How Does Hamlet Commit Suicide

As such, it is the immature compulsions of his companions and his family that can be to blame for his elaborate and unnecessary state of mind, and thus, the essence of Hamlet’s insanity, lies in his desire to progress beyond his perception of the complacency of human imperfection.

"To be or not to be, that is the question". This is probably one of the most famous soliloquies. You could say that Hamlet sounds like a broken record with the whole suicide thing. However, he just might be moving on here. After all, instead of obsessing about whether or not to kill himself, he is exploring the reason why people in general don't commit suicide. When it comes down to it, he is talking about you, us and everyone else out there. Life is worth because we are experience every single moment. And there are some special moment that define who we are.

The insanity of a person can be contributed through the trauma that is caused by a few events in a person’s life, but in the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare wrote the main character prince Hamlet experiences a few dramatic events from the play which his attitude changes throughout. In order to figure out whether hamlet is insane is by figuring out what the characteristics of his insanity. Characters see Hamlet in different shades of gray, each side more or less sane than others. His sanity can be his truth or his lie.

So what is sanity? What is it insanity? There are many definitions of sanity and insanity. In general, sanity is known as having a control over the mind that secrets rational thoughts. On the other hand, insanity is when the mind begins to come up with strange things that make no sense. In the play, Hamlet is seen as a sane person, because he plans his “act” of insanity, other characters believe that he is sane, and he has a logical conscience/thinking.

In ‘Hamlet: The Prince of Denmark’, a play by William Shakespeare, Hamlet is portrayed as being insane. One of the most debated topics in Hamlet is the interpretation of Hamlet’s character. Hamlet has experienced life events that include: the death of his father, the remarriage of his mother, the return of his father’s ghost, and the death of his lover. This could essentially push any person over the edge into insanity. Hamlets acts as though he is insane, however, he is mentally sane.

At one point in the play, fear is also discussed with the element of mortality. Hamlet mentions his impulse to commit suicide in the play many times, but at one point he discusses with himself the fear of death with Ophelia present.

Another tragic death in Hamlet that plays on strong emotions is when Ophelia took her life after Hamlet went crazy and killed her father Polonius. She blamed the whole thing on herself since she separated herself from Hamlet’s love, which is believed to be the cause of his madness. Suicide is sadly a big part of the world. Most people can connect to either the lost feeling that brought Ophelia’s death, or the sadness of the after effects. Shakespear’s addition of Ophelia’s death pulls readers in and makes them feel.

Suicide and murder are two different things, but involve one similarity, death. Hamlet is considered to be one of the greatest plays of all time, written by William Shakespeare. In the play there is a love interest between the main character Hamlet, and Ophelia the daughter of one of the King’s officials. Throughout the play their love interest escalates. The ongoing argument of Ophelia's death has been debated if it was suicide or an accident. Although Ophelia was not diagnosed with being crazy the following events leading her up to her death would make anyone go mad enough to end the pain and commit suicide. Ophelia’s world comes crashing down all in a short period of time. Polonius never approved

Hamlet uses his feigned insanity as a means of misdirecting attention away from what he is plotting and instead directs the attention of those around him to wondering what made him go insane. Characters around him pity him and do not look too closely at what he is actually doing and planning. Only Hamlet knows what he is truly thinking and this lets him behave any way he wants, without being accountable for his actions to others.

This results in the subversion of the expected results of Hamlet’s decisions to take action as he is shown throughout the play to be relatively new to such an idea. Not only that, but Hamlet appears adverse to any meaningful action before Act V, and is further hindered by his own ambivalent conscience. Hamlet frequently finds himself incapable of taking decisive action due to flaws in his judgement and strokes of fortune on Claudius’ end. Furthermore, whatever action Hamlet takes results in the unnecessary deaths of those around him, namely Ophelia, Polonius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern, and in the case of the latter three Hamlet has a personal role in their deaths. While their deaths themselves may be attributed to a faulty judgement, it becomes clearer that Hamlet is overcome with a serious sociopathy, considering his lack of remorse for those three deaths However he manages to maintain a sense of humanity (although in the form of brazenness) such as when he revealed himself at Ophelia’s funeral to a violent Laertes. As such, representations of the prince of Denmark in film will tend to focus less on the question of Hamlet’s sanity in favor of those acts which warrant an insane

Hamlet is thinking about killing himself, but he is trying to kill Claudius. He is trying to escape despair and lies from Claudius. If hamlet kills himself he will not be sent to heaven he will be sent to the underworld. Hamlet thinks it is an eternal sleep when you are dead. He is trying to kill Claudius but he failed the first time and he explained what he did to his father the old king of demark.

Suicide is the ultimate defense against life’s trouble because its offers a peaceful sleeps, but what dreams may interrupt that sleep? Shakespeare’s Hamlet is discussing about suicide as well as death. Even though death offer peace, but the afterlife which is unknown makes people cowardly to commit suicide. Hamlet and Ophelia are the two characters in Hamlet who are involved with suicide, although Hamlet only contemplates it, but Ophelia actually commits suicide. Throughout the play, the act of suicide is treat religiously, morally and aesthetically.

Throughout the entire play, Hamlet becomes engrossed, obsessed and fascinated by death and what happens after death. The uncertainty of the afterlife, an overarching theme throughout the play, pushes Hamlet to act in certain ways. In his soliloquy in Act I, Hamlet describes death as nothing more than someone decomposing in the ground and that the body will eventually become nothing more than bones. Yet, Hamlet displays an uncertain fear of dying. Throughout the play, Shakespeare mentions the fear that Hamlet has of uncertainty of not only the future but with death as well. Hamlet’s curiosity with what happens after death and how his choices will impact where he ends up plays a huge role in his character development. One of the ways that Hamlet discussed death dealt with suicide. Throughout the play, Hamlet stated and believed that he was out of control of his life. He believed that suicide was the only way out of the negative situation. Yet, he never actually took his own life, which connected back to his fear of uncertainty and of the future. Not only was Hamlet impacted by suicide but Ophelia actually committed suicide after her father died ( Act IV. Scene VII ). Suicide became intertwined in Hamlet’s struggle to avenge his father since he viewed death as a exit strategy. Hamlet’s rational and irrational beliefs revolving around

Although Hamlet is aware of his religion’s beliefs, his lack of faith clouds his judgement. Moreover, his hysteria is shown when he kills Polonius and does not feel guilt or remorse over his death. Instead, Hamlet belittles his mother for marrying Claudius: “And let me wring your heart… bulwark against sense” (III, iv, 36-39). Hamlet loses sight of his mother’s feelings and continues to mock his mother which causes her to go through emotional pain because of her son’s discomfort. Even though Hamlet is fully aware the existence of heaven and hell, he does not acknowledge Polonius’ death and only speaks of his decaying body. This goes to show that his views on death distract him from his faith which lead to Polonius’ death, eventually affecting Polonius’ family. His death lead to Ophelia’s suicide and Laertes’ plan to kill Hamlet. Most Christians learn to repent for their sins; however, Hamlet does not turn to God, but to the ghost of his father for his wrongdoings. Hamlet’s thoughts on suicide can be seen after the death of King Hamlet; “Thaw, and resolve itself into dew… possess it merely, That it should come to this.” (I, ii, 129-138) Hamlet continues to distance himself from his religion and begins to depreciate God’s gift of life. Furthermore, Hamlet’s decline in religious involvement triggers his philosophical thoughts on life and death to become very pessimistic. It is clear that Hamlet’s belief in the supernatural lead to the death of Ophelia, his loved one, and his own

Hamlet has the opportunity to kill Claudius when he is praying, but does not because he is fearful that Claudius will go to heaven despite his crimes. Hamlet is admirable in not killing Claudius while praying because Hamlet wants a revenge worthy of his father and himself. While keeping up his act, Hamlet kills Polonius, Ophelia dies and Claudius and Laertes construct a death plot against Hamlet. Claudius and Laertes plan ironically spins out of control and them both himself killed and the queen killed. Although Hamlet also dies in the process, Hamlet justly kills Claudius with the poisoned dagger and the poisoned drink. The final image of most of the characters on the stage being dead provides a superficial pessimistic ending. However, the ability for Hamlet to maintain his honor when all odds were against him provides a great sense of hope in the audience. Also, the exchange of forgiveness from Laertes to “noble Hamlet” also provides an optimistic ending. Upon the arrival of prince Fortinbras, Hamlet is given a soldier’s funeral of the highest honors which allows for a promising ending.