror movie, but this is actually events in the play Hamlet. Since the play started, it seemed that Hamlet was introduced to one hiccup in his life after another and the way he dealt with these problems led to a room full of dead bodies, Hamlets included. Hamlet was given a mission to bring justice to his murdered father near the beginning of the play, Hamlet received this mission by his father's ghost, and his own uncle is the one who killed him in order to usurp the throne. Hamlet was then faced with many challenges with the task he was given which led to his and many others demise.…

    • 387 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Trauma In Hamlet Essay

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The funeral bak’d meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables. Would I have met my dearest foe in heaven or ever I had seen that day, Horatio” (I. ii. 180-182) in response. His “snide remarks” (Perry 259-263) and haunted appearance during Claudius’s coronation shows his subtle rebellion of his situation, which is merely the beginning stage of overcoming grief post-trauma. Although, Hamlet shows healthy signs of grief and expression of his emotions in the beginning of the play, since he “cannot transpose suffering into language” (Findlay 189-203) as he is “expected to assimilate sudden changes in his relation to the world” (Perry 259-263).…

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Polonius best served as a foil to Hamlet in death as he spurred Laertes, Hamlet’s counterpart, into…

    • 1028 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He tells his son that while he was sleeping, Claudius poured poison into his ear. Hamlet is shocked by the ghosts words. The ghost asks Hamlet to “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.” (I.5.25) Prince Hamlet vow’s to avenge his father’s death, and promises not hurt his mother even though he blame’s her for re-marrying to his uncle right after his father’s death. Since the revenge was requested, and not Prince Hamlet’s own decision, we could question if Hamlet would consider avenging his father, even if he wasn’t told to.…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mystery Of Death In Hamlet

    • 1075 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” is believed to have been written between the year 1599 and 1601, and although the play actually takes place in the Middle Ages occasionally reference to the Elizabethan era are made. During this time plays revolving around revenge and tragedy were quite popular. It was not uncommon to see at the end of a play that all the major characters end up dead. In this particular revenge tragedy, Prince Hamlet is visited by his father’s ghost who tells him his uncle Claudius is responsible for his murder, who did it in order to become king and marry his mother. Hamlet becomes a sort of a madman trying to prove his uncles guilt before actually taking his revenge.…

    • 1075 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    “Hamlet:” Revenge The play, Hamlet by Shakespeare, is a tale of revenge. The notion of revenge is presented when the story begins. The ghost of Hamlet’s father appears at the stroke of midnight to Hamlet and tells him of how he was murdered by his Uncle Claudius (who is the current ruler). Hamlet is reluctant to believe this information, but cannot bring himself to deny that it is true.…

    • 1514 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays