Death

Death

1. Hamlets ideas of death become more and real and personal and develop

   • ‘infinite jest most excellent fancy’
     • infinite and ‘excellent’- Very hyperbolic language- The concept of death suddenly becomes much more personal- Alas poor Yorick’ - More dramatic as seen as emodiment of joy. In a sense he has become he court jester, as throughout the play he makes many jokes- the shared role perhaps makes him realise he also shares the same fate.
   • ‘My gorge rises at it’
     • Disusted and horrified that someone he had so much physical contact with has now been reduced to a lifeless object- - shows some fear to death in general-face to face- literally- realisation of the actuality of death
   • ‘Your gambols, your songs, your flashes of merriment’ Listing
     • Listing- describes Yorick as the embodiment of joy and happiness- Idea he is mourning what is lost- and by describing it he mourns it too.- better understanding of his grief-
   • ‘Let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come’
     • Doesn’t matter what face she paints- this is how she will end up- in the end we are all equal- bitterness towards Gertrude – provides a stark contrast to joy. Imperatives like 'GET' to my Lady’s table and 'MAKE' show this anger- Idea he himself is now angry at what has happened- not just reciprocating his fathers anger out of loyalty. – Also links again to his mysogyniatic attack on women- and his feelings about cosmetics

2. When we first see Hamlet after Ps murder- not reflective or sensitive to his actions- rather he is more preoccupied with his own selfish endeavours- almost making him an incomplete hero.

   • 'Compund it with dust, whereto tis kin'
     • His ambiguity with everything he says- especially when trying to find P's body- is surprisingly dismissive of the dead- shows a disrespect to Christian beliefs on burial. Perhaps he feels he is now above God's law or his desire for revenge has taken over him. Fact that his speech is also in prose- in 4.2 adds to this disarray and links to the lack of control he now has on his overwhelming emotions.
     • His language, referring to the body as an 'it' suggests he is not only comfortable with what he did but willing to find amusement in it. - Does this make him slightly hypocritical as he had just murdered someone despite his anger ant losing someone himself.
     • Fact that his speech is also in prose- in 4.2 adds to this disarray and links to the lack of control he now has on his overwhelming emotions.
   • 'not where he eats but where he is 'a eaten' (4.3)
     • Such a graphic description of P's body shows H and Claudius to feel uncomfortable- no qualms about using his dead body to do it . Speaks in prose throughout this conversation showing he has no restraint- and denying the king any satisfaction of being spoken to respectfully
     • The eccentricity of Hamlet's behaviour mimics his emotion ofter the 'mousetrap and the appearance of the ghost- lends the scene a darkly comic tone. Acts to lighten the moods after the strain scene of Hamlet and Gertrude in the closet and tense conversation between King and Queen. Hamlet's satirical mood is a devlopment to his flippant attitude to P's death. He riddles R+G with hostile contempt and send them on a wildgoose chase
   • We see another father has been murdered and so by default will compare the childrens reactions to Hamlet's. Shakespeare develops Polonius’ children as stylised foils to two aspects of the Prince's behaviour- Where Hamlet was overcome with melancholy and contemplated suicide- Ophelia goes mad and kills herself. Where Hamlet was commanded by the ghost to take revenge – Laertes plays the conventional revenge hero- free from all ethical scruples which could complicate this role. The naeivity and simplicity of Polonius; children’s behaviour brings out the complexity of Hamlet’s.

3. Hamlet chooses salvation of people over unecessary death. His ideas of death develop.

   • 'twenty thousand souls and twenty thousand ducats
     • Hyperbolic anger that so much blood will be spilt for a little plot of land that 'hath in it no profit but the name. Hamlet confirms that too much wealth and peace lead to war and trouble- dark outlook as though nothing stays peaceful. Links Fortinbras' actions as yet another disease in the world.
   • ‘That might be the pate of a politician… Or of a courtier’
     • Hamlet recognises how death reverses social order- enters into reflectiveness- Everyone meets the same end- death becomes less of an idea and philosophical matter and moe real for him.
     • The fact that all the skulls are treated the same shows that everyone is equal in the end. Throughout the play he has been more concerned with the spiritual side of death- this scene allows him to develop the physical side- realising everyone turns to 'dust' even 'Alexander'
   • Alexander looked o’this fashion I’th’ ‘earth?
     • To Alexander the Great- Idea someone so great could amount to something so insignificant- -Speaks in prose throughout this scene- fits with theme- very close to him- not trying to separate himself through language.
   • Alexader died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth to dust’
     • Listing in this manner shows it is a natural unavoidable process -Idea warriors far greater than his father are really gone- appreaciates their insignificance- Marks a release from the obligation to that ‘warrior’ he compared to god at the beginning of the play.

4. Such is a common theme in a revenge tragedy- Shakespeare involves two revenge tragedies encouraging us to compare our heroes(4.5)

   • 2nd Revenge tragedy-allowing us to counterpoint the language, values, behaviour of Hamlet and Laertes- the revenge heroes. The two heroes’ collisions in Act V represent Shakespeare's critique of the inherited Revenge tragedy formula. He transforms a confused set of conventions into a challenging Drama. -Almost a parody exposition.
   • ‘Forty thousand brothers / Could not with all ther quantity of love /Make up my sum’
     • Hyperbollic- whole confrontation introduces tension between H and L- Ophelia's death angers them both. Idea his grief cannot match Hamlet’s true affections.
   • "Woo't weep? Woo't fight? Woo't fast? Woo't tear thyself? Woo't drink up eisel"
     • Such strong claims- I’ll do’t’ – Contrast to way he acted to her vs decleration of love.

5. GRAVEDIGGERS

   • ‘If this had not been a gentlewoman she should have been buried outside a Christian burial’
     • Important ideas about the class system- again links to abuse of power- and double standards- also relates to Ophelias death being suicide- contrary to how Gertrude described it.
   • ‘the houses he makes last till doomsday’
     • Represented ordinary folks. - constant contact with death- real sense of reality- everyman figure- Gravedigger- is relatable -colloquial prose of the first half of the scene provides a welcome change of tone and pace- the humour is profoundly serious as well as funny- represent a different way of exploring the themes of suicide, appearance vs reality, fame and thinking- which until now have been the subject of a very sophisticated debate
   • that day when our last King Hamlet o’ercame Fortinbras’
     • Hamlet was born- He has buried Yorick- Ophelia and will berry the K, Q, H- idea he has outlived all of them- shown to be an immortal presence—sings about the stages of human life that lead everyone into his rough indiscriminate care. – Refers familiarly to Adam and the Day judgement as if he was around since the beginning of time and will be around till the last trumpet is blown- idea death will always be.
     • Gravedigger outlives all the high-born characters he serves. Against perspective of death all the claims to superiority through hierarchy are nullified- economic/political and moral systems become the objects of laughter- in the GD view- doomsday corresponds to the overthrow of social inequality
   • 'for none neither'
     • Claims he is digging no man's rave- makes an important point about death- rank/material posessions do not matter- we all end up in the same place.