The Mystery of Death
After the murder of his father, Hamlet becomes obsessed with the concept of death, and we see in the play how he tries to comprehend death from different perspectives. He tries to understand death from the physical dead remainders, for instance, decaying corpses and Yorick’s skull in the cemetery. The idea of death is closely associated with various themes, including uncertainty, truth, and spirituality throughout the play. Hamlet’s most profound questions may be answered by death; therefore, ultimately ending Hamlet’s problem of trying to find the truth about the world and its ambiguity. According to the play, death is both the consequence and cause of revenge; therefore, death is associated with the theme of justice and revenge. When Claudius murders King Hamlet, Hamlet is filled with the urge of revenge, and indeed, the death of Claudius marks the end of the quest (Shakespeare 12).
Generally, death is a fascinating topic because it is mysterious. No one knows what happens after death, and there are many questions about what happens after death. Death causes and results in revenge according to the play. Rather than through reason, revenge causes someone to act through anger. Usually, revenge is based on the principle of tit for tat and is not an ethical theory to live with it. Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras were all looking forward to avenging their fathers’ murder. However, this action led to the rise to the power of one and the downfall of two who died. In general, revenge is against the law, both injustice and morally; that is, it defies both man’s law and God’s law. Revenge is also selfish as the avenger considers himself above the lawmakers and the avenged. Vengeance is self-satisfying, egocentric, and rogue vendetta and therefore has no place in the society (Eliot 103).
Similarly, Hamlet is disturbed by questions about the plagues of his death. This disturbance is evident when Hamlet starts to question himself if there is moral legitimacy in committing suicide in the case of an unbearable and painful world. Hamlet is filled with misery and grief, and he longs for death frequently as a way of ending his suffering. However, Hamlet fears that committing suicide would make his experience eternal suffering in hell because Christian religion prohibits the act of suicide. In his famous soliloquy, “to be or not to be,” Hamlet summarizes by stating that complex moral considerations which interfere with the suicide action are caused by fear. He suggests that no individual would choose to experience pain in life if there was no fear of what would happen after death (Shakespeare 42).
Taking a human life is wrong, that is a fact. However, certain circumstances may make suicide morally legitimate. The topic of suicide and its moral legitimacy remains to be as controversial as ever. Recent advancements in science and medicine, especially those technologies that result in the extension of human life, have brought back the discussions about suicide. In the past, various reports suggested that the action if suicide is against natural law. However, the practical approach indicates that the act of suicide can be morally legitimate in certain circumstances, such as ill-health or suffering. Generally, suffering or serious ill-health may make an individual suffer in an imaginable way, putting much pain and harm to the person. This suffering may make life so unbearable and unworthy of living, and it is in such situations that suicide becomes morally permissible (Eliot 103).
Works Cited
Eliot, Thomas Stearns. “Hamlet and his problems.” The sacred wood: Essays on poetry and criticism 95 (1920): 103.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Clarendon Press, 1912.