Depression in Hamlet Essay

His mother and his uncle have married after only 2 months of Hamlet’s father’s death. This has caused Hamlet to be in a heavy state of anger, mixed with his already deep state of mourning. According to Theodore Lidz, these two states can lead to one thinking back on all the negative wishes one may have had in the past. Considering Hamlet’s relatively young age, death wishes upon a parent are not serious but they are common among children. “…and as most, if not all, children have sometimes had death wishes toward a parent, guilt over such wishes can become intense when the parent dies.” (Lidz 48) All of these emotions mixed together so early in the play could lead to a sense of depression.

His mother drank the poison that was meant for Hamlet that was supposed to drink. The king put the poison in it because he knew that Hamlet was onto him for killing his father and marrying his mom. At the very end though Hamlet, His mother, and father ended up together. All three of these examples show he has depression because he was angry at the world and he was always thinking of negative thoughts.

After the death of Hamlet's father Hamlet is obsessed with the idea of death. He ponders both the spiritual aftermath of death, embodied in the ghost, and the physical remainders of the dead, such as by Yorick’s skull and the decaying corpses in the cemetery. The question of his own death plagues Hamlet as well, as he repeatedly contemplates whether or not suicide is a morally legitimate action in an unbearably painful world.

Hamlet shows numerous symptoms and people wonder “why he’s acting so dazed and confused” (Shakespeare 135), but do not take initiative to get him treatment. Hamlet criticizes himself as a “low-life” (Shakespeare 129), a “lily-livered man…, and an uncourageous rascal” (Shakespeare 131), similar to Craig. Another parallel is that Hamlet sees “no future ahead for [himself]” (Shakespeare 179) and is fixated on “dying” (Shakespeare 139). Everyone around him just thinks he is insane; consequently, this “treatable disorder… goes unrecognized” ("Depression in Young People" 3), because the people in his life have failed decipher his symptoms of clinical depression. When Hamlet’s “depression [is] left untreated, [it] can be dangerous, even fatal” ("Morbidity" 1), which is shown to be true as he spirals into a further state of lunacy, leading to his death. Though Hamlet ‘lived’ 400 years ago, he had suicidal ideation, erratic behavior, self-hatred, anxiety, and a skewed reality just like present-day

Hamlet mentions “[he] [doesn’t] value [his] life one bit”(Crowther 55) after he loses his father and his life has become “tired stale and pointless.” (Crowther 27) The symptoms of his sadness are becoming more apparent and his mother must step in to tell him to “stop wearing black clothes, and be friendly to the king” (Crowther 23); in the end adding to common symptoms, such as “persistent sadness, withdrawal… and, at times, aggressive behaviors.” (Evans) There are numerous symptoms that coincide with depression and Hamlet portrays them

First of all, Hamlet’s father’s death had taken it’s toll on him , and he wasn’t sure how to deal with all the emotions. Hamlet had to try to keep all of this bottled up because in those days you don’t express emotions. The death of the king was hard for Hamlet, and as any young man it would be hard to lose a parent. No one can ever be completely happy after losing a loved one, and they soon go into this stage of grief that they can’t get out of. To be completely honest the

After the death of old King Hamlet, Hamlet was struggling to keep himself and his feelings contained. His mind has so many thoughts running from his father’s death, to his neglected relationships, and from his thoughts towards Claudius. As the story escalates, more events pile up on top of Hamlet’s troubles making him slowly go insane.

However, both authors portray their characters in a similar way by having them show particular symptoms of a mental illness. In his play Hamlet, Shakespeare utilizes several events leading up to Hamlet’s state of fake madness to convey a superficially depressed character. He first does this by illustrating Hamlet’s pessimistic view on humanity, which is a common symptoms associated with depression: “Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners” (Shakespeare 142) “‘Tis brief my lord.’

It is clear that the death of his father and his mother 's remarriage has taken an enormous mental toll on him and that he desires death to free himself of the burden laid upon him by the ghost. He romanticizes it, saying that suicide is the brave and courageous option akin to “[taking] arms” against troubles. However, he can’t commit to the idea of death, saying “To sleep, perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub / For in that sleep of death what dreams may come” (III, i, 66-67). He craves death, which would allow him to escape all the “natural shock / that flesh is heir to” (III, i, 63-64) but the more he ponders it, the further he is from reaching a decision. Ironically, the argument within his mind about how he should free himself of the ghostly burden — murder, or death — is impeding him from carrying out any action on it. At the end of his most famous soliloquy, Hamlet hasn’t made any decisive choice and therefore is in limbo regarding death due to his overarching rationale. His inaction proves “[his] endless reasoning and hesitation and the way in which the energy of his resolutions evaporates in self-reproaches” (Morgan 259). Moreover, Hamlet tackles the decision of interpreting what is real and what is false when he questions the ghost’s true nature. At first, Hamlet is certain

Hamlet feels the constant need to reassure himself that his beliefs are correct, especially in his soliloquies about death. It is stated, “O that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!...” (Act 1, Sn 2, 129-1559). Hamlet discusses how things were not good and he was just in mourning and despair in this soliloquy. In the noted to be or not be soliloquy he continues the decisions on death, “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?...” (Act 3, Sn 1, 56-89). As Hamlet continues through the play he gives up in a sense because of everything happening to the people he was close to and to him in general. He lost the people he cared about due to his uncle’s careless actions and his mother playing along with it. When he actually got emotion from his uncle things were only proven to be more complicated because his father’s ghost was correct. His soliloquies prove how Hamlet was overly depressed and wanted to die, although depression during this time period is completely different compared to now.

The tone of this soliloquy plays a large role in revealing the true feelings and emotions of Hamlet. The overall tone of Hamlet in this passage is revengeful, tempted, and aware. Hamlet proves he is aware by saying “ow might I do it pat now he is praying, And now I'll do it, and so he goes to heaven.” (page 71) Hamlet strongly desires to kill the king, but holds himself back because he is aware that he will not be satisfied with his revenge if he kills him then. Hamlet continues to take you through all of these feelings and states of mind throughout this discourse with himself. His strong sense of vengefulness really shines through when he says

He is experiencing many emotions, but most importantly he is considering suicide. He wants to rid himself of his present pain and fade away. However, if Hamlet decides to kill himself, them he would be committing a sin against God, which would send him to hell in the afterlife. Of course, Hamlet does not want this for his own life, but he doesn't know any other way out. Thankfully, Hamlet is a great analytical thinker, he knows he cannot kill himself, so instead, he chooses to let his mind suffer in hopes that one day his pain will fade away. Hamlet, depressed and hopeless, thinks that maybe this is it, his life as a prince (not a king), without a loving father or mother. "O that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew" (I.ii.129–130)! Not only is Hamlet mad about his father's death, but he is furious when his mother betrays him and marries Claudius, all the while forgetting about her husband's recent passing. With these frustrations coming at Hamlet too quickly he realizes that he must wait and see what is to come of everything. Maybe in hopes that one-day things will start looking up and the world would not be so against his well-being. But in the meantime, his view of his mother is greatly distorted which also distorts his views of women. Hamlet must wait to commit suicide, but in hopes that Heaven will

Hamlet is full of death. The whole plot revolves around the death of King Hamlet, and death is what drives the play forward. Hamlet is surrounded by death and struggles with dealing with it. Before the tragic ending, Hamlet loses his father to murder and his love to crazed suicide. Hamlet also murders the father of his love, Polonius. Shakespeare uses Hamlet’s questioning of his own mortality and fear of death to connect with the human problem: that if we all die, what is the point of living?

Death is a natural ending of one’s life journey. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, this theme is explored throughout the story, where the main character is a deeply troubled one and where the plot draws the audience into Hamlet’s speculations on death on multiple occasions. The question of mortality and existence is one that humanity has struggled with since the dawn of civilization, possibly even before; and it is this question that Hamlet is attempting to come to terms with following the passing of his father, King Hamlet. Shakespeare, using his unique literary style and theatrical story-telling, is not necessarily providing the readers with any answers but is rather taking everyone on the journey that every human travels when asking the question, “What is Death?”

The more Hamlet thinks, the more prone he is to doubt. The thoughts of death continuously consume Hamlet's mind. Unable to bring himself to kill Claudius, Hamlet questions his bravery, “Am I a coward?” (2.2.598). He cannot find a reason inside him for not taking action, leading Hamlet to question his morality: “To be or not to be” (3.1.64). Although he asks such a profound question, it is impressive that he does not give a direct answer. His mind is so full of the reasons to live and to die that