Glavan Cristina

1st Year, group 3

Death and deception in Hamlet

In Shakespeares play Hamlet, death makes itself known as an unwelcomed guest that
never cares to leave, from the opening scene with the ominous ghost to the bloodbath of the final
scene. However, the appearance of the tortured spirit of Old King Hamlet and the deaths of all
the significant characters in the play (excluding one) are more obvious demonstrations of death
in its simplest (physical) form. However, there must be some further meaning, deeper
connotation, and purpose to which Death is made so apparent in the play (physically and
spiritually) from its depart. This more profound outlook and investigation into death is made
primarily through the mind of Hamlet to which the audience follows throughout the play.
Hamlets thought provoking and introspective nature cause him to contemplate the
physically of death and its most intimate complications. In Act 1, Hamlets is torn and tortured by
grief and misery from the death of his father and the incestuous marriage of his mother with
Claudius, that he sees the world only for its evil and destruction; So much so, Hamlet laments the
thought of suicide but restrains himself from doing so due to the possibility of eternal suffering
in the afterlife (Sin,christian theology): O, that this too too solid flesh would melt/ Or that the
Everlasting had not fix'd/ His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God!. Hamlet again delves
further into contemplation of the afterlife and suicide, is his infamous To be or not To be
soliloquy.
He notes that the afterlife is the undiscover'd country from whose bourn / No traveller
returns and it is this unchangeable fact - this question that has plagued mankind since its
beginning, that holds people captive in a world that is treacherous, miserable, and rotten. Hamlet
provides his own insight that conscience does make cowards of us all. In otherwords, that the
fear of what is ultimately but surely to come makes humans cowards. And perhaps, in a more
broader perspective, Hamlet hints to what he believes to the be ones primary motivation and
reason to follow a religion.
Further in the play, Hamlet appears to have a somewhat creepy yet serious obsession with
the physically of deaths - the implications it causes on the deceased. When in face of Yoricks
skull, he witness the ultimate physical transition between life and death; what could have once
been the vibrant head of a politician or singer, is now reduced through decay to an empty skull:
 Glavan Cristina
1st Year, group 3

That skull had a tongue in it and could sing once. Likewise, Hamlet realizes and becomes
fascinated with the notion that death is the impartial, unalterable, and permanent equalizer of
men: Though your fat king and your lean beggar is but/ variable service, two dishes, but to one
table:/ that's the end. What one does in life, even those as powerful as Julius Ceaser or
Alexander the Great (Hamlet references these kings) becomes completely futile in the end. Even
more so, Hamlets becomes intrigued with the natural cycle surrounding death; that dead corposes
will disintegrate into soil, and it is with this soil humans plant their crops, and so forth: A man
may fish with the worm that hath eat of a/ king, and cat of the fish that hath fed of that worm.
Hamlet comes to term with death as part of the natural sequence of life - for without
death, can there be life? There are several other allusions to death made by other characters in the
play (Gertrude describing Ophelias death) but they fall short and do not strike nearly as much
impact as Hamlets inner workings. Shakespeares play does not provide answers to the most
prominent questions surrounding death but it does however provide an interesting discussion and
a different perspective on Death and its implications.
Deceit, misleading information, and spying on others can lead to their demise,
intentionally or accidentally. The misleading and deceitful instances in the play are indirectly
responsible for Hamlets death. Claudius misleads Hamlet when he shipped him off to England
under the guise of a restful retreat and when he realizes that the new king has lied to not only
him, but the people of Denmark about the death of the former king. Hamlets deceit comes from
his mother, believing that she has betrayed his fathers love by not mourning for long enough
after his death, and by marrying Claudius.
This last plan goes wrong when the queen drinks to Hamlets health and ends up taking
the poison goblet. When hamlet sees this, he stabs Laeartes, kills Claudius and soon dies from
his own wounds. The overall end result of Polonius mistakened killing causes Laertes and
Claudius to ultimately cause the deaths of Hamlet, Gertrude and themselves.
 Glavan Cristina
1st Year, group 3

Bibliography:

1. Preface to Hamlet, by Harley Granville-Barker, ed. New York ; Hill and Wang, 1962
2. Shakespearean tragedy: lectures on Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth / by A. C. Bradley, ed.
New York ; MacMillan & Co, 1964
3. What happens in Hamlet by J. Dover Wilson, Cambridge ; London ; New York [etc.] ;
1.
Cambridge University Press, 1986