“Hamlet” by William Shakespeare is the play completely penetrated by the motifs of death. The main character, Hamlet is obsessed with the death since childhood. As we see he is not afraid of death, he risks and follows the ghost’s advice of revenge. The death of his father was not the reason why Hamlet so gloomy is and why suicidal thoughts follow him constantly.
To my mind Hamlet does not know the purpose of his life that is why he wants to die. In his soul there is a constant battle between life and death, between the bright and gloomy thoughts, between revenge and forgiveness. “To be or not to be” — thinks Hamlet. However there is nobody who can help and support him, who can persuade him that life is beautiful and our task is to make it meaningful. However the monologue of Hamlet “To be or not to be” proves that he hesitates and is not sure what he must do.
I am convinced that Hamlet speaks about death because he does not know the value and meaning of live. Moreover people who do not know their purpose and are disappointed lose the interest to life. Hamlet exclaims that we can not escape from death, all that lives must die and through the death we pass to eternity. Hamlet understands that death is inevitable and unconquerable and that is why he does not want to struggle. Sooner or later we will die and our life costs anything. However Shakespeare teaches us that we should not be obsessive about something except life. Life is worth of battle with the death.
All words of Hamlet are full of despair, sadness, pessimism, fatality and desire to die. He exclaims that all we will be eaten by the worms and the maggots. It means that our life is perishable and knowing this Hamlet has no any plans for future except of revenge. Skeptical attitude to life and Hamlet’s thinking about life as the meaningless thing slowly kills him morally. During the whole play Shakespeare draws the pictures of death: the death of Polonius and Ophelia, Ophelia is buried, the arrangement of the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern by Hamlet, the murder of Hamlet’s father. The play is death-obsessed, gloomy as well as the main character Hamlet. Hamlet views death as the tranquil and peaceful deliverance from the constant battle with the life problems. The figurative language of the main character conveys that he wants to commit suicide, to die and to be free of this luggage of life.
Hamlet thinks that life is “outrageous fortune” and “sea of trouble”. With the help of metaphors compares life to a permanent rushing of hard artillery and the din of waves reflects that Hamlet perceives life as an everlasting fight against difficulties such as “outrageous fortune” and “troubles.” Hamlet wants to kill himself to end all.
To my mind it is not the right solution to give in. To die means to surrender without struggling. Hamlet is morally weak person who has nobody to support and to advice. Moreover Hamlet is philosophical personality who reflects and analyzes, he thinks that there is nothing good or bad, we decide ourselves what good is and what bad is.
For Hamlet to die means to sleep and to find peace and rest. As we see he sees the death in another way. People think that the death is something terrible like torture, for our character the death is the greatest desire. The easiest solution to all problems is to die and rid oneself of the hardship of life and only cowards chose such a way. However our character, Hamlet is broken down and does not have motivation to continue living. Hamlet is tired of life, but he fears what might be waiting for him in death.
I am convinced that William Shakespeare with the help of “Hamlet” wants to show us that our life is valuable and only we, people make it meaningless with our behavior, our attitude to life and with our actions. William Shakespeare touches the problem of death because he wants to arouse the desire to life; he wants to show that life is priceless and valuable treasure. Yes, it is not easy task to live happy life however life is given us one time and we should evaluate it in spite the obstacles and hardships. Indeed Hamlet is afraid to die because he is not sure what will be afterlife. William Shakespeare creates such character as Hamlet to teach us to appreciate every moment of our life, not to be afraid of problems, to struggle and to be strong.
Life is meaningful and these are people who can make it happy and worth of appreciation. When we decide “to be or not to be”, we should never hesitate, without doubt to be”.